Dance/Movement Therapy for Functional Neurological Disorder

Functional neurological disorder (FND) sits in between neurology and psychiatry, including symptoms like tremors, limb weakness, functional seizures, and sensory issues. Previous research has found elevated dissociative symptoms (i.e., feelings of detachment or disconnection from the self or surroundings) and/or dissociative disorder comorbidities (i.e., dissociative identity disorder, dissociative amnesia) in FND populations relative to the general population. There is also emerging evidence for alterations in aspects of bodily awareness in FND, specifically including a lack of trust in the body and an increased tendency or likelihood to distract from bodily sensations, and atypical autonomic reactivity. These alterations may contribute to, or play a role in the experience of, FND symptoms. Dance/movement therapy (DMT) may be a potentially beneficial intervention for disorders characterized by bodily symptoms or feelings of disconnection from the self, including FND. Generally, DMT is based on the premise that psychological and bodily experiences reciprocally influence one another and has been shown to improve health-related psychological outcomes and wellbeing in a range of populations (e.g., fibromyalgia, brain trauma). Previous research has shown promise for body-based approaches for the treatment of dissociation and trauma-related distress, encouraging individuals to attend to their bodies/bodily sensations. Previous research demonstrates reductions in bodily disconnection post-DMT in individuals with Depersonalization-Derealization disorder, a dissociative disorder that, like FND, involves disconnections from the self and surroundings and alterations to bodily awareness (lack of trusting the body, difficulties with attention regulation). Using structured DMT for FND may help to encourage a conscious connection to the body/surroundings in the here and now, as well as a recognition of bodily states and, in turn, an adaptive regulation of them. The feasibility of dance/movement therapy has not yet been tested in FND and may provide new avenues for treatment.