Opening toward life: experiences of basic body awareness therapy in persons with major depression

Although there is a vast amount of research on different strategies to alleviate depression, knowledge of movement-based treatments focusing on body awareness is sparse. This study explores the experiences of basic body awareness therapy (BBAT) in 15 persons diagnosed with major depression who participated in the treatment in a randomized clinical trial. Hermeneutic phenomenological methodology inspired the approach to interviews and data analysis. The participants' experiences were essentially grasped as a process of enhanced existential openness, opening toward life, exceeding the tangible corporeal dimension to also involve emotional, temporal, and relational aspects of life. Five constituents of this meaning were described: vitality springing forth, grounding oneself, recognizing patterns in one's body, being acknowledged and allowed to be oneself, and grasping the vagueness. The process of enhanced perceptual openness challenges the numbness experienced in depression, which can provide hope for change, but it is connected to hard work and can be emotionally difficult to bear. Inspired by a phenomenological framework, the results of this study illuminate novel clinical and theoretical insight into the meaning of BBAT as an adjunctive approach in the treatment of depression.