Physical And Emotional Therapy: The Principles Of Dance Therapy

Dance Therapy Dance therapy is a versatile form of therapy founded on the idea that motion and emotion are connected, this type of therapy is beneficial for both physical and mental health using movement to help individuals achieve emotional, cognitive, physical and social integration Dance therapy is a type of therapy that uses movement to further the social, cognitive, emotional, and physical development of an individual. Dance therapists work with people from all ages that may suffer from any type of emotional problems, intellectual deficiencies, or even life-threatening illnesses. Movement in a dance therapy setting is more than just exercise, the flow of the movements are interpreted more like a language to further the progress of

The key principles focus mainly on how movement can express aspects of a single individual, communication and how it pertains to a specific exercise, symbolic movements and how each step represents an obstacle or an achievement, and the improvisation of movements to invoke a sense of emotion. Dance movement therapy sessions often include observation, assessment, warmups, intervention, verbal as well as nonverbal processing and warm down exercises focused on closure. Sessions can be very structured or non direct in a group or an individual setting determined based upon evaluation. The theory of dance movement therapy is based solely on the theory that the mind, body and sprit interact simultaneously. The body referring to the discharge of energy through muscular and skeletal responses to stimuli received by the brain. The mind refers to mental activities like memory, imagery, perception, attention, evaluation, reasoning and decision making. The spirit refers to the subjectively experienced state of feeling in engaging in or empathically observant of the movements. (Source D) Through the unity of the body, mind and spirit dance movement therapy provides a sense of wholeness in an individual and provides the help that he/she may

To illuminate what a season could look like, here are some examples of different techniques that are commonly used in dance therapy. The “Chacian” method, developed based on the styles of Marian Chace, the woman who head started the dance therapy movement. This session would typically start with a simple warmup that will lead into an improvised movement experience where the therapist will pick up on different movements by the patients and use them as a tool to create synchrony and growth involving group rhythm. Another type of session may involve increasing awareness of the body in a more subtle way. By inviting the patients to contribute in a group conversation about different scenarios, the instructor can then base the movements off of the emotions of the individuals. Another common session that is another popular technique in the world of dance therapy is more creative than the last two mentioned. It involved an expressive release of movements that comes from an inner sensation. This technique is performed in groups to encourage communication and positive energy. You could associate any type of movement with this technique depending on the therapist and the wishes of the patient. No matter how the session unfolds, the dance movement therapist’s are