Psychomotor Physiotherapy for Young Women With Long-Term Health Disorders: Co-Creation of Meaning and Embodied Collaborations

Many young women seek physiotherapy for long-term health disorders. To address the complexity of such conditions, physiotherapists are encouraged to use a biopsychosocial model of care that includes biological, emotional, and social aspects of patients’ lives. However, knowledge of how the complexity of these disorders is addressed in psychomotor physiotherapy practice remains limited. By exploring clinical encounters between psychomotor physiotherapists and young women with long-term health disorders, we aimed to generate knowledge about therapeutic practices that may inform improvements to treatment. We conducted a narrative analysis of 10 observed clinical encounters between psychomotor physiotherapists and young women in primary healthcare in Norway, alongside individual interviews with the participants involved. Our findings highlight how the patient’s life becomes interwoven with treatment through embodied therapist–patient collaboration and co-creation of meaning. Inspired by Mattingly’s concept of clinical emplotment, we developed the encounters into clinical plots. We present three illustrative examples. The first plot highlights how a patient’s way of standing is connected to how she relates to others. The second highlights how exploring a patient’s breathing is connected to her search for recognition of her illness experiences. The third plot highlights how subtle acts of care are connected to a patient’s former experiences of neglect and abuse. Overall, the findings emphasize the potential of inviting patients to actively participate in making meaning of physiotherapy and using their bodily experiences as a foundation for dialog. This may aid physiotherapists in addressing the complexities of long-term health disorders in clinical practice.