A Case Study on the Effectiveness of Clinical Dohsa-hou in Adjusting the Experiential Modes of a College Baseball Player with Throwing Yips

Abstract

We provided clinical Dohsa-hou, a Japanese psycho-therapy, to a college baseball player who complained of yips, a neuropsychological condition that affects athletes’ performance. This in-depth individual case study observed the changes in the player’s experiential mode. While examining the experiential mode, we focused on the individual’s attention style using the attention scale of the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS). In this case, the player’s self-perception of the yips changed in a short period of time, triggered by the Dohsa-hou sessions and a reduction in the pressure associated with graduating as a senior student. When the therapy was introduced, the individual’s experiential style was such that upon realizing an inability to perform a movement as intended, he would become obsessed with this inability. However, following the intervention, this experiential style shifted to one where the individual did not overly worry about the inability to perform movements as intended, but instead persevered through trial and error until successful execution was achieved. In this instance, it is believed that the alteration in experiential style and the experience of self-control gained through the therapy led to a change in the player’s self-perception of the yips.