Let me put my cards on the table.
I started this blog two years ago out of a deeply felt frustration that I know is shared by many of my fellow dance/movement therapists. I know they share this frustration in some form or another because the topic and the discussion of ways to address it has been repeated – for years – in professional discussions, online forums and local and national dialogues. It is an ongoing issue for our professional community.
The frustration is this:
In the 21st century, how can it be that the profession of dance/movement therapy is not better known? Better understood? At the very least, heard of? Granted, if one is not working in the mental health or rehabilitation or wellness professions, then it is perhaps logical that the profession be an unfamiliar concept. Certainly, I have never heard of countless occupations. But, how can it be in the 21st century, over ten years since the “Decade of the Brain” concluded, that dance/movement therapy is not better understood by our colleagues whose professions involve psychology or neuroscience?
How is it that when one googles “dance therapy” on the internet, one gets more references to Brittany Spears and pole dancing or random dance classes than one gets legitimate information on the nearly 50 year old profession of dance/movement therapy?
This latest spike in frustration was inspired by the recent feature on Anderson Cooper 360 that took a close look at a day in the life of Gabrielle Gifford’s rehabilitation at the TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Texas.
How is it that when Dr. Sanjay Gupta visited the hospital to get a hands on experience of a day in the life of Congresswoman Giffords’ recovery, dance/movement therapy was not included in the diverse list of therapies? Yes, music therapy was on the day’s agenda and, to Dr. Gupta’s credit, he really appreciated the power of music therapy to work “on developing … attention, memory and overall executive function.” This acknowledgement on a show as respected and widely viewed as CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 is a real boost for our colleagues in the music therapy profession.
But dance/movement therapy was NOT on the schedule and it was not addressed by Dr. Gupta – by name. However, a quick glimpse at the video of the music therapist, Maegan Morrow, reveals that she was incorporating movement with the music to help her patients improve cognitively and learn to walk again. “Lean 2, 3, 4, Push up, 2, 3, 4…” The diverse therapies at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital work together to rehabilitate patients from traumatic injury… and yet the experts on using movement psychotherapeutically, who are specifically trained in connecting through movement and facilitating movement and rhythm – for whatever end goal – are not on that team?
“The brain learns best when it processes cognitive, affective and psychomotor information simultaneously.” (emphasis mine.)
Dr. Michael Merzenich
Neuroscientist
This is fundamental knowledge to neuroscientists and to anyone familiar with “brain-based learning.”
Movement is not only integral to healing psychologically, it is integral to effective rehabilitation of the brain, to learning and to brain plasticity.
Though my peers and I ask these questions – how, how, how can the world not know? – we do so, of course, acknowledging the onus is on us, the dance/movement therapists. This is precisely why I blog on DMT, why I encourage my colleagues to do the same and why I am writing a book on the topics of this blog.
Did you know:
Neuroscientists have declared the importance of psychomotor processing to learning.
The New England Journal of Medicine published that dancing, moreso than any other leisure activity, decreases cognitive decline in senior citizens over 75.
Physical therapists have published repeatedly on the therapeutic value of dancing the tango for people with Parkinson’s disease.
These are but drops in the bucket of research that RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT reveal the importance of dance and movement in our lives and yet… the official profession of dance/movement therapy remains in the shadows.
Compared to the combined fields that make up verbal psychotherapies (social workers, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, counselors, psychiatrists) – and even to our allied creative art therapists – dance/movement therapists are still very small in number. We practice in countries all over the world but only have seven graduate programs in the United States where the dance/movement therapy master’s degree can be earned. There are additional ADTA approved “alternate route” programs for individuals who have a master’s degree in a related mental health field to get the requisite DMT training; even so, a handful of programs can only produce so many dance/movement therapists a year.
The simple fact of the matter is that at the Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference in Anaheim, California in 2009, the leading psychologists and psychiatrists in the world presented, among other things, on the importance of acknowledging the body in psychotherapy: attending to bodily sensation, breathwork, moving, mindfulness, meditating. The handful of respected dance/movement therapists that attended with me sat, nodding, in agreement. Yes. Yes, we know. This is what we do. This is what we have done for over forty years.
The simple fact of the matter is that 10 million people worldwide are participating in Zumba® classes each week, many referring to it as their “therapy.” Television news stations are doing stories on the effect of Zumba® on its students and teachers alike, noting its therapeutic value in places as unusual as prisons. Again, though Zumba® is a fitness class and not dance/movement therapy, the fact that dancing is experienced as being “therapeutic,” even within the structure of an exercise class, comes as no surprise to those in our profession.
The world is discovering in its own ways that movement and dance and the bodymind connection are important. This is wonderful! This growing awareness should be shining an ever-expanding spotlight on the profession that has been implementing these truths in its clinical practice for decades. Dance/movement therapists have not just discovered the power of movement to evoke emotion… or heal trauma… or break through isolation… or express that which cannot be spoken… or garner insight… or connect with self, with others. Dance/movment therapists have an extensive body of research and theory that delves deeply into these subjects. Our expertise can be your expertise… if the dialogue begins.
