This is the question every dance/movement therapist gets – often.
For many people, “dance” is associated with ballet and tutus… or jazz hands and pom poms… or grinding on the nightclub floor. How would that way of moving be a psychotherapy, they wonder. While each of those dance expressions (and dozens more) are valid in their own right, they are not to be expected in a dance/movement therapy session.
One of the challenges of actually showing people what DMT looks like is the fact that DMT is done with patients and clients, not students. There are HIPAA privacy laws and rules of confidentiality and ethical considerations. Dance/movement therapy is a psychotherapy and crucial to the success of any therapy session is an atmosphere of psychological safety – a “safe space” within which to explore thoughts, feelings and the unconscious. