Integrated Movement Therapy

Integrated Movement Therapy (IMT) is an individual and group therapy approach that combines speech-language pathology, behavioural and mental health counseling with the practices and principles of yoga. Integrated Movement Therapy has several elements in common with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, including a focus on changing thoughts to change behaviours, and an emphasis on social learning theory, as well as with Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, which includes an exploration of Eastern contemplative traditions. However, IMT is most aligned with Integrated Psychotherapy, in which the inherent value of each person, as well as the person’s multi-dimensionality (including physical body, energy, emotions and spiritual connection), is the foundation of the therapy. IMT also uses yoga’s philosophical, physical and spiritual framework in conjunction with conventional neurophysiological perspectives to address many issues from depression and anxiety to degenerative conditions and life-threatening illness.

History

Integrated Movement Therapy was first developed in the late 1990s by Molly Lannon Kenny, MS-CCC, a speech and language pathologist and yoga educator, for children with developmental challenges, including autism spectrum, Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy, as well as adult stroke and traumatic head injury survivors.

Lannon Kenny made several crucial observations about her clients in the clinical setting that led to the development of IMT, including the relationship between self-esteem and learning and the relationship between movement and learning readiness and retention. She also noted a significant increase in communication skills when her clients were moving, as evidenced in co-treatment with occupational and physical therapists.

Lannon Kenny published her first scholarly article in the International Journal of Yoga Therapy in 2002, in which she described IMT as an effective intervention for Autism Spectrum and related disorders, relating each of the core principles of IMT to a particular aspect of Autism. Using the six core principles and three overarching philosophies of Integrated Movement Therapy, practitioners began applying IMT to an increasingly broad array of life challenges, from early childhood disorders to end of life. IMT is now practiced widely in the United States and abroad.

As a therapy framework rather than a prescriptive model, IMT can be successfully implemented in any therapeutic or educational context, and with any diagnosis or challenge, setting IMT apart from similar conventional psychotherapy and yoga therapy models. Introduction

   Young adulthood is defined as the age between eighteen and twenty nine years. The period is signified by great changes as the individual is maturing and ushering in middle adulthood. The individual is therefore more susceptible to social stress as compared to the period succeeding young adulthood. Prevalence of stress and depression is higher during adolescence as the individual struggles to for self-identity and fitting in the society. It is also a period when one can be recruited into [...] abuse which with time leads to more incidences of depression. According to Ladegaard, Videbech, Lysaker & Larsen (2016), depressed individuals lead less satisfying social lives than never depressed persons and in most cases such people lead a socially dysfunctional life. They are often disengaged form their marriages, families and social circles which may have existed before depression peeped in. This paper will discuss the impacts of depression on young adults drawing information from scholarly studies done in the field. 

Causes of Depression in Young Adults

   Several risk factors have been identified as contributing to cases of depression in young adults. No single factor has been singled out as contributing to majority of the cases. Each case ought to handled differently considering that issues such as upbringing and environment can determine whether an individual will be adversely affected by a given scenario or not. According to Mattwes, Danese, Wertz, Odgers, Ambler, Moffitt & Arseneault (2016), social isolation and loneliness are the surest factors which lead to depression among young adults. One of the fundamental components of human life is social relationship. Young adulthood comes at a time when the individual is either in high school, college, university or during the initial years of employment. At such a time, the individual is working towards creating social ties and developing social circles with classmates, workmates and other individuals whom they may have similar interests. Isolating them in any way or threatening their ability to interact with the rest of the population can lead to depression. In some cases, isolation comes as the individual breaks up with their loved ones. It is important to note that majority of people get marry in young adulthood. If the relationship hits a dead end, some get seriously depressed. 
   Another issues which comes up with depression among young adults is the unrealistic pressure often piled on them by their parents, teachers and the society at large. Young adults are always under pressure to perform. Academic performance has been used as a parameter to measure success. Very few individuals or parents take their precious time to establish the interests their children have so that they can pursue a career in that direction. On the contrary, majority of young adults end up leading their parents’ choices. According to Smith & Blackwood (2004), although it is established that negative life events can lead to depression, the association is often hard to establish. However, while interviewing individuals who have recovered and/or who are already going through specified therapy, those who fail in life often attribute it to the choices they were made to adopt by their parents or their guardians. According to Strickland (2014), social media has also come as a very notorious channel leading to depression. Cases of cyberbullying are so rampant especially in an age where the individual is so vulnerable to have their self-esteem affected. Cyber bullying often happens due to the ability to use pseudo accounts and prey on unsuspecting social media users. The effects can be terrible with some cases of [...] being attributed to cyber bullying.  

Impacts of Depression

   In late teenage, it is common for an individual to experience low and unsettling moods. The physical, social, psychological and emotional changes taking places in the individual’s body often lead to fear and anxiety. Once depression comes in, the individual may get withdrawn from their social circles. Their performance start dropping and they may even drop from school. As issues escalate, one effect of depression can lead to more depression. For instance, dropping marks in school can lead to more depression and hopelessness. Such individuals are less motivated to work and succeed in life. According to Anderson, Cesur & Tekin (2012), mental health problems often act as a motivation towards deviance. In a situation where an individual is alienated by their friends and other social circles, they may get deviant groups which are always ready to recruit new members. In such a case, the individual starts engaging in acts such as [...] and substance abuse, premarital [...] among others. According to Anderson, Cesur & Tekin (2012), childhood depression has been found as a major cause in adulthood criminal behavior. Therefore, another impact of depression on young adults is engagement in criminal behavior. 
   In the United States, about 34 million individuals of all ages are affected by depression every year. While considering young adults, the impacts can be classified as either behavioral, physical, cognitive or psychosocial. Behavioral impacts include withdrawal from the rest of the population. In some cases, the individual may develop a sense of fear and anxiety and want to stay with other people. According to Lin, Sidani, Shensa, Radovic, Miller, Colditz, Hoffman, Giles & Patrick (2016), social media sites such as Facebook can lead to the start or end depression. As discussed above, an individual may limit their social circles to social media. Such an individual will be living in a virtual world always behind their keyboards. In a situation where cyberbullying occurs, such as exposure of [...] images sent via the same media, the person is totally crushed and depression may peep in. Another behavioral impact is reduced care on oneself. Depressed persons tend to careless. They may engage in [...] abuse and other actions trying to bury the impacts or symptoms of depression. Physical impacts include loss of weight due to reduced appetite. Depressed individuals may develop bulimia in some cases and lead to additional weight. This is common among females especially after divorce. Headaches may be rampant, insomnia, reduced ability to concentrate in their respective jobs and physical pains whose cause cannot be discerned. Impacts on an individual’s cognitive ability include reduced ability to make simple decisions, memory loss and having [...] thoughts. [...] thoughts chip in when the individual is totally distraught and there is no hope left. According to Berg, Rostila & Hjern (2016), if a parent dies during the victim’s young adulthood, depression and [...] thoughts may haunt them. In some cases, it takes the intervention of a psychologist to bring the victim back to their senses and view life without their parents, siblings, guardian or partners. Scleider, Krause & Gillham (2014), associate childhood anxiety with young adulthood depression. In some cases, a child may be brought up in a dysfunctional family which can lead to fear and anxiety. The impacts are felt in young adulthood as the victim may find it hard to concentrate or develop negative attitudes towards some people or situations. In a situation where an individual is raped in young adulthood, depression comes in with the person takes years to forget and move on. Such an individual may develop an attitude that may affect the rest of their lives. According to Broman (2012), issues such as race differences ought to be considered while addressing the issue of depression among young adults. With the increased use of social media, cyber bullying can be based on racial differences adversely affecting the individual’s self-esteem. 

Conclusion

   Impacts of depression among young adults vary mainly based on the causative factors. However, the impacts affect their cognitive functions leaving them isolated, lonely and hopeless. They may tend to break off from their social circles and join new circles which may grant a chance to become deviant. Social media has been identified as a major component leading to depression. Victims are limiting their social circle to social media platforms and in a situation where they are bullied, their lives come down crushing. Impacts on their psychosocial ability include sense of hopelessness, anxiety, being easily irritable and sense of guilt. In extreme cases, the individuals end up committing [...] or attempting to do it. Young adulthood should treated as a vulnerable age period where the individual needs strong social circles to avoid ending in depression.

Overview

Integrated Movement Therapy foundations:

1. It is the orientation of who we are and how we connect with others.

2. It has three overarching philosophies which create the context for therapy.

• The student is already perfect and whole.
• The student and teacher are both unlimited in their potentials and abilities to heal.
• No part of the body/mind/spirit complex, and no part of the brain, works alone.

3. The actual therapy techniques are informed by six core principles.

• Structure and continuity
• Language stimulation
• Physical stimulation
• Self-calming
• Social interaction
• Direct self –esteem building

4. The sessions are always framed in the optimal learning environment

• Valued
• Competent
• Comfortable