Expressive Therapies Institute Pty Ltd - Expressive Therapies Movement & Dance

'My way back into life was ecstatic dance. I re-entered my body by learning to move my self, to dance my own dance from the inside out, not the outside in.'

In ET free movement and dance are often used in the final stages of a session to support release and integration. Free movement may include going for a walk, cushion games (jumping, kicking, building), running or jumping. Free movement is often used by young male clients as a way to reduce tension and to celebrate a good session.

Free dance is also used in the final stages of a session - in an informal way. It can be spontaneous, planned by the client, accommpanied by music, drums of imagined music. After dealing with difficult emotions, some clients enjoy the balancing effect of free dance.

Our bodies carry the strain of the blocked emotional life. Repressed emotional pain is reflected as physical pain or tension. Unexpressed love and generous impulses that have not flowed out harden and begin to feel like their negative opposites. The body's part in repression is physical holding, muscular contraction. Under this armouring though is a healthy core. So freeing the body is a vital aspect of personal growth.

'A fundamental thesis of bioenergetics is that the body and mind are functionally identical: that is, what goes on in the mind reflects what is happening in the body and vice versa.'

- from Lowen & Lowen, The Way to Vibrant Health.

Therapists in this field utilise music or sound to improve a client's sense of emotional, physical and spiritual health and well-being. Various experiments with music have shown a range of benefits for all types of situations, from the elderly suffering from Alzheimer's to young people with learning disabilities.

Dance & Movement Therapy - As a form of psychotherapy, teachers in this field seek to use rhythmic or guided movement for emotional and psychological healing.

Dance/movement therapy or "DMT" is founded on the principle that a vital connection exists between personality and the way in which one moves, and that changes in movement behavior affect the emotional, intellectual, and physical health of the individual. It is practiced by trained dance/movement therapists who have earned a minimum of a master's degree and have met additional requirements established by The American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA). The ADTA was founded in 1966 to set professional standards and establish channels of communication among dance therapists throughout the world. Dance/movement therapists work in many different ways, in a variety of treatment settings and with different populations of all ages. DMT can be experienced in a group or individual session or used to enhance a verbally-oriented psychotherapy session. DMT is a body-based therapy grounded in interpersonal, object-relations theory, movement analysis and dance technique. Within a safe, therapeutic relationship DMT helps individuals express through movement and dance that which cannot be put into words.

Dance/movement therapy is effective as a technique to help those with eating and body image problems. One of the most crucial tasks of any therapy is helping an individual put her feelings and experiences into words. When an individual does not allow herself to know or put her feelings into words she must be helped to recognize and name feeling states in order to heal. Research shows that many patients with eating problems struggle with alexithymia, which is defined as difficulty in putting feelings and fantasies into words (Zerbe, 1995). Though eating disorders are incredibly complex, one way to think about the "symptom" of the eating problem is to understand it as an individual's best attempt to cope in some way with internal or external stress. The eating problem represents the individual's difficulty in finding other more gratifying ways to address key needs and issues which may or not be within the individual's awareness. For example, compulsive over-eating may be an individual's attempt to soothe (via the distraction of the food) a painful feeling that she has not yet learned to name or tolerate in any other way. Feeling states manifest in the body and the "site" of the eating disorder is the body itself, making body-based therapies ideal in helping those with eating problems.

For someone with an eating disorder the bodily-felt sense of self is distorted, frozen, traumatized or too filled with shame to be known or seen by another person. One of the ways DMT helps is through the development of mindfulness of bodily sensations leading to more realistic sense of body boundaries. Because this development happens within the safety of the therapeutic relationship, it can be emotionally corrective. The dance/movement therapist helps the client to pay attention to bodily-felt experience which have emotional significance leading her to experience, trust and know herself in a safe un-traumatizing relationship with the therapist. This can lead to greater ability to know herself and recognize physical cues such as hunger and satiation. Dance/movement therapists help clients to name and modulate strong emotions. That is, by attending to a bodily felt sensation, the individual can start to notice different intensities of the sensation and through attention to breath and movement, notice what changes occur. Many patients are than better able to self-soothe anxiety and other feeling states on their own outside of the therapy session.

Dance has existed in every human culture and is used in ritual, rites of passage and as a cathartic healing tool. In early civilizations dancing, religion, music and medicine were linked. Modern dance/movement therapists use the power of dance and movement to help individuals access their own natural ability to heal and grow.

Zerbe, K. The Body Betrayed: A Deeper Understanding of Women, Eating Disorders and Treatment. Gurze:Carlsbad,CA. 1995.

Anne L. Wennerstrand, CSW,DTR is a clinical social worker and dance/movement therapist working in New York City. Her practice focuses on women's mental health, eating and body image problems using a feminist, relational, psychoanalytic treatment model. Article submitted by Anne Wennerstrand and permission for use granted by Anne Wennerstrand.

Dance movement therapists (DMTs) use dance and movement to help people with a wide range of emotional, social, psychological and physical difficulties. They work with individuals, groups and families, helping them to improve their self-esteem and body image, develop effective communication skills and gain insights into their patterns of behaviour. They assist clients to develop strategies to manage their lives.

They work with people of all ages and with a wide variety of conditions. These can include: eating disorders, autistic children, people who have suffered abuse or violence, dysfunctional families or individuals with severe emotional disorders. They use dance and movement to increase body awareness, stimulate spontaneous expressions of feelings and promote social interaction.

Dance movement therapy is based on the belief that movement reflects an individual's pattern of thinking and feeling. It can help anyone with emotional problems, conflict or distress. People may also use it simply for personal growth.

Dance movement therapists work in a variety of settings including hospitals, psychiatric and rehabilitation units, schools and private practice. Working hours are usually 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. However, some weekend and evening work may be required. There are very few full-time positions. Many therapists work on a sessional basis.

have the maturity and emotional stability to deal with clients who may be suffering from mental or physical illness, or emotional problems

Dance has been fundamental to human life and culture since the time of our earliest ancestors; a form of self-expression, communication and celebration of life and community. However, by the turn of the 20th century, the potential for dance to promote healthy growth and change was also recognised. This recognition came with the development of more expressive and improvisational forms of dance popular at that time, as well as the acceptance of the integral relationship between mind and body.

Dance-movement therapy emerged as a profession in the US in the 1960s. By the 1970s it had reached Australia, and is now an established vocation, combining the creative process and the study of human movement into a holistic approach that draws upon the elements inherent in dance. Programs are designed to meet specific goals and bring about therapeutic change.

Dance-movement therapists are drawn from backgrounds in dance, education or the health sciences including, for example, teaching, physiotherapy and psychology. Practitioners are required to undergo extensive dance-movement therapy training together with supervised clinical practice. They may be employed specifically as dance-movement therapists, or integrate dance-movement therapy within the broader context of their work.

The dance-movement therapy profession in Australia consists of an ever-growing number of practitioners working in clinical, educational and community settings with individuals or groups of all ages including: