Dance movement therapy
Dance movement therapy (DMT) is a body-based therapeutic approach that integrates movement with emotional and physical well-being. Recognized as a form of creative arts therapy, it employs movement to facilitate emotional, cognitive, social, and physical integration in individuals. Developed in part through the efforts of pioneering dancer Marian Chace, DMT has been applied to a variety of mental and physical health issues, including depression, eating disorders, autism, and schizophrenia.
The therapy operates on the principle that the body, mind, and spirit are interconnected, allowing movement to serve as both a means of expression and a tool for assessment. Participants are encouraged to explore their movements in a supportive environment, which fosters communication and emotional release. DMT has been utilized across diverse settings, including private practices, wellness clinics, and schools, with special attention given to trauma recovery and enhancing communication in dysfunctional family dynamics.
Research has highlighted the potential benefits of DMT, demonstrating improvements in mood, social interaction, and even physical health in various populations, such as the elderly and those with chronic medical issues. As a professional field, dance movement therapy is guided by ethical standards established by organizations like the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA), which also provides a registry of certified practitioners. Overall, DMT offers a unique approach to therapy that emphasizes movement as a pathway to healing and emotional expression.
Dance movement therapy
- DEFINITION: A body-based technique to enhance emotional and physical well-being.
- PRINCIPAL PROPOSED USES: Depression, eating disorders, physical therapy, psychotic disorders, schizophrenia
- OTHER PROPOSED USES: Autism, head injuries, learning and mental disabilities
Overview
One of the creative arts therapies, dance movement therapy is defined by the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) as “the psychotherapeutic use of movement as a process that furthers the emotional, cognitive, social and physical integration of the individual.” Many practitioners consider the dancer and dance instructor Marian Chace to be the pioneer of dance movement therapy.
Chace began teaching dance in Washington, DC, after retiring from the Denishawn Dance Company in 1930. She had noticed that some of her students were more interested in the emotions that they felt while dancing than in learning the techniques of modern dance. Intrigued, Chace learned that they valued the catharsis of feelings they experienced while dancing. Some of these students were concurrently undergoing traditional psychotherapy with psychiatrists, who noticed that their patients felt more refreshed and unburdened after their lessons with Chace. The psychiatrists began to send other patients to Chase’s classes, and they noted the positive change that dance appeared to inspire.
Chace was then invited to volunteer with those considered too disturbed to participate in therapy. The nonverbal approach to dance elicited improvement, and by the 1950s, Chace’s methods were subjected to serious study.
Mechanism of Action
The principle behind dance movement therapy is that dance is the most fundamental of all the arts, requiring no external materials. It is a communication of the psyche, expressed through self-directed movement. Dance movement therapists assume that the body, mind, and spirit are interconnected, allowing for direct access to feelings, cognition, and behavior. Bodily movement simultaneously provides the means of both intervention and assessment in this mode of therapy. Participants are encouraged to choose their own music and to begin moving to it in their own ways.
The dance movement therapist generally begins by empathically mirroring the participant’s actions, and then extends and expands them into a nonverbal statement of emotion that can release the participant from any fixed muscular patterns. Next, participants are gently coaxed into a circle and led into movement extensions with verbal narration. Once the group is a more cohesive unit, the therapist notes the styles of the participants and leads into the development of a global psychological theme for the session, with questions to shed light on individual conflicts. The session ends with communal movement from all participants to provide closure.
Uses and Applications
Chace believed that dance served as a medium for communication for the most disturbed psychiatric patients, such as schizophrenics. Since then, dance movement therapists have worked with groups and individuals of all ages who have widely differing problems. They may work in private practice, wellness clinics, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, and schools. The focus on positive body movement may help clients with eating disorders and body issues. The nonverbal conflict revelations and resolutions may help dysfunctional families develop communication skills, and those who have been through trauma such as abuse or violence may find a new mode of constructive coping. The physical therapy uses of dance movement therapy are self-evident, and it is often used with the frail and elderly.
The possible emotional and physical benefits of dancing were further emphasized in early 2020, as people in countries all over the world struggled to cope with feelings of depression, anxiety, and isolation related to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic that began with an outbreak of a novel coronavirus in late 2019. As many communities were placed in quarantines and lockdowns in an attempt to slow the spread of the disease, many people experienced increased or new symptoms of mental illness and found it difficult to stay active while essentially cut off physically from the world and typical routines. While some dance movement therapists worked to adjust to having virtual sessions through online platforms such as Zoom and Instagram, other people became involved in virtual dance classes and parties in which instructors promoted dance movement as a creative way to communicate, express themselves, and cope with the crisis.
Disease prevention and health promotion, an area of specialization in dance movement therapy, has increasingly been used in programs for people with chronic medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, chronic pain, and hypertension. Research on the effectiveness of dance movement therapy has investigated certain settings, such as prisons and homeless shelters, and specific populations, such as persons with mental illness, Deaf and blind individuals, and autistic individuals.
Scientific Evidence
A 1993 study suggested that dance movement therapy improved balance, rhythmic discrimination, mood, social interaction, and energy level in older persons with neurological damage. A 2010 study evaluated the influence of dance movement therapy on the perception of well-being in women with chronic fatigue syndrome. Seven persons attended a four-month program and were tested both before and after the program. Their perceptions of physical well-being improved by an average of 25.8 percent, and their perceptions of psychological well-being improved by 22.7 percent.
A 2008 dance movement therapy intervention group of persons with dementia improved in a task of visual-spatial ability and planning, whereas the control group either remained unchanged or deteriorated slightly. Dance movement therapy appeared to be effective in treating cognition and self-care abilities in dementia. A 2020 study indicated that dance movement therapy could significantly lower both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in people with hypertension. A study in 2021 found that dance therapy can improve the quality of life among people with breast cancer, though it cannot be used to treat the disease.
A 2006 study assessed mildly depressed adolescents after twelve weeks of dance movement therapy. All self-report measurements of distress decreased significantly after the twelve weeks. In addition, both serotonin and dopamine levels increased in that group. Thus, dance movement therapy may help to decrease depression both by relieving perceptions of distress and by lowering neurotransmitter levels.
After a meta-analysis studied the existing information about the benefits of the use of dance therapy for quality of life in 2014, proponents continued to conduct research into the subject, particularly as an intervention for depression, in the following years.
Choosing a Practitioner
Chace helped to organize the ADTA in 1966 and served as its first president. The ADTA has a code of ethics and standards for professional clinical practice, education, and training. Course work for dance movement therapy includes classes on theory and practice, observation and analysis, human development, psychopathology, cultural diversity, research, and group therapy. The ADTA maintains a registry of dance movement therapists who meet these stringent standards.
Persons certified (as Dance Therapist Registered, or DTR) have master’s degrees and seven hundred hours of supervised clinical internship. The certification Academy of Dance Therapists Registered (ADTR) is then awarded with the completion of 3,640 hours of supervised clinical internship. Persons interested in dance movement therapy can find qualified practitioners through the ADTA website (http://www.adta.org).
Safety Issues
There are no known safety issues with dance movement therapy.
Bibliography
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