Psychomotor therapy for individuals with mild intellectual disabilities or borderline intellectual functioning presenting anger regulation problems and/or aggressive behaviour: A qualitative study on clients’ experiences

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Psychomotor therapy (PMT) is often applied in Dutch clinical practice to address aggressive behaviour in individuals with mild intellectual disabilities or borderline intellectual functioning. However, the literature on clients’ experiences is lacking. Methods An interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the semi-structured interviews of seven participants (19–60 years; four male, three female) who completed PMT targeting anger regulation problems. Results According to the participants, becoming aware of increasing tension and/or learning to downregulate the tension were the main goals of PMT. They emphasised both the possibility to learn by doing and the therapeutic alliance as essential to create a safe context, where participants can experiment with alternative behaviour. After completing PMT, participants perceived fewer aggressive outbursts and an increased self-esteem. Conclusions Participants in our sample experienced PMT as being helpful in targeting anger regulation problems and aggressive behaviour. The experiential nature of the program was perceived as a valuable aspect of PMT.