Dance Therapy

The use of dance as a therapeutic tool is founded in the idea that body and mind are completely integrated. While the relationship between the mind and body is constantly being explored, theorized and discussed, the whole area certainly highlights the ingenuity of the creation and masterpiece in the human being. Dance therapy (also called dance/movement therapy) is the use of choreographed or improvised movement as a way of treating social, emotional, cognitive, and physical problems. Throughout the ages, people of many cultures have used dance to express powerful emotions, tell stories, treat illness, celebrate important events, and maintain communal bonds. Dance therapy harnesses this power of movement in a therapeutic setting and uses it to promote personal growth, health, and well being.

Dance therapy is based on the premise that the body and mind are interrelated. Dance therapists believe that mental and emotional problems are often held in the body in the form of muscle tension and constrained movement patterns. Conversely, they believe that the state of the body can affect attitude and feelings, both positively and negatively. Dance movements promote healing in a number of ways. Moving as a group brings people out of isolation, creates powerful social and emotional bonds, and generates the good feelings that come from being with others. Moving rhythmically eases muscular rigidity, diminishes anxiety, and increases energy. Moving spontaneously helps people learn to recognize and trust their impulses, and to act on or contain them as they choose. Moving creatively encourages self-expression and opens up new ways of thinking and doing. On a purely physical level, dance therapy provides the benefits of exercise: improved health, well-being, coordination, and muscle tone. On an emotional level, it helps people feel more joyful and confident, and allows them to explore such issues as anger, frustration, and loss that may be too difficult to explore verbally. On a mental level, dance therapy seeks to enhance cognitive skills, motivation, and memory. Dance therapists can also address specific problems in specific ways. For example, to help a patient reduce stress, a dance therapist would first identify how the person's body reacts to stress, and then explore specific movement techniques to increase circulation, deepen breathing, and reduce muscle tension. What You Can Expect Your dance therapy experience will depend on your ailment, whether you work with a dance therapist in private practice or in the context of a treatment team, and whether you are the only patient or part of a group. And naturally different dance therapists have different styles. You need absolutely no previous dance training to benefit from dance therapy. Generally speaking, however, for the initial consultation, you will meet with the dance therapist in a dance studio. You should wear comfortable clothing for this and all subsequent sessions. First, the therapist will talk with you about your needs and your reasons for wanting treatment. Next, the therapist may ask you to walk around the studio in order to analyze your body shape, posture, and movements: Is your body erect or caved in? Do you reach out or hold yourself in? Do you move in a fluid or restricted way? Finally, the dance therapist will discuss your treatment goals with you, and the two of you might arrive at an agreement regarding the duration and nature of the therapy. You should review your goals with the therapist periodically to see if you are meeting them. In your regular sessions, your dance therapist will watch you dance, encourage you to express your feelings through movement, and, at times, imitate your movements (this is called "empathic mirroring") to establish rapport and make you feel accepted. The therapist may also try to help you connect your thoughts, feelings, and memories to your movements. If you are part of a dance therapy group, the dance therapist will typically assess how the group works together--how you all interact and share emotional expression through movement--and intervene or direct the action accordingly. For example, the therapist might introduce the idea of leading