We must be on the edge of a fusion, of an integration, of a collaboration between verbal psychotherapies, neuroscience, medicine and dance/movement therapy that will change the course of healing and wellness and recovery in this new century. We must be on that edge. I can feel it.
But the awareness has to spread so that the curiosity can pique and the collaborations can begin large scale.
Dance/movement therapy must go viral.
That is my challenge to you. Help spread awareness. The research and the experts are there to back it all up. What is needed is awareness.
How I wish the media would shed light – BIG LIGHT – on these stories – or simply look in their own communities for the stories that are happening there, right now:
Dance/movement therapists making breakthroughs with children with autism.
Dance/movement therapists teaching staff and caregivers essential nonverbal communication skills to more meaningfully connect with those with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Dance/movement therapists empowering women in India who are survivors of human trafficking and sexual abuse.
A Dance/movement therapist helping child soldiers in Sierra Leone feel empathy again – and teaching others how to continue the work in their communities through dance.
A dance/movement therapist who has designed a movement based curriculum to help foster empathy and prevent violence in schools.
There is not enough light cast on this work nor on its potential to effect real change in the lives of millions of people across the globe.
Help shine the light.
If your life or the life of someone you love has been touched by Alzheimer’s, autism, bullying, cancer, trauma, Parkinson’s, mental illness, an eating disorder, body image issues, brain injury… if you have ever felt the power of dance in your own life, on some level, please pass this on.
Shine the light.
This is a “virus” the world desperately needs.
Great article Lora! I’m a fellow dance therapist too, on WordPress. http://wholemeprograms.com I know of at least another dance therapist on wordpress, and to me that is making a statement. The more balanced in mainstream culture as well as in professional circles that we are, the more visible our profession will be. Like, for example, we fit perfectly with the outreach on the Let’s Move campaign in the White House! People like Dr. Sanjay Gupta, will “get”, or will easily understand how dance therapy fits here and is available to serve many!
Lots of love,
Brigitta
Great post Lora!!!!
Movement is primal and it’s the key ingredient that rarely gets mentioned. Thank you for sharing so many facts and references on this point!
Lora, we ask the same questions about dance as an art form, and about LMA. The effects of participatory dance are well-documented, and the use of LMA in a wide variety of applications is also known.
Is it a body bias, a gender bias, or both?
Dear Lora,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I share exactly the same sentiments as you. I started the blog/website http://www.embodiedmovement-dancedantherapy.com too to bring awareness on DMT. I was feeling very frustrated at one point on how to go about bringing awareness. It led me to write in my blog. In the work place, there’re often challenges on explaining what does DMT do and its effects with the clients. Let each of us as dance therapist begin to create more awareness by using blogs/wordpress and reach out to a greater audience in general. ‘Movement is life ‘ as Patricia Pallaro has put it. Let us bring on the life of movement in our blogs! Cheers!
Thank you, Lora , for this text! The similar thoughts i have already for a long time. I think that DMT would go viral only if we all therapists will make some work about it “on our own square meter”! Wouln’t you mind if I ‘ll make a translation of your text and post it on my weblog EXisdance and in LJ? OR probably some qutes in the Russiand dance therapy Association Newsletter.
Sigh. I’m with you Lora. But remember there are only approx. 1,000 dmts in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means out of sight out of mind. That means we are always catching up to respond to what others are now observing about our work. We have needed huge, organizational command of pr, research as well as teaching. These other organizations have more resources than we do. I don’t necessarily think the problem is other disciplines, they are open to this knowledge. WE have to be the solution.
Hello Lora,
I am currently a DMT & C student at Columbia College Chicago. I have been commissioned by my school to blog about my experience within the program. I agree with your post and feel as though the DMT field and culture needs to come out of the “dark ages.” I realize this post is a bit old (in blog age, of course), but I hope you continue to keep blogging. I am sad I have only now stumbled upon your blog.
Emily
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Wonderful post Lora,
I have the same thoughts, I know where you are coming from. I’m not a dance movement therapist yet, as in Pakistan we don’t have this kind of education other than verbal psychotherapies. However I teach creative movement, modern dance, zumba to almost everybody in the age brackets. And I have seen the results; the growth and development in terms of cognitive, creative thinking, social and emotional skills. This art is amazing and very much therapeutic. And I’m looking forward to seeing this as a light to happiness.
Hi Faizan,
Thank you for reading my blog and for posting your comment. Sounds like you are doing wonderful work. Dance/movement therapy is growing globally; hopefully it will reach Pakistan soon. In the meantime, keep dancing and moving with your students – the inherent benefits of dance are plenty. Best to you! ~ Lora
Good evening,
I think Your blog is very useful:) I have just started making dance and movement therapy but unfortunatelly i dont have a mentor or a person who could help me on my first steps on dance and movement therapy. Mabye i could have some advices from you? I started to work with persons with mental disabilities, they are really creative! We do well, but my vision is to make dance movement therapy with their families, to make it more useful for whole families. Should i work with all families together? How should it start and what methods could be the most useful?
Thank You!