Saturday, 10 September 2016

Development Of Dance And Movement Therapy

By Karen Carter


Movement/dance therapy is the therapeutic employment of dance and movement in supporting motor, intellectual, and emotional functions of the human body. The abbreviation DMT is often used for dance therapy. The use of the word dance therapy is common in Australia and the US while people in United Kingdom use the term dance movement psychotherapy. Dance movement psychotherapy is usually abbreviated as DMP.

DMT makes one of the many forms of expressive therapies. Identification of the relationship between motion and emotions is the main goal of this field. Movement therapy has one of the longest histories. In the ancient world, dance was used during healing rituals in fertility, sickness, birth, death and similar events. In Europe and the United States, the belief that dance was more than just one of the expressive arts came up between 1840 and 1930 and continued to develop into what it is today.

Although the use of dance to heal was in use since thousands of years ago, its actual establishment into a profession and therapy happened in the 1950s. Marian Chance, the founder of American Dance Therapy Association played a major role in the establishment of dance as a therapy. There are two waves of the history of DMT. Chance spearheaded the first wave, whereas American therapists took great interest in the second wave.

The main belief that makes the basis of the theory of DMT is that the mind and body interact. People make conscious and unconscious movement basing on the dualist premise of mind body to affect their total functioning and to reflect their personality. Thus, the relationship between the therapist and client is in part based on non-verbal cues like body language. DMT explores the unity of mind, body, and spirit to offer a sense of wholeness to every individual.

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 of DMT are, preparation, incubation, illumination, and evaluation. The preparation stage can also be called the warm-up stage. It involves preparation of safe and sufficient space that does not have any obstacles or distractions. The client also creates a supportive relationship with a witness. Participants need to be comfort to be able to move while their eyes are shut.

During the incubation stage, participants are prompted by the leader to venture into their subconscious. The prompting is done verbally. The participant needs the relaxation and serenity provided by the subconscious to exploit their emotions. The illumination stage comes after incubation. Illumination is integrated into the dialogue. Dialogue is offered by the witness to the conscious awareness for allowing self-reflection.

Motivations hidden in the subconscious are resolved and uncovered through self-reflections. Positive as well as negative effects are associated with excess self-awareness. The session comes to a conclusion with the therapist evaluating insights gathered and discussing their significance.




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