Analysis of a care activity with a physical focus and contribution to the training and professionalization of the profession: The exemple of psychomotor therapy
This article shows how the in-depth analysis of a key professional physical gesture contributes to training and professionalization. The article is based on the results of an analysis of an activity conducted with psychomotor therapists working with pediatric patients. A microscopic but central part of the professional work resides in the therapist’s body and their gestural adjustments, but remains implicit and hardly put into words by the therapists carrying these movements. The results of this analysis show that the psychomotor therapists conduct a body, sensory and affective inquiry with their pediatric patients. These results inform a professionalization perspective and provide an opportunity to consider group constitution, training composition and institutional recognition.