Effects of basic body awareness therapy on movement quality, arousal regulation, and bodily experience in Danish military veterans with severe PTSD symptoms.

INTRODUCTION

Military veterans suffering from severe symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) often experience significant bodily manifestations that recommended psychological trauma-focused therapies might not fully address.

AIM: This study aims to evaluate the impacts of Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) on movement quality, arousal regulation, and bodily experience among Danish military veterans with severe PTSD symptoms undergoing psychological trauma-focused therapy.

METHODS

This cohort study included 37 Danish male military veterans with severe PTSD symptoms (consistent with PTSD diagnosis) who received individual BBAT sessions alongside psychological trauma-focused therapy (e.g. trauma-focused cognitive processing and prolonged exposure therapy). Assessments were conducted at baseline and after 12 BBAT sessions using the Body Awareness Scale Movement Quality and Experience (BAS MQ-E) and questionnaires evaluating self-rated interoceptive awareness and subjective somatic, PTSD, depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, including Wilcoxon effect size ('r'), was used to estimate changes. Differences between completers and dropouts were also analyzed.

RESULTS

Significant improvements were observed in overall movement quality (BAS MQ from 0.97-0.49, Wilcoxon effect size = 0.79) and overall bodily experiences (BAS E from 1.43 to 0.86, Wilcoxon effect size = 0.74). Notable enhancements were found in interoceptive awareness with large effect sizes for indicators such as Noticing, Attention Regulation, Emotional Awareness, Self-regulation, and Body Listening. Additionally, significant improvements were seen in somatic symptoms, PTSD, depression, anxiety, and stress.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that BBAT may improve movement quality, bodily experience, and arousal regulation in Danish male veterans with severe PTSD symptoms undergoing trauma treatment.