Therapeutic psychomotricity in children: professional profile and reasons for referral to treatment in Uruguay

Psychomotricity in Uruguay has diversified the theoretical paradigms that support it and at the therapeutic level it assumes an interdisciplinary perspective, considering sensorimotor, psychoaffective and relational aspects of people. The aim of this study is to understand the current professional profile of those who work in therapeutic psychomotricity with children in Uruguay, their work settings and the reasons that originate the referral. A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out. 145 psychomotor therapists who performed child psychomotor therapy in 2020 and/or 2021 were surveyed by self-report. The variables were socio-occupational profile, work setting and reasons for referral. Within the sample, 97.9 % are women, 46.2 % of which completed postgraduate studies. They see an average of 23 patients per week, mostly school boys. The most frequent reasons for referral are Autism Spectrum Disorder (71.9 %) and graphomotor difficulties (59 %), with psychomotor inhibition being the least frequent (0.7 %). The classic classification and description of psychomotor disorders does not correspond to the main reasons for referral, which are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. There is a gap between what psychomotor therapists learn in their degree, the current profile of patients they see and the demands of the work field. Future studies need to review the frameworks and update the classification of psychomotor disorders.