Dance/Movement Therapy for Functional Neurological Disorder

The number/proportion of eligible participants who consent to participate in the study by 29/05/2026

The number/proportion of in-person visits and mid-point calls attended and completed. The number of days the task was completed during the at-home periods.

The number/proportion of enrolled (consented) participants who withdraw from the study prior to completion.

The number and nature of adverse events reported during study participation.

Qualitative measures of perceived benefit of the intervention, barriers and facilitating factors, experiences of study procedures.

This is a one question measure that assesses self-reported current symptom severity relative to study intake. Patients will rate their current functional neurological disorder symptoms using this 7-point scale (1=very much improved; 2=much improved; 3=minimally improved; 4=no change; 5=minimally worse; 6= much worse; 7=very much worse).

Measures the presence, impact, and severity of functional neurological symptoms including seizures, tremors, etc.

A 37-item self-report questionnaire assessing various abilities relating to awareness and recognition of bodily experiences, including eight subscales: Noticing, Not-Distracting, Not- Worrying, Attention Regulation, Emotional Awareness, Self-Regulation, Body Listening, Trust. Each question is rated from 0-5, and average scores are calculated across the items for each subscale. Higher scores on all subscales indicate better outcomes.

A 39-item scale with five facets (Observing, Describing, Acting with Awareness, Non-Judging, Non-Reactivity) measuring trait mindfulness in everyday life each facet. Each question is rated from 1-5, with higher scores indicating better outcomes.

An 18-item self-report scale to capture cognitive and behavioural responses to symptoms with six subscales: Fear Avoidance, Damaging Beliefs, Embarrassment Avoidance, Symptom Focusing, All-or-Nothing Behaviour, Resting Behaviour. Each question is rated from 0-4, with higher scores across subscales indicating worse outcomes.

A 30-item self-report measure that assesses different types of psychological dissociative symptoms across five subscales: Disengagement, Depersonalisation, Derealisation, Memory Disturbance, Emotional Constriction, and Identity Dissociation. Each question is rated on a scale from 1-5, with total scores on each subscale (ranging from 5-25) converted into T scores once calculated. Higher scores indicate worse outcomes.

A 20-item self-report questionnaire assessing alexithymia across a total score and three subscales: Difficulty Describing Feelings, Difficulty Identifying Feelings, Externally Oriented Thinking. Total scores range from 20-200, with higher scores indicating worse outcomes.

A five-item self-report measure assessing impairments in social and occupational functioning. Total scores range from 0-40, with higher scores indicating worse outcomes.

A 36-item measure of health-related quality-of-life over the past four weeks across eight subscales: Physical Functioning, Role Limitations Due to Physical Health, Role Limitations Due to Emotional Problems, Energy and Fatigue, Emotional Wellbeing, Social Functioning, Pain, and General Health. Individual items are rated from 1-6 and, after participant ratings, each item is recoded on a 0-100 scale, with higher scores indicating better outcomes.

A 20-item scale measuring autonomic nervous system symptoms in everyday life. Total scores range from 20-100, with higher scores indicating worse outcomes.

A 12-item scale measuring awareness of particular sensations within the body. Total scores range from 12-60, with higher scores indicating greater sensitivity to internal bodily sensations.

Measured using a heartbeat tracking task (HTT) in the laboratory. Participants are asked to pay attention to and count the number of heartbeats they feel over different periods of time to determine how accurate they are with regards to this, over four trials.

Measured using a heartbeat tracking task (HTT) in the laboratory. Participants are asked to judge their level of confidence in how accurate the are in detecting their heartbeats over four trials within the task.

A control task to the heartbeat tracking task (HTT) where participants are asked to count seconds over differing periods of time to measure their accuracy with regards to time perception, over four trials.

A control task to the heartbeat tracking task where participants are asked to count seconds over differing periods of time to, indicating their confidence in this ability over four trials.

Measured in the laboratory. Self-report questions of current state pain, bodily/autonomic arousal, fatigue, functional neurological symptoms, and dissociation.

Participants will be asked to wear sensors to measure their heartrate and electrical conductivity of the skin (measures of physiological/autonomic arousal). Heartrate will be measured with electrocardiography: two sensors will be attached under the collarbones and one on the left ankle. Electrical conductivity of the skin/electrodermal activity will be measured with two sensors on the index and middle fingers of the non- dominant hand. The electrocardiography sensors will also be worn during completion of the heartbeat tracking and time estimation tasks.

Completed on days when participants perform the intervention or control task at home. Post task, participants are asked to indicate on a 1-7 Likert scale (1: very easy, 7: very difficult) how easy it was to perform the task.

Completed on days when participants perform the intervention or control task at home. Post task, participants are asked to indicate on a 1-7 Likert scale (1: very bad, 7: very good) how they felt while performing the task.

Completed on days when participants perform the intervention or control task at home. Likert scale from 1-7 (1: not at all, 7: extremely) measuring current state: pain, bodily arousal, fatigue, functional neurological symptoms (e.g., tremors, weakness, seizures, tingling/numbness).

Completed on days when participants perform the intervention or control task at home. Ten questions of state dissociation (e.g., feeling detached from oneself and surroundings) from the Clinician Administered Dissociative States Scale, measured on a scale from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely) and total scores ranging from 0-40.

Completed on days when participants perform the intervention or control task at home. Post task, two questions regarding the ability to currently feel one's heartbeat (yes/no) and if one is currently sweating (yes/no).

Completed on days when participants perform the intervention or control task at home. Open comments box for participants to add any thoughts or feelings about the session.