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   Dance Therapy

Dance therapy, or dance movement therapy is the psychotherapeutic use of movement and dance for emotional, cognitive, social, behavioral and physical conditions. Dance movement therapy strengthens the body/mind connection through body movements to improve both the mental and physical well-being of individuals. As a form of expressive therapy, DMT is founded on the basis that movement and emotion are directly related. The ultimate purpose of DMT is to find a healthy balance and sense of wholeness.

Since its birth in the 1940s, DMT has gained much popularity and has been taken to more serious and beneficial levels. Over the years, the practices of DMT have progressed, however, the main principles that founded this form of therapy have remained the same. Influenced by the “main principles” of this therapy, most DMT sessions are configured around four main stages: preparation, incubation, illumination, and evaluation. Organizations such as the American Dance Therapy Association and the Association for Dance Movement Therapy, United Kingdom maintain the high standards of profession and education throughout the field. DMT is practiced in places such as mental health rehabilitation centers, medical and educational settings, nursing homes, day care facilities, and other health promotion program[.This form of therapy which is taught in a wide array of locations goes farther than just centering the body. Specialized treatments of DMT can help cure and aid many types of diseases and disabilities. Other common names for DMT include: movement psychotherapy and dance therapy.


History

Although dance has been a method of expression for centuries, it wasn’t until just recently that it was characterized as a form of therapy. The development of DMT can be split into two waves throughout history. Long before the first wave of DMT in America (1940’s), the UK developed the idea of dance therapy. The first records of dance being used as a form of therapy date as far back as the nineteenth century in the UK. Although there were significant American influences, the main theories of dance therapy originated in the UK.

First Wave

Marian Chace, “The Grand Dame” of dance therapy, is the woman responsible for introducing the idea of DMT to the United States and therefore inspiring the first wave of DMT. She is considered the principal founder of what is now dance therapy in the United States. In 1942, through her work, dance was first introduced to western medicine. Chace was originally a dancer, choreographer, and performer. After opening her own dance school in Washington, D.C., Chace began to realize the effects dance and movement had on her students. She was soon asked to work at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. once psychiatrists too realized the benefits their patients were receiving from attending Chace’s dance classes. In 1966 Chace became the first president of the American Dance Therapy Association, an organization which she and several other DMT pioneers founded.

Second Wave

It wasn’t until the 1970s and 80s that the second wave of DMT came around and sparked much interest from American therapists. During this time, therapists began to experiment with the psychotherapeutic applications of dance and movement. As a result of the therapists experiments, DMT was then categorized as a form of psychotherapy. It was from this second wave that today’s DMT evolved.

Principles

The theory of DMT is based upon the idea that “the body and mind are inseparable”.

“Dance movement therapy rests on certain theoretical principles. These are:

  • Body and mind interact, so that a change in movement will affect total functioning

  • Movement reflects personality

  • The therapeutic relationship is mediated at least to some extent non-verbally, for

example through the therapist mirroring the client’s movement

  • Movement contains a symbolic function and as such can be evidence of unconscious process

  • Movement improvisation allows the client to experiment with new ways of being

  • DMT allows for the recapitulation of early object relationships by virtue of the largely non-verbal mediation of the latter”

Through the unity of the body, mind, and spirit, DMT provides a sense of wholeness to all individuals[4].
[edit] The Creative Process

The creative process has four stages, which occur during DMT. Each stage contains a smaller set of goals which correlate to the larger purpose of DMT. The stages and goals of DMT vary with each individual. Although the stages are progressive, the stages are usually revisited several times throughout the entire DMT process. The four stages are:

Preparation: the warm-up stage, safety is established

Incubation: relaxed, let go of conscious control, movements become symbolic

Illumination: meanings become apparent, can have positive and negative effects

Evaluation: discuss significance of the process, prepare to end therapy[12]
References

  1. “Who We Are,” American Dance Therapy Association, <http://www.adta.org/about/who.cfm>.

  2. “Who We Are,” American Dance Therapy Association, <http://www.adta.org/about/who.cfm>.

  3. a b Payne, Helen, Dance Movement Therapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, (Hove, East ok Sussex: Routledge, 2006).

  4. a b c d e f Levy, Fran J., Dance Movement Therapy: A Healing Art, (Reston, VA: The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 1988).

  5. Meekums, Bonnie, Dance Movement Therapy, (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.).

  6. “Who was Marian Chace?,” American Dance Therapy Association, <http://www.adta.org/resources/chace_bio.cfm>.

  7. “Who We Are,” American Dance Therapy Association, <http://www.adta.org/about/who.cfm>.

  8. Meekums, Bonnie, Dance Movement Therapy, (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.).

  9. “Who was Marian Chace?,” American Dance Therapy Association, <http://www.adta.org/resources/chace_bio.cfm>.

  10. “Dance Therapy,” American Cancer Society. <http://cancer.org/doctoor/MIT/content/MIT_2_3X_Dance_Therapy.asp>.

  11. Meekums, Bonnie, Dance Movement Therapy, (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.).

  12. Meekums, Bonnie, Dance Movement Therapy, (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.).

  13. Levy, Fran J., Dance Movement Therapy: A Healing Art, (Reston, VA: The American Alliance for
  14. Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 1988).

  15. Payne, Helen, Dance Movement Therapy Theory, Research, and Practice, (Hove, East Sussex: Routledge, 2006).

  16. “Who We Are,” American Dance Therapy Association, <http://www.adta.org/about/who.cfm>.

  17. “Who We Are,” American Dance Therapy Association, <http://www.adta.org/about/who.cfm>.

  18. “Who We Are,” American Dance Therapy Association, <http://www.adta.org/about/who.cfm>.

  19. “Who We Are,” American Dance Therapy Association, <http://www.adta.org/about/who.cfm>.

  20. “Dance Therapy,” American Cancer Society. <http://cancer.org/doctoor/MIT/content/MIT_2_3X_Dance_Therapy.asp>.

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