The Community Resiliency Model®: a Pilot of an Interoception Intervention to Increase the Emotional Self-Regulation of Women in Addiction Treatment

Abstract

Addiction is associated with trauma, and a body-based approach may help attenuate the long-term impacts of trauma, including addiction and mental disorders. The Community Resiliency Model® (CRM) is a novel, simple, body-based set of sensory awareness skills, which focus on “felt-sense” or interoception. We provided a single 5-h Community Resiliency Model® class in an urban drug treatment center for impoverished women in the Southeastern US. Using a pre-post mixed methods design, we collected data from 20 women on well-being, physical symptoms, anger, depression, anxiety, and spirituality. The post-test revealed that participant somatic complaints, anger, and anxiety symptoms had declined significantly, with a moderate to large effect size; well-being increased significantly, with a small effect size. Participants found the skills and concepts of CRM helpful and shared them with others. CRM is a feasible, inexpensive, and acceptable training that may be valuable for persons with addictions.