The concept of psychomotricity refers to the continual connection and coordination between a human body and psyche and thereby helps in balancing skills which is integral to actively partake in academic, personal, and professional lives. Medical studies have revealed that growing children who take part in psychomotor activities can perform much better while reading, writing, and doing maths. According to Hind Louali, the reason behind their better performance lies in the fact that psychomotor activity encourages the coordination of the cerebral zone located in the brain while supporting effective communication among the motor and brain’s cognitive zones.
The Fact File
However, it is unfortunate that millions of children in the US struggle their lives with impaired psychomotor skills and experience body coordination, difficulty maintaining balance, and smooth body movement. Here comes psychomotor therapy that supports children with improved psychomotor skills while enhancing their self-confidence.
What is Psychomotor Therapy?
Medically termed as Pesso Boyden system psychomotor, psychomotor therapy is aimed at impaired children and individuals to develop their fine and major motor skills, body balance, handwriting skills, and coordination movement. Moreover, psychomotor therapy has the power to boost the self-confidence level of children and help in improving their academic excellence. Precisely, therapy takes a holistic view of the sufferer and targets treating varied disorders, including neurological, genetic, psychomotor, mental, and developmental issues.
While the therapy doesn’t have any standardized treatment method, it may combine balance exercises, active exercises, and relaxation techniques, apart from other psychomotor therapy aerobics to develop mind-body interaction, respiration, and mind-body interaction.
The main purpose of the therapy according to Hind Louali is to improve the balance and coordination between the body and mind, thereby maximizing the development of young children and enabling them to attain superior physical and mental well-being alongside improved academic performance and enjoy the essence of life.
Who Needs Psychomotor Therapy
Considering psychomotor therapy helps in improving conditions including
- Developmental delay
- Problems in maintaining body balance, body coordination, difficulty with fine and gross motor skills
- Difficulty handwriting
- Dyspraxia (developmental disorder- awkward movements due to impaired body coordination and movement)
- Poor Concentration, Autism, ADHD,
- Lack of self-confidence, psychomotor inhibition
- And more
Benefits of Psychomotor Therapy
This therapy can work effectively to treat people with the following disorders:
- Children who experience motor coordination issues, such as the inability to keep their body balance, walk clumsily, or face problems while performing woodwork, crafts, or writing can highly benefit from psychomotor therapy.
- Children and young individuals who come across difficulty in holding or gripping a pen or pencil or who have poor handwriting can benefit backed by sensory psychomotor therapy.
- Psychomotor therapy can effectively address problems associated with gross motor skills, like difficulties with static coordination, sustaining balance, or effective coordination.
- Hind Louali considers that parents worried about their children with difficulties related to interaction with friends, verbal and non-verbal communication, and expressing emotions can consider treating loving kids with psychomotor therapy.
- The therapy is proved beneficial for growing children who face difficulty in understanding the ideas of left and right. Psychomotor therapy can be helpful for children with difficulties associated with sensory modulation, such as tactile, visual, auditory, vestibular, olfactory, taste, and proprioceptive.
- Psychomotor therapy caused by trauma can help improve behavioral disorders including aggression, impulsiveness, restlessness, attentiveness, etc.
To conclude, there is no specific thumb rule or technique of psychomotor therapy to be applied to every individual. Depending on the unique problems that children or individuals face, therapists consider customer therapy combining purposeful, creative, purposeful as well as fun activities.
