Movement, touch and talk in Norwegian psychomotor physiotherapy

Area of Science:

• Physiotherapy
• Clinical Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Musculoskeletal disorders are common, treated with diverse physiotherapy approaches.
• Debates exist regarding hands-on vs. hands-off therapeutic methods.
• Hands-off proponents argue hands-on therapy renders patients passive recipients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the active role of patients in hands-on psychomotor physiotherapy.
• To demonstrate how psychomotor physiotherapy facilitates patient empowerment and self-efficacy.
• To analyze the interplay of verbal and non-verbal communication in therapeutic touch.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of concrete clinical examples in psychomotor physiotherapy.
• Integration of psychomotor therapy theory with phenomenology, neuroscience, and social sciences.
• Systematic juxtaposition of verbal and bodily messages.

Main Results:

• Hands-on physiotherapy actively engages patients, promoting body trust and habit change.
• The body is shown to be as communicative as verbal discourse.
• New insights arise from combining verbal and bodily communication, benefiting both patients and therapists.
• The meaning and impact of therapeutic touch are shown to be variable and context-dependent.

Conclusions:

• Psychomotor physiotherapy, through extensive hands-on methods, actively involves patients.
• The body's communicative capacity is central to psychomotor therapy and physiotherapy.
• A deeper understanding of therapeutic touch and its role in physiotherapy is essential for clinical practice.