Feeling more in balance and grounded in one's own body and life. Focus group interviews on experiences with Basic Body Awareness Therapy in psychiatric healthcare

Abstract The aim of the present study was to explore patients’ experiences as participants in Basic Body Awareness Treatment (BBAT) groups, in order to deepen our understanding of patients’ perspectives on this movement practice. BBAT draws upon people's own health resources by promoting quality of movement. Seventeen women and one man with psychiatric disorders, ages ranging from 27 to 70 and with various diagnoses, participated in the study. All participants had attended a BBAT group for at least 6 months. Three focus group interviews were performed, and the interview material was condensed systematically with the aim to extract core meanings. The following three core themes emerged: increased awareness of one's own body and better knowledge of the self, threshold for taking part in time-consuming change, and relationships between oneself and others. The process of strengthening the experience of the lived body pointed towards feelings of wholeness, and feeling more at home in themselves and in the group. The study indicated that BBAT groups contributed to a better health, even though it cannot tell if the changes were long lasting.