Music,movement, and emotions: an inquiry with suggestions for the practice of dance/movement therapy

ABSTRACT

Emotions play a significant role in our lives. While the literature has shed some light on how emotions are evoked, not all aspects are well understood. Music and dance or movement have been shown to stimulate an aesthetic or emotional response and seem to affect each other. However, these cross-modal influences have only been studied in individuals who are passively engaged . Missing are accounts of how music affects dancers and moving affects making music, a gap which is especially salient considering the frequent application of music during dance/movement therapy sessions. In this paper, I present a vignette from a creative arts studio class and subsequently describe the use of a heuristic arts-informed methodology as a means of gaining greater understanding about the connection between music and movement and their influences on emotions. I connect extant literature to my own findings and derive suggestions for the field of dance/movement therapy.     

Somatic soulmates

The author compares and contrasts a method of body-oriented psychotherapy, the Rubenfeld Synergy® method (RSM), with a method of dance/movement therapy, Authentic Movement (AM). She examines parallels in the development of authentic movement and body psychotherapy and discusses similarities in theory and practice. She makes a case for integration of dance/movement therapy and body-psychotherapy under the umbrella of somatic therapies. She uses her personal history, Ilana Rubenfeld's history, and case examples to illustrate her points.     

Dance/movement therapy and shamanic healing ritual: natural intelligence of body and spirit

This paper offers a model for integrating a dance/movement therapy practice with some of the themes that show up in literature on shamanic healing ritual. The proposed model is based on literature on shamanism and within the field of dance/movement therapy. It is intended as a first step in an exploration between intersections of the two fields. The model proposes cultivating a sacred container as a holding environment for the therapeutic process, within which the themes of natural intelligence, surrender, and nervous system regulation will be woven together, and the potential for sequencing greater healing energy will be discussed. Applications, limitations, and suggestions for further research will also be considered.     

A psychoanalytic perspective of endings in therapy: A dance movement psychotherapy case study

This paper is an account of time-limited dance movement psychotherapy in an inner-city London school during my final year of training for an MA in Dance Movement Psychotherapy. I describe the treatment of a traumatised 9-year-old boy using psychoanalytic theories, in particular Winnicott's ideas. This patient suffered at an early age from the drastic separation of his father and, when he was 6 years of age, various dramatic events led to the hospitalisation of his mother due to psychiatric problems. The impending ending of the therapy and the trainee's repetition of a ‘neglectful transference’ triggered powerful memories of traumatic past separations, which aroused deep-seated anxieties in the patient and trainee alike. The work towards a ‘good enough’ ending in the new therapeutic relationship was of great value to the patient's recovery. Parallels are drawn with the trainee's feelings of ending her dance movement psychotherapy course.     

Orientating myself: A gay dance movement psychotherapist’s gender experience in training and practice

ABSTRACT

This paper offers a subjective account of the struggles and pleasures of being a gay dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) lecturer and therapist. The author shares stories of how this individual reality is informed by his life experience as a gay child and man. This gay intersubjective perspective of embodied therapeutic relationships posits a queer theory outlook that deviates from other DMP and embodied perspectives. The intention is to invite more critical reflection on diverse sexual and gender experience and relationships in the training and therapy space, in the hope of opening the door to more transparency with sexual orientation and gender diversity in the body, movement and dance in psychotherapy professions.     

The use of metaphors in dance movement therapy

This text focuses on the specific structure of metaphors in terms of movement processes. The processing of symbolic movement material through structures derived from dance as an art form is investigated. Metaphors that support nonverbal attunement between patient and therapist, and how the use of metaphors and creative processes help establish the inter-subjective relation in dance movement therapy are described.     

The cultural responsibility of dance movement therapy: philosophical considerations

This paper examines the cultural situation and special responsibility of dance movement therapy, delineating certain philosophical and cultural-theoretical interpretations of the ‘corporeal turn’ and ‘therapeutic turn’ of contemporary culture. It aims to show how dance movement therapy’s theoretical horizon is inseparable from the body-mind integration of contemporary philosophies, and how corporeal turn is present in consumer culture, including some of its destructive forms of idealisation and malign regression. The question of how DMT is able to turn malignant regression to the body into benign regression is addressed, and an analysis of the correlating postmodern idea of resilience is offered. Finally, DMT groups are interpreted as social microcosms, and the way Hungarian psychodynamic movement and dance therapists apply their group therapeutic method for the development of democratic culture in the Civil Group Project is described.     

Treatment modalities and self-expectancy of therapists: Modes,self-efficacy and imagination of clients in dance movement therapy

Body movement is the primary medium in which dance/movement therapists help clients to connect with implicit experience, to tolerate and express emotion, and thereby to continuously re-work, re-weave and integrate embodied experiences of self. This article explores the role of non-verbal vocalisation within the overall movement ecology of the body, and suggests ways that it can support the aforementioned processes in clinical practice. Three existing frameworks for understanding the non-verbal voice are reviewed, from within and outside the realm of psychotherapy, as are several comprehensive theoretical studies of the ‘self’ in dance/movement therapy. The author emphasises that voice is an integral part of the body's cross-modal capacity for expressive movement, and suggests that the non-verbal voice prioritises and gives form to the emotional content of other bodily movement. This article aims to provide a theoretical starting place for integrating the non-verbal voice into dance/movement therapy scholarship and practice.     

Widening our lens: The implications of resilience for the professional identity and practice of dance movement therapists

The construct of resilience in psychology has an optimistic character that has been attracting interest due to the paradigmatic change proposed by positive psychology. On the other hand, resilience has different meanings or nuances attributed to it, mainly due to the different focus of researchers and/or their frame of reference: there are scholars who concentrate on developmental issues, others on clinical questions. It is a relatively new construct for dance movement therapists, and due to its subtleties, resilience deserves a theoretical introduction and presentation of its complexities. A discussion of the relevance of this construct for DMT follows after the theoretical outline. This section presents the taxonomy of levels of prevention that expands the possibilities of professional interventions focusing on mental health. It implies widening our lens. Finally, some interventions reported and tested by dance movement therapists will be presented and others will be suggested.     

Kinaesthetic narratives: Interpretations for children's dance movement therapy process

The present case study was aimed at producing research-based information on developmental dance movement therapy (DMT) in Finland. The hypothesis was that DMT enables non-verbal and verbal expression in children at risk of social displacement and long-term learning disabilities. A dance movement therapist and a preschool teacher co-led a year long, weekly DMT group for six preschool children of whom five had recently immigrated to Finland. The theory and practical methods were founded in DMT, attachment theory and solution focused therapy. The sessions used creative movement, movement observation, kinesthetic attunement and mirroring. The evaluation of the group process was based on participant observation, body memory and children's drawings. Bodily dialogue and supportive holding became integral parts of each session. The themes observed in children's drawings suggested developmental changes and externalisation of emotional experiences. The conclusion was that DMT supported the development of group dynamics and movement as a form of interaction.     

Embodiment and embedment: integrating dance/movement therapy,body psychotherapy,and ecopsychology

This article presents a vision of an emergent ecosomatic psychology that integrates somatic psychology's theories and practices of embodiment with ecopsychology's insights about embedment. Branches within somatic psychology, dance/movement therapy, and body psychotherapy have honed therapeutic practices for embodying the self, engaging in embodied relationships, and opening up to possibilities of transpersonal experiences through the body and movement. Incorporating ecopsychology's emphasis on the development of an ecological identity, inspired by systems and relational views of health, and drawing from theories of participatory consciousness and reciprocity, an integrative framework of embodied embedment practices are proposed for developing an embodied ecological self.     

Dance therapy as form of communication activating psychotherapy for schizophrenic patients

This paper describes a method of dance therapy for the treatment of schizophrenic patients, based on a methodology from outside Russia and adapted to the conditions of Russia. Aims, purposes, and targets of dance therapy are considered as applied to the rehabilitation treatment of schizophrenic patients. The structure of the entire course of dance therapy consisting of 10 sessions is described, with 260 patients having been subjected to the course. Certain clinical cases of non-verbal communication development dynamics in the process of dance therapy are considered. Dance therapy is shown to be a form of communication activating psychotherapy treatment of schizophrenic patients. This therapy was developed and applied by the author of this paper.     

Integrative dance/movement psychotherapy and the aging process

The objectives of the investigation was reasoning and developing a strategy of implementation of integrative dance/movement psychotherapy in order to improve the life quality and psychosomatic adaptation of an aging person. 25 males and 25 females with some age-related emotional and psychological problems but with no marked mental disorders were examined. Clinical-psychopathological and experimental-psychological methods were used. Target symptoms for integrative dance/movement psychotherapy were determined. A repeated investigation was carried out in three months. The investigation findings show common and distinctive features of female and male psychosomatic state at the climacteric and partial androgenic deficiency period. The model of integrated experiences described elucidates the notion of age-related dissociation, which is a source of the aging persons’ inner conflict leading to the development and/or aggravation of their psychosomatic and social disadaptation. The integrative dance/movement psychotherapy course described results in the considerable improvement of aging persons’ psychophysiological dynamics, social adaptation and life quality.     

Refugee children and body politics. The embodied political self and dance movement therapy

This article looks at the link between social exclusion and migration, in particular for children. It highlights the impact that being a refugee may have on one’s sense of self. Beyond the concept of acartesian self, our working model suggests a dialogical and multi-voiced self: a self that is not isolated from other aspects of the person but involves social, political and embodied dimensions. The term embodied political self is proposed, referring to the self as an active agent, with a sense of physical cohesion and a sense of belonging to the wider social and political environment. We discuss how experiencing social exclusion impacts refugees, in particular children, and their embodied political self. Finally, a two-step dance movement therapy (DMT) intervention that seeks the reconstruction of the embodied political self is proposed.     

Educator perceptions of dance/movement therapy in the special education classroom

This qualitative study examined educator perspectives of the influence of group dance/movement therapy (DMT) sessions on their students’ behaviours, symptoms, and academic engagement within their special education classroom. Audio-recorded and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 educators who had observed and/or participated in their students’ group DMT sessions at one public school in an urban region in the United States. Results of the interviews revealed four overarching themes: (a) The process of a DMT session is perceived to improve regulatory behaviour; (b) DMT can meet individual needs as a part of a group experience; (c) DMT techniques and tools utilised can influence sensory systems (d) limitations in time, duration, and space may influence long-term benefits. While more research is necessary, results suggest that educators value the use of DMT within school settings to assist the children in gaining focus, modulating energy, and supporting healthy social engagement skills.     

Where one cannot speak,there one can dance: a comparative analysis of dance movement therapy and Processwork

The text aims to outline the basic comparison of the theoretical roots, concepts and frameworks, principles, attitudes, typical interventions, phases of development and scope of practical use of dance movement therapy (DMT) and process-oriented psychology (Processwork). The author proposes that mutual benefits and opportunities are at disposal for practitioners from both schools, including the primary and secondary process and ‘edge work’ in Processwork, as well as movement observing techniques, movement profile mapping and the ‘dance-not-done’ approach in DMT. The theme of communication channels and the theme of ‘essence level’ or spiritual experience as approached in both practices is discussed as well.     

Dance movement psychotherapy for couples (DMP-C): systematic treatment guidelines based on a wide-ranging study

ABSTRACT

A new body of knowledge, growing out of the clinical and research fields, has been developing in recent years in the area of dance-movement psychotherapy for couples (DMP-C). Formulation of an intervention protocol based on a systematic review of theories and research is crucial to scientifically establishing the field and to implementing research findings in clinical practice. The present article reviews the results of a comprehensive qualitative research study in DMP-C, which addresses the following topics: couple intake, expectations of couples seeking therapy, a projective identification mechanism in the couple relationship, desires and expectations in the sexual relationship, synchrony in the non-verbal relationship, somatic mirroring, and kinaesthetic empathy in the couple relationship. Based on the findings of the research, a systematic intervention protocol for couples psychotherapy through movement and dance has been developed; its unique contribution will be examined alongside other interventions in couples therapy.     

Body identity development: definitions and discussions

As the fields of body psychotherapy and dance/movement therapy mature, they tend to create their own theoretical models. This article articulates a theory of body identity that may provide conceptual resources for these fields, both theoretically and clinically. The historical and developmental roots of body identity are discussed and contextualised, both socioculturally and psychologically. Body identity development is mapped onto a current developmental theory called narrative identity, resulting in a more inclusive discourse of multiple selves and non-conforming identities. The concept of body narrative is introduced, and is seen as the mechanism for the development of body identity. Clinical implications are discussed, though further work is needed to ‘flesh out’ how body identity is navigated in body-centred psychotherapies.     

Healing through the martial way: Incorporating karate training into counselling and psychotherapy

This research paper describes lived experiences in dance therapeutic processes in the case of a woman called Asta. Rather than claiming results from therapeutic processes, the paper enlightens change processes through narratives about both Asta's bodily movement expressions and inner experiences. The paper focuses furthermore on illustrating the possibilities of using body language, movement and an energetic approach to therapy in Asta's case with the dance therapy form Dansergia. Asta moves through a shell of anxiety and into the dance of a gypsy, from an inner experienced black ring and hedgehog to a woman accepting difficult experiences in the past and new possibilities in the present. Asta's processes are analysed and interpreted in an energy-based theoretical framework, and are then reflected upon in terms of impact possibilities in a broader dance therapeutic and research oriented context.