Yoga and Resilience

Danielle Rousseau is an Assistant Professor at Boston University. Dr. Rousseau’s professional focus has been in trauma services and gender advocacy. She is a social justice researcher and practitioner. Dr. Rousseau worked in the field of forensic mental health as a therapist in correctional facilities, winning multiple awards for her service. She also served communities doing crisis response and victim advocacy. Her research, teaching and practice focus on justice, trauma, gender, mental health, mindfulness and resilience. She is an advocate of integrative, holistic approaches that support embodied self-care. Dr. Rousseau is a licensed therapist and certified yoga teacher. She serves as the Director of Evaluation 4 Change and has experience collaborating with multiple yoga and mindfulness organizations including Yoga 4 Change, yogaHOPE, the Yoga Service Council, Sensory Enhanced Yoga, and the Open Spirit Center. Dr. Rousseau has received multiple grants including a grant from the Florida Blue Foundation to develop, implement and evaluate an opioid specific yoga and mindfulness curriculum. Dr. Rousseau’s work is published in many books and journals including Sensory-Enhanced Yoga for Self-Regulation and Trauma Healing, The Prison Journal, Criminal Justice Policy Review, Gender, Race, and Justice, Law and Society Review, The Annals of the Academy of Political and Social Sciences, and The Journal of Yoga Service. Dr. Rousseau is an author on the Yoga Service Council’s Best Practices for Yoga in the Criminal Justice System and the editor for Yoga and Resilience: Empowering Practices for Survivors of Sexual Trauma.

Part 1 Understanding sexual trauma



Introduction: Setting the context Danielle Rousseau and Dani Harris



Understanding trauma Lidia Snyder and Danielle Rousseau



Understanding sexual trauma Dani Harris and Danielle Rousseau



Part 2 Introduction to best practices



Best practices for creating a trauma-informed yoga experience Lidia Snyder, Beth Jones and Nan Herron



General best practices in working with survivors of sexual trauma Dani Harris and Amanda Napior



Relational wisdom: self-care, boundaries, compassionate leadership and cultural humility Kimberleigh Weiss-Lewit



Part 3 Development and sexual trauma



Pregnancy and postpartum Amanda Napior



Children and Adolescents Lidia Snyder



Part 4 Identities and intersectional perspectives



Gender and sexual minorities community Dani Harris



Men Daniel Hickman



Elderly and people with disabilities Beth Jones



Part 5 Contexts of abuse



Sexual trauma on college and university campuses James Jurgensen



Military sexual trauma Pamela Stokes Eggleston



Intimate partner violence Amanda Napior



Sex Trafficking Amanda Napior



Incarcerated survivors Amanda Napior



Abuse in religious, spiritual and intentional communities Amanda Napior



Part 6 Conclusion



A call to action for yoga Danielle Rousseau and Dani Harris