Psychomotor therapy is a body-mediated approach aimed at balancing motor and psychic functions while addressing the corporeal, cognitive, affective, and identity dimensions.
With babies and toddlers, psychomotor therapy supports psychomotor skills’ development and helps reach successive milestones (in case of developmental delay, neurologic and genetic disorders) as well as strengthen parent-child bonding.
With children and teenagers, psychomotor therapy empowers them to manage their difficulties linked to dyspraxia, dysgraphia, attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD), tonic-emotional disorder, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), anxiety, inhibition, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), high intellectual potential (HIP)…
Our procedure:
A first meeting with the child and his family to identify the problems encountered and to establish if a psychomotor assessment is required.
The psychomotor assessment will study muscle tone, gross/fine motor skills, sensory profile, body image, laterality, executive functions, handwriting, pencil grasp, praxis.
This psychomotor assessment includes standardized tests, clinical observations, and questionnaires to be completed by the parents.
A therapeutical plan is then produced, based on the child’s strengths, to help him overcome his difficulties.
1. Spontaneous playing based on the child’s difficulties (various mediums will be used or created to address areas such as motor coordination, space structuration, and attention.)
2. Handwriting skills: they are enhanced via upper body strengthening (through fine motor skills games) and a multi-sensory approach, increasing the child’s ability to identify, form, and recall the letters
3. Clay, painting, calligraphy, and other art mediums, providing expressive but also rehabilitative benefits (fine motor skills, spatial representation, etc)
4. Sensory integration, working on sensory inputs: tactile, vestibular, kinesthesia…
5. Body expression: symbolic and theatrical play not only support the development of the body’s image and representation but also enhances expression and attention to others
6. Relaxation methods (such as verbal induction relaxation, mindfulness, and body mobilization).
