Pairing Psychotherapy and Floats – DSP 154

It’s easy to look at some of the research that comes from floating or look at special programs for veterans with PTSD and think about how float tanks should be paired with psychotherapy.

Graham and Ashkahn have met several therapists who use float tanks in conjunction with their sessions, sometimes exclusively. They also know that it’s important to recognize that they are trained professionals who are providing a treatment for difficult to treat psychological issues in some cases. Knowing when to leave the work to the experts is a valuable part of providing a service like this one with so many broad uses.

Justin Feinstein’s Study – Examining the short-term anxiolytic and antidepressant effect of Floatation-REST

Listen to Just the Audio

Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)

Graham: Today’s question is: “have you heard of any people using the float tank as a tool for psychotherapy? I am curious about using the tank to work through PTSD. How do you think it could work? I think a float session to open up and then a therapy session to follow.” Boom 21.

Ashkahn: Yeah there are people out there using float tanks with therapy sessions.

Graham: I think that 21 at the end is supposed to be an exclamation point. I think that the way our questions come in it reformatted it.

Ashkahn: Oh I see. Okay. I thought you were just saying that.

Graham: So it’s just a “boom!” is what it ends with at the end.

No I don’t editorialize these.

What were you saying?

Ashkahn: Yeah I was trying to answer the question here.

So there are people out there – there are float centers out there, not many, but there are float centers out there that do therapy sessions with people. And they do them with therapy before float, therapy after float, and sometimes therapy during a float. They have an intercom system set up actually in the float tank and can talk to people through that.

Graham: And I know of at least one therapist whose entire therapy is just the float. They have an intercom in there and they say, “Hey are you ready to start your therapy session?” And the client says yes, and then they turn off the intercom. And then when it’s about time to get out, they’re like, “Okay your session’s done,” and they view that as their therapy.

Ashkahn: And I’ve heard people with this setup being able to bill insurance because they’re billing for a therapy session and the float’s just kinda part of that. So that’s an extra perk.

Graham: Yeah. And we’re neither therapists nor insurance agents.

Ashkahn: But we are people!

Graham: So definitely check this out on your own.

Ashkahn: And I think it should also be noted that it seems like float tanks do benefit people with PTSD. With Justin Feinstein’s new research coming out, at least short term, immediate relief from a variety of anxiety including PTSD. So there’s a lot of positive in here, and I guess all of this in my mind comes with a giant warning, which is if you’re not a therapist, you should probably be careful about entering into this stuff too deeply.

Graham: Right. Yeah, getting someone who’s actually certified and in the case of billing insurance, obviously, someone who’s a clinical psychologist or a psychotherapist is pretty necessary.

Ashkahn: So yeah, I would be nervous myself to just jump in to start doing…to me it feels like doing surgery or something. Yeah, I bet I could just do knee surgery. I’m sure I could figure that out. I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know what I’m saying, and you’re dealing with people who are in a much more fragile state than a normal customer just coming in to enjoy themselves while they’re floating. They might have an adverse reaction to this, it might trigger some sort of very stressful response in them. There is so much that can happen that you might be unprepared for if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Graham: Right. So there’s a little bit of uncertainty in the nature of the question. If the question is “Should I provide unlicensed psychotherapy?” the answer is probably not.

Ashkahn: Are you a therapist or a psychiatrist or a psychologist?

Graham: Are you talking to me or the audience?

Ashkahn: No this is just a general editorial sort of view. If you have a degree, or this is what you’re currently doing, then the float tank does seem to be a good tool to aid with that. They certainly pair well together, and certainly from what we have been hearing from the people who have been doing a little bit of that and the research that has been coming out, it seems to me to say that this is a good idea.

Graham: Also there’s this really interesting phenomenon where a lot of different types of therapies and practices end up seeing a big boost from therapy at the same time. Even something like taking antidepressants, SSRIs, or something like that, in conjunction with psychotherapy winds up showing a much bigger range of benefits. And I think that there is something to that just in general, when you’re going through any practice, if you also have that aid of being able to talk through it and think through it with someone who’s good at steering those conversations and knows when to back out of the way and let you draw your own conclusions, I think that just boosts whatever effect you’re seeing across a lot of different disciplines.

Ashkahn: So I guess if you’re a therapist, this sounds great. If you’re not a therapist, this sounds like a real bad idea to me.

Graham: And I would say this: as far as the before, after, during, we just don’t have the data to back that up. I could see it being useful in all of those cases, having time to think about something after you’ve processed through it. During some recent talks, Justin Feinstein was talking about how, with his anxiety patients, they really opened up in a way that it’s hard to get anxiety patients to open up to a therapist, after their float session. So in that sense, people who are a little more reticent to talk about their feelings or really get into things, I could see therapy being incredibly beneficial actually after a float, as opposed to before as well.

Ashkahn: So yeah, it sounds cool. And you should do it, if you know what you’re doing. That seems to be the summary here.

If you guys have other questions that you want us to answer, you can hop over to floattanksolutions.com/podcast. Send them over our way and we will talk to you tomorrow. Bye, everyone.

Latest Blog Posts