Bodily experiences of patients diagnosed with anorexia nervosa during treatment with the body monochord —A modified grounded theory approach

Publication date: Available online 9 March 2018 Source:The Arts in Psychotherapy Author(s): Uta Fendel, Hubertus Sandler, Christina Papachristou, Barbara Voigt, Matthias Rose, Burghard Friedrich Klapp The purpose of this study was to explore using Grounded Theory the subjective bodily experiences of patients with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa (AN) during vibro-acoustic stimulation sessions with the Body Monochord (BoMo), a body sound treatment instrument. A total of 20 female patients diagnosed with AN received two BoMo treatments. Subsequent to the treatments, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The following main categories were identified: differentiated perception, focussed attention, emergence of body-related feelings, emergence of emotions, emergence of thoughts, emergence of inner images, relaxation, spatial and temporal experience, new bodily experiences and self-reflection. The subjective experiences during the BoMo treatment were independent of patient body shape and weight, were not exclusively focussed on usual illness-related body problem areas like the belly and the thighs and had both positive and negative connotations. As a result new therapeutic approaches that are suited to handling and integrating new bodily experiences in patients diagnosed with AN may develop. Due to the variety of issues that emerge during the treatments BoMo might present a meaningful extension to verbal psychotherapy.
Source: Arts in Psychotherapy - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research