“Under the gaze” is a hospital therapeutic group of singing, dance and theater built by and for five adults suffering from intellectual disabilities and psychiatric disorders at the EPSM Georges Mazurelle in Vendée. The work carried out shows a significant evolution of their motor and cognitive abilities with a strengthening of self-confidence measured in particular by an original visual tool called the “estimometer”.
This group is part of a long tradition of the establishment which pursues its strategy of non-drug mediated therapy with patients. The group is led by a multi-professional team made up of an occupational therapist, a psychomotor therapist, a nurse, a caregiver and a psychologist. The innovation lies in the fact that patients participating in this group can today produce an hour of psycho-corporeal work in training with, as a goal, thirty minutes of performance. The play they are performing in public is called “A Ghost in the Theater”. It is written, with themes chosen and appreciated by patients. The pitch: a murder has taken place and the ghost returns to the scene of the crime. Three acts are performed by improvisation with group sung interludes.
As in the Fable “ you used to sing and dance well now! “, the regular work of the patients bore fruit and the encouragement of the public through applause encouraged their motivation. Prodigious progress was observed in two years of dancing, singing and theater practice, and in particular an improvement in behavior at each session.
“Under the gaze” is a concept which says that the gaze of the other is an operating part of the therapeutic process.
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The time of the performance also calls for this change in outlook on their new skills; this is why the group is called “Sous Le Regard”. A video, photos, a friendly time allows exchange with the public and the outside world. From the innovative aspect of this group, here is what to remember:
– cognitive and bodily remediation : patients will choose the songs, write their piece and dance the choreography or create from what remains of their “library” of gestures learned throughout these two years of workshop. The body straightens, their endurance, memory and concentration improve.
– the troop effect: the patients are alone on stage, they face together, without caregivers by their side. In the case of whites, like tightrope walkers, they concentrate their forces again and leave again in the light. The audience waits, listening and the scene resumes. This supportive exchange with the public is an operating part of the therapeutic process.
– the estimometer is a visual tool invented based on the levels of satisfaction reached by patients following loud applause from the public. This reinforcer had a considerable effect on self-confidence.
– the social rehabilitation : being watched by the various departments of the establishment and on a municipal stage open to the public of the City of La Roche-Sur-Yon promotes the inclusion of people suffering from mental disorders.
Ultimately, this group promotes recovery and collective action has meaning: a true, fair, sensitive and not just beautiful meaning. The show becomes a symbol of the inclusion of people suffering from mental disabilities in society. It marks a new stage in their lives: from patients to citizen-actors or the birth of a new status, of a new life.
• Contact: Frédérique Panserrieu, psychologist, service for people with mental disabilities and associated psychiatric disorders, George Mazurelle Hospital Center, EPSM de Vendée, La Roche-sur-Yon. Frédérique won the “180 seconds to innovate” Prize at the French Psychiatry Congress (CFP) last November, in the Human and Social Sciences category (psychologists, neuropsychologists, sociologists, philosophers, etc.)
