Birgitte Ahlsen

About

I am qualified as a physiotherapist and have extensive clinical experience, mainly from primary health care. My interest has been particularly directed at patients with chronic muscle pain, and how such pain can be understood and treated. In my PhD, I analyzed illness narratives of men and women with chronic pain from a gender perspective. More recently, my research has focused on clinical encounters in physiotherapy; on interaction and communication between therapist and patient and how knowledge of illness and health is negotiated and produced in clinical encounters. My interest and enthusiasm for narratives and narrative analysis has followed me all the way. I am inspired by the medical humanities and concerned with how theories and perspectives from other fields and disciplines can help to shed new light on physiotherapy as profession and practice and contribute to developing health care services in the future.

I am responsible for the Master’s specialization in psychomotor physiotherapy, and leader of the Research Group (Re)habilitation – individual, services and society.

Field of study

Rehabilitation Fysioterapi Critical culture studies Chronic illnesses Narrative analysis Physiotherapy and Mental Health Illness narratives Research

Research groups

(Re)habilitation – Individuals, Services and Society

Research projects

Ongoing research projects

Choosing wisely: Assessments of treatment for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain
We aim to gain new knowledge about physiotherapists and GPs' assessments of the choice of treatment for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.
Physiotherapy for young adults with long-term health disorders: Body and culture
The project aims to develop new knowledge about physiotherapy for young adults with long-term health disorders, to contribute insights into how physiotherapists best can help this group of patients.
To touch and be touched: Communication and interaction in physiotherapy practice
Touch as a therapeutic tool is essential in physiotherapy practice and used for various therapeutic purposes.

Scientific publications

Grimsgaard, Elisabeth ; Eik, Hedda ; Bjorbækmo, Wenche; Ahlsen, Birgitte (2025). Piecing together a complex puzzle: how physiotherapists make sense of young women’s long-term health disorders. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09593985.2025.2532573

Mengshoel, Anne Marit; Sallinen, Merja Helena; Sim, Julius; Ahlsen, Birgitte (2025). Exercising an individualized process of agency in restoring a self and repairing a daily life disrupted by fibromyalgia: A narrative analysis. SSM - Qualitative Research in Health. Vol. 7.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2025.100538

Grimsgaard, Elisabeth ; Eik, Hedda ; Bjorbækmo, Wenche; Ahlsen, Birgitte (2024). A breathing space: how young Norwegian women engaging psychomotor physiotherapy to address long-term health disorders narrate their experiences. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09593985.2024.2362321

Klerud, Emilie; Ahlsen, Birgitte (2024). «Jeg ser så fort ned på meg selv» Noen unge jenters erfaringer med langvarig smerte: En intervjustudie. Fysioterapeuten.
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/4514606

Nicholls, D.A.; Ahlsen, Birgitte ; Bjorbækmo, Wenche; Dahl-Michelsen, Tone ; Hoppner, Heidi; Rajala, Anna Ilona; Richter, Robert; Hansen, Louise Søgaard; Sudmann, Tobba Therkildsen; Sviland, Randi; Maric, Filip (2023). Critical physiotherapy: a ten-year retrospective. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09593985.2023.2252524

Ahlsen, Birgitte ; Nilsen, Anne Birgitta (2022). Getting in touch: Communication in physical therapy practice and the multiple functions of language. Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences. Vol. 3.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fresc.2022.882099

Larsen, Marie Hamilton; Mengshoel, Anne Marit; Andersen, Marit Helen; Borge, Christine Råheim; Ahlsen, Birgitte ; Dahl, Kari Gire; Eik, Hedda ; Holmen, Heidi ; Lerdal, Anners; Mariussen, Kari; Thoresen, Lisbeth; Tschamper, Merete Kristin ; Urstad, Kristin Hjorthaug; Vidnes, Tone Karine; Wahl, Astrid Klopstad (2022). “A bit of everything”: Health literacy interventions in chronic conditions – a systematic review. Patient Education and Counseling. Vol. 105.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2022.05.008

Ahlsen, Birgitte ; Mengshoel, Anne Marit; Engebretsen, Eivind (2022). Legitimacy in clinical practice: How patients with chronic muscle pain position themselves in the physiotherapy encounter. Journal of Evaluation In Clinical Practice.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.13768

Rake, Silje Kristine; Ahlsen, Birgitte (2022). I spagaten - en diskursanalytisk tilnærming til hvordan psykomotorisk fysioterapi posisjonerer seg som fagdisiplin og behandlingstilnærming. Fysioterapeuten.
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3052230

Worum, Hilde; Lillekroken, Daniela ; Roaldsen, Kirsti Skavberg; Ahlsen, Birgitte ; Bergland, Astrid (2020). Physiotherapists’ perceptions of challenges facing evidence-based practice and the importance of environmental empowerment in fall prevention in the municipality – a qualitative study. BMC Geriatrics. Vol. 20.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-020-01846-8

See all publications

These publications are obtained from Norwegian Research Information Repository. The list may be incomplete.