Dispokinesis for musicians

Domain X · Body, movement, breath & physical · Gerrit Onne van de Klashorst · 1950 · Amsterdam

What it is

Dispokinesis is a training and therapy method developed for musicians, singers and other performers by the Dutch pianist and physiotherapist Gerrit Onne van de Klashorst (born Aerdenhout 1927, died 2017). The EGD dates its development to around 1950 at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam. The…

Format

• Dispokinesis is a process method, not a fixed-session protocol. The EGD calls it "Prozessarbeit" (process work). Results may appear quickly but often need a long-term process. The sources imply the following phases. Their order follows Wikipedia's statement that treatment closes developmental gaps…
• Basic programme: the Urgestalten. Work through the original shapes of posture, breathing and movement, following developmental stages (lying, crawling, sitting, standing). Wikipedia speaks of roughly 35 basic exercises. The Graz course works through all of the exercises over its course year. Goal:…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Assessment. History-taking (anamnesis), sensorimotor analysis while the person plays or sings, and examination of the basic positions. Video and EMG are optional. Goal: identify habitual patterns, ergonomic mismatches and complaints that need medical clarification first. Move on when: medical causes have been considered and the client understands that the work is experiential, not gymnastics.
• Graz annual further-training course for music-school teachers: ten Saturdays plus four Sunday mornings for catch-up and ergonomic fitting. A maximum of 15 participants. A certificate of attendance leads to a second year towards the "Dispokinesis basic" certificate, offered from 2026.
• Training route and credential. The EGD describes its post-academic course as certified training to become a teacher of Dispokinesis (dispokinetician), in three yearly parts: in-depth training of one's own disposition (bookable on its own), training as a dispokinetician for one's own instrument, and training for all instruments, voice and conducting; the 2021–2023 course was held at the Hildesheim music school.…

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 any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• 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?
• 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

• Re-experiencing, dissociation, and suggestibility around recovered memories.
• Clients who push through discomfort out of the same ambition that drives their playing.
• Hesitant disclosures, and the client minimising what happened because they want to keep studying.
• Comparison and competition between musicians, and individual complaints that need one-to-one or medical attention.
• Role drift, either way: the teacher doing psychotherapy, or the therapist giving posture instructions without training.

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.