Rhythmic movement therapy

Domain IV · Body-oriented psychotherapy · Irina G. Malkina-Pykh · 2001 · St Petersburg, Russia

What it is

RMT is a structured, manualised group programme that its author places among the creative arts therapies. It combines three things:

Format

• Format
• 2010 version: 16 weekly sessions of 1.5–2 hours, group or individual, with some exercises in pairs or small groups. The first session (about 1 hour) is for getting acquainted and setting goals.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• 2014 version (followed): 16 weekly group sessions of 45–50 minutes, led by psychologists who completed a one-year RMT training course.
• Not the same method: Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT/RMTi) by psychiatrist Harald Blomberg and kinesiologist Moira Dempsey is a different, unrelated approach. It uses gentle rocking movements and primitive-reflex integration, done actively or applied passively by another person. This guide does not cover it.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Locked knees and held breath.
• Touch consent with every new partner.
• Sudden emotion, and pain in neck or back.
• Mistakes provoking self-criticism; normalise them.
• Feelings about the ending, and plans for continuing support.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.