One-year follow-up of basic body awareness therapy in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder. A small intervention study of effects on movement quality, PTSD symptoms, and movement experiences.

One-year follow-up of basic body awareness therapy in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder. A small intervention study of effects on movement quality, PTSD symptoms, and movement experiences. Physiother Theory Pract. 2017 May 25;:1-12 Authors: Blaauwendraat C, Levy Berg A, Gyllensten AL Abstract The present study with mixed methods design evaluated the long-term effects of Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) for patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fifteen patients received 12 individual sessions of BBAT treatment as usual (TAU) when needed. The patients were assessed at baseline (T0), directly after treatment (T1) and at one-year follow-up (T2), using the Body Awareness Scale Movement Quality and Experience (BAS MQ-E), the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). The results at T1 showed significant improvement in the quality of movement (p = 0.001), body experience (p = 0.007), and symptoms (p = 0.001). At T2, the improvements were sustained. Pain in stillness (p = 0.017) and during movement (p = 0.007) had decreased. The verbal ability to describe the body experiences in words was poor at T0, but became more detailed at T1 and even more so at T2. Our findings suggest that BBAT in addition to TAU can be a viable physiotherapeutic treatment for patients with PTSD. This knowledge may influence future treatment strategies for patients with PTSD and be of guidance to physiotherapis...
Source: Physiotherapy Theory and Practice - Category: Physiotherapy Authors: Tags: Physiother Theory Pract Source Type: research