L’évaluation des soins en psychomotricité : la thérapie psychomotrice basée sur les preuves versus la psychomotricité relationnelle

Abstract

The effectiveness of treatments for psychomotor disorders is becoming an important preoccupation in the field of clinical psychology. This article discusses the emergence of evidence-based psychomotor therapy. This therapeutic approach aims at reducing psychomotor disorders by practicing activities that specifically target underdeveloped perceptual-motor skills. Indeed, specific deficits are identified, and then addressed through careful assessment of these skills, by norm-referenced and standardized measures. Full scale randomized controlled studies of psychomotor techniques are lacking and the emergence of evidence-based psychomotor therapy is difficult. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is the opposition of many psychomotor therapists. Indeed, many psychomotor therapists have negative attitudes concerning the idea that psychomotor interventions may be evaluated in terms of their benefits and effects, their theoretical movement has been labelled the “relational psychomotor therapy”. However, in the present health care climate, it is not sufficient to suggest that an interventionist approach is appropriate; solid evidence must be provided demonstrating the effectiveness of that approach. Further effort is needed to provide detailed treatment descriptions and experimental studies that involve at least one randomized control group of an acceptable size. In the future, such studies may inform the search for the most effective interventions and may guide treatment selection in clinical care of psychomotor disorders. The development of evidence-based psychomotor therapy should stimulate the use of available knowledge and the use of appropriate instruments for diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of psychomotor disorders.