Marie-José Manidi - Switzerland

Marie-José Manidi, a psychotherapist, teaches at the College for Social Studies of Lausanne, Switzerland.

She studied occupational therapy and physical education and has a
PhD in psychology (motor control) as well as a diploma in cognitive and behavioural therapy. This year she is completing her psycho-therapist practice of the Swiss Federation of psychologists (FSP).

For many years Marie-José Manidi has been researching the boundaries between action and psyche, trying to determine how movement and physical activity can help an individual suffering from dependence and mental symptoms, heal him or herself. She produced a research work entitled: “Physical activity and sports for people suffering from drug abuse, practised in the framework of a Harm Reduction structure”.

Positive Cognitive Side Effects

Various studies have shown that the positive side effects are particularly powerful when the action had a positive impact on the mind (Damasio, 1999). And they are even more powerful even the mind produces an effect on the action (Bandura, 2005; Burns, 1980). In certain circumstances, the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind are dissociated; this takes place during the modern form of hypnotic trance (Erickson, 1981). The goal of the present paper is to show that the positive side effects are more developed when action and mind are deeply and completely connected with each other; when this deep connection is established, the concerned person is deeply present to the world and to the other beings, cognitively reflecting everything (Kuenzli, 2005).