[Empirical study of a physically oriented therapy with schizophrenic patients]. / Empirische Untersuchung einer leiborientierten Therapie mit schizophrenen Patienten.

Ten predominantly chronic schizophrenics were given body therapy, including massage to the feet, back and neck. The aim of the therapy was to increase patients' awareness of their own bodily limits. This objective is based on the view that schizophrenia is a problem of delimitation, that psychic problems have their physical embodiment, and that problems of delimitation can therefore be tackled at the physical level by enhancing the patients' ability to experience their own bodily limits. The relaxing effect of the therapy is indicated in physiological measurements of skin conductance and heart rate, plus patients' self-perceptions. The close physical presence of the therapist did not trigger any anxiety conditions. The study shows that this body-oriented therapy is worthy of consideration as a method for giving schizophrenic patients a greater awareness of their own bodily limits.