Effects of Dohsa‐hou relaxation on body awareness and psychological distress1

Relaxation is one of the most frequently used methods for treating psychological and physical problems. Many relaxation methods are effective treatments for various psychological problems. Body awareness could be an important component of body‐oriented psychological treatment. In this study, a self‐...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJapanese psychological research Vol. 54; no. 4; pp. 388 - 399
Main Author FUJINO, HARUO
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Melbourne, Australia Blackwell Publishing Asia 01.11.2012
Subjects
body awareness
body awareness scale
body‐oriented psychotherapy
Dohsa‐hou
relaxation
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Summary:Relaxation is one of the most frequently used methods for treating psychological and physical problems. Many relaxation methods are effective treatments for various psychological problems. Body awareness could be an important component of body‐oriented psychological treatment. In this study, a self‐report measure for the assessment of body awareness was developed, and its psychometric characteristics and relationships with other psychological constructs were examined. The effect of Dohsa‐hou relaxation was investigated using the developed Body Awareness Scale (BAS). The results showed that the BAS had good internal consistency and test‐retest reliability, and that it was associated with related psychological constructs. Dohsa‐hou relaxation led to increased body awareness and decreased psychological distress. The BAS can be a useful instrument in the field of body‐oriented psychotherapy research and related treatment methods, and increased body awareness has an important role in Dohsa‐hou relaxation therapy.
Bibliography:The author would like to thank Professor Osamu Imura (Osaka University) for his support on this earlier manuscript.
This research was supported in part by Global COE Program “Center of Human‐Friendly Robotics Based on Cognitive Neuroscience” of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.
ISSN:0021-5368
1468-5884
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-5884.2012.00517.x