Possible connection between physiotherapy and psychology. A qualitative study on physiotherapists' perceptions of psychologists in their work context

The physiotherapist is a key figure in the process of treating patients with a large spectrum of problems. From a biopsychosocial perspective, it would be interesting to integrate both professionals into the work team. This study aimed to explore physiotherapists' perceptions on how they imagine the role of the psychologist in their work context, to highlight the importance of integrating this figure as a resource for the patient, the physiotherapist, and the health context. In this study, 50 physiotherapists (27 females and 23 males; mean age = 42 years; sd = 12.2) participated in an individual interview via videocall. Socio-demographic and occupational data were collected. The texts of the interviews, recorded and transcribed, were analyzed using the Emotional Text Mining (ETM) technique using the T-LAB software. Five clusters emerged from the analysis: (1) The psychologist as support to physiotherapy, focused on the help that the psychologist could provide to physiotherapy, (2) The psychologist in the team, focused on the role of the psychologist as an integral part of their work team, (3) A possible integration, highlighting the role of the psychologist in a more global context, (4) Reprocessing, centered on the elaborating function of psychology, (5) The psychology impasse, describing the difficulties associated with this integration. Listening to and understanding physiotherapists' thoughts and fantasies related to the integration of the psychologist in the rehabilitation process is essential to propose adequate multidisciplinary interventions that include both the somatic and psychological aspects of the person.