Dance Movement Therapy

Dance movement therapy emphasizes a bottom-up approach, allowing the creative and emotional brain to speak to the “thinking brain”. It is particularly helpful when words are not enough, or not available. This also means that a dance movement therapy session will look different from other forms of therapy – individuals will be processing their thoughts and feelings through movement, as well as words. It may also look like a dance party!

Additionally, as many dancers will attest, dancing has changed lives. I had been a dancer for over 25 years, with training and experience in multiple genres before I started to crave meaning, words, and understanding that could explain the positive effects of dance for me and so many others. It didn’t have anything to do with how well one danced – it was just about the dance! When I discovered dance movement therapy, it was an answer to an itch that desperately needed scratching. There is a science to this seemingly frivolous activity, and the beauty of it is in the artistry of its use in health and healing.

Our bodies reveal the history of our experience of life. How we move through space, how we hold ourselves when we are in a situation or around different groups of people sub-consciously communicate what we think and feel on the inside. Years of patterned thinking result in patterned moving, or holding. A dance movement therapist is trained to analyze movement and posture, to attune to the internal dialogue of thought and emotions, and to reflect back to facilitate different conversations and felt experiences. Dance movement therapy facilitates different states of being, moving, holding, and thinking. So yes, tangible change can not only be expected but also felt.

Do you feel you need to move as a part of expressing emotion, or in order to experience emotion? Why not try Dance Movement Therapy.

Give us a call for more information today! (530) 338-0087