Studies

After nearly 20 years of its existence, Myoreflex Therapy remains a relatively new form of therapy. Nevertheless, it has already been the subject of a number of studies and research projects. We are closely cooperating with various institutions on such projects, including the Deutsches Institut für Psychotraumatologie (DIPT) [German Institute for Psychotraumatology] in Cologne, Zentrum für Psychotraumatologie am Alexianer-Krankenhaus Krefeld [the Center for Psychotraumatology at the Alexianer Hospital], the Institut für Kommunikation und Gehirnforschung in Stuttgart [Institute for Communication and Brain Research] and the Zentrum für Muskel und Knochenforschung der Charité in Berlin [Center for Muscle and Bone Research at the Charité Hospital Berlin].

Doctoral Dissertation by Dorothea Kilk

As part of her 2005 doctoral dissertation titled “Myoreflex Therapy as complementary therapy for trauma,” psychologist Dorothea Kilk explored the question whether Myoreflex Therapy would be a suitable tool for the treatment of psychological trauma. She came to the following conclusion:

By treating the sick body, Myoreflex Therapy helps patients find options for defense and for compromise and to establish connections between their physical symptoms and their affective lives. In a model of the body’s functional systems as expressions of an (acute) traumatic reaction, this therapy links physical symptoms with the meaning of their bio-psycho-social connections. All of the patients investigated in the overall sample clearly demonstrate that Myoreflex Therapy should be understood as regulation therapy for disrupted physical processes. All the cases that were studied showed either complete resolution or wide-ranging relief of their physical symptoms.

»As complementary trauma therapy, Myoreflex Therapy has been proven to relieve their physical symptoms and leads to the subjective experience of improved mood. It should be regarded as an effective therapeutic tool for treating traumatized patients.«

Evaluation by Robert Bering and Katharina Muth

Psychologists Robert Behring and Katharina Muth came to a similar conclusion in their 2009 publication, "Trauma and Pain: Evaluation of Myoreflex Therapy in the context of multidimensional psychodynamic trauma therapy:”

Myoreflex Therapy represents a new, neurophysiologically-based refinement of the techniques of acupressure and concentrative movement therapy. … [It] uses neuronal regulatory circuits to generate additional tension at defined muscle groups, to stimulate self-regulation, and to effectuate pain reduction. The efficacy of this multimodal interventional method was evaluated in 30 patients who were being treated as inpatients for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), using a pre-post design, . […] After approx. seven weeks of therapy, the […] effect strengths observed for the treatment […] were deemed to be large.

»We were able to show that the intervention resulted in relief with respect to pain symptoms as well as PTSD-related and general psychopathological symptoms.«