Bridging Models of Care: The Role of Yoga Therapy in Collaborative Healthcare

In today’s evolving landscape of integrative medicine, yoga therapists have a unique opportunity—and responsibility—to serve as both compassionate healers and informed collaborators. By working in tandem with allied healthcare professionals, we can help support patients not only in symptom management but in reclaiming a sense of agency, meaning, and balance in their lives.

1. Pathogenic vs. Salutogenic Models of Care: Why Both Matter

Modern healthcare is largely shaped by the pathogenic model, which focuses on identifying and eliminating disease. This model has undeniable strengths—diagnostic precision, life-saving interventions, and standardized protocols that streamline care.

Yet, what the pathogenic model often overlooks is what the salutogenic model seeks to understand: What makes us well?

Coined by medical sociologist Aaron Antonovsky, the salutogenic model shifts the conversation from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What’s right with you, and how can we build on it?” This perspective emphasizes resilience, coherence, adaptability, and inner resources—the very foundations of yoga therapy.

An integrative system of care values both:

• Pathogenic care addresses acute disease or injury.

• Salutogenic care fosters long-term wellness, stress resilience, and quality of life.

As yoga therapists, our work aligns naturally with salutogenesis—helping clients connect breath to body, mind to meaning, and awareness to action.

2. The Bilingual Practitioner: Speaking Biomedical and Energetic Languages

For true collaboration to flourish, yoga therapists must become bilingual—fluent not only in the subtle, intuitive language of prāṇa and koshas, but also in the structured language of anatomy, pathology, and evidence-based practice.

When yoga therapists can:

• Understand and translate diagnostic language (e.g., herniated disc, vagal tone, dysautonomia),

• Reference current scientific literature on yoga therapy’s efficacy,

• Speak respectfully and knowledgeably with physicians, physical therapists, psychologists, and nurses,

—we demonstrate not only relevance but professional legitimacy in the clinical space.

Yet our power lies in offering something most clinicians are not trained to provide: time, presence, and holistic attunement. Yoga therapists are uniquely positioned to help clients feel heard, grounded, and empowered in the face of complex medical journeys.

3. Staying Within Scope: Yoga Therapy, Advocacy, and the IAYT Framework

The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) defines yoga therapy as a personalized process that applies the tools of yoga to support healing and promote whole-person wellbeing. It also provides clear ethical guidelines on scope of practice.

Yoga therapists are not medical providers—we do not diagnose, prescribe, or treat disease. However, we do:

• Educate clients on how lifestyle choices affect the nervous system,

• Co-create wellness plans that support regulation and agency,

• Refer clients back to their healthcare teams when necessary,

• Advocate for person-centered care when clients feel medically underserved.

This is particularly crucial in cases where:

• Treatment options are limited by insurance or workers' compensation restrictions,

• Time-constrained medical visits leave patients feeling unheard,

• Clients are navigating chronic conditions with few active solutions.

In such moments, yoga therapists can serve as allies—helping clients explore their values, restore hope, and consider new directions, all while staying ethically aligned with our training.

Conclusion: A Role at the Table

Collaborative care is not a passing trend—it is a paradigm shift toward treating the whole person. By integrating the depth of yoga therapy with the rigor of biomedicine, we can move from fragmented symptom treatment to truly holistic healing.

Yoga therapists who embody both scientific understanding and energetic presence will find their work increasingly valued—not just by clients, but by colleagues across the healthcare spectrum.

Let us continue to bridge disciplines, uplift our clients, and honor the ancient science of yoga as a modern ally in integrative care.

Suggested Readings and Citations

Mittelmark, M. B. (2022). The handbook of salutogenesis. Springer.

Sullivan, M., & Hyland Robertson, L. C. (2020). Understanding yoga therapy: Applied philosophy and science for health and well-being. Routledge.