Development Of Dance And Movement Therapy

By Karen Carter


Movement/Dance therapy refers to the therapeutic use of dance and movement for the purpose of supporting emotional, motor, and intellectual functions of the body. The term movement/dance therapy is often abbreviated as DMT and is commonly used in the United States and Australia. In the United Kingdom, this therapeutic treatment is referred by the name dance movement psychotherapy. The abbreviated form used in the United Kingdom is DMP.

DMT is a form of expressive therapy. Movement therapy aims to identify the correlation between emotions and movement. DMP is one of the therapies that have a very long history. Dance has been used since early human history in healing rituals in death, sickness, fertility, and birth. The existence of the idea of dance not being simply an expressive art emerged in Europe and the US in the period between 1840 and 1930.

Even though dance has traditionally been used for healing for thousands of years back, it is in the 1950s that it got established as a profession and therapy. American Dance Therapy Association founder, Chance Marian had a big role to play in this establishment. DMT has historically had two waves of development throughout. The first wave owes its development to Chance whilst the second wave interested American therapists a great deal.

The belief that the body and mind are in constant interaction is the basis for the theory of DMT. The dualist mind body premise is what the unconscious and conscious movements people make are based. For that reason, therapists partly base their relationships with clients on body language among other non-verbal cues. Each participant receives a sense of wholeness from DMT session by exploiting the unity among the body, spirit, and mind.

There are four main stages involved in this therapy that need to be completed. Each stage is composed of smaller goals that the client needs to accomplish, which contribute to the larger purpose of DMT. There is a huge variance in the stages and goals depending on the individual. The stages generally progress from one to the next. However, the stages may also be revisited over and over through the entire process.

The four stages involved in this therapeutic method are, preparation, illumination, evaluation, and incubation. The preparation stage also goes by the name warm-up stage. It involves preparing a safe and adequate space without distractions or obstacles. The stage also involves participants forming supportive relationships with witnesses. Comfort is needed for the participants to move while closing their eyes.

The leader prompts participants to venture into the subconscious during the incubation stage. Verbal contact is used to make the prompt. The subconscious offers a good environment to allow for the exploitation of emotions. The stage of illumination follows after incubation. Illumination stage is introduced in dialogue. The witness offers dialogue to conscious awareness to let self-reflection to begin.

Through self-reflection, participants can resolve and uncover motivations within their subconscious. There are both positive and negative aspects of excess self-awareness. The session is concluded with evaluation where insights are discussed to understand their significance.




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