Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) is suitable for everyone and may be practised as individual or group therapy in clinical, community and educational settings, as well as in private practice. It offers opportunities for expression and communication through movement, particularly when words are difficult to find.
Dance Movement Psychotherapists offer embodied interventions that take
into account the client’s lived experience in the context of the social
system they live in, how they experience living in their body and
relationship to their body, how they think about themselves and their
relationships, as well as emotional responses that may be hard to put
into words. Each Dance Movement Psychotherapist’s approach will be
individual and underpinned by their own education and philosophical
stance, but at the heart of this is the intrinsic belief in the
inter-relationship between psyche, soma, and spirit.
When used in a psychotherapeutic context, dance and body movement is utilised for
a range of neurological, psychological, relationship, and social
problems. It also provides opportunities for people who wish to develop
their own creative potential.
Dance Movement Psychotherapy can benefit individuals, couples, families, groups, and
organisational teams. Dance Movement Psychotherapists work with children
and adults of all ages and abilities, and with people who experience a
wide range of difficulties. For example, people may be experiencing
mental or emotional distress or conflict, problems with communication or
information processing, difficulties with body image, physical
discomfort or movement restrictions. People may be struggling with the
impact of trauma or having to deal with loss, transition or change in
their lives, or there may be relationship difficulties. People may be
trying to deal with difficulties such as anxiety, depression, eating
disorders, psychoses, bereavement, post-traumatic stress, abuse,
addiction, learning disabilities, sensory difficulties, physical
disabilities, emotional/behavioural difficulties and autism. Dance Movement Psychotherapy can
also support personal development by enhancing personal communication
skills, self-exploration, and self-understanding.
What can Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) support?
The focus on the moving body and non-verbal phenomena means that Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) can support
-
an increase in self-awareness, self-esteem, self-confidence,
personal autonomy, and self-expression through the integration of
emotional, cognitive, physical, and social aspects of self
- discovery of inner resources through contained creative movement play
- the development of tools with which to express or manage overwhelming feelings or thoughts
- expansion of resources and skills in communication and social interaction
- trust within relationships through opportunity to test the impact of self on others in a safe and contained environment
- space to test the relationship between inner and outer
reality and opportunity to increase and rehearse adaptive coping
behaviours
- the potential for physical, emotional, and cognitive shifts
as DMP promotes experiencing links between actions, feelings, and
thoughts
- exploration of relational and developmental issues arising from early infancy through to older age
Dance Movement Psychotherapists work in a variety of settings within the
public, private, and voluntary sectors. including health, education and
social services. Dance Movement Psychotherapy may be recommended as a primary service or as a
complement to other forms of on-going treatment, rehabilitation, or
education. Therapy can be short-term or long-term.
Enquiries can be made directly to a practitioner or referrals may be
made through an individual or organisation. Clients do not require dance
skills or training. The focus is on the therapeutic process.
The profession is continually informed by research and projects that open up and extend the fields of Dance Movement Psychotherapy practice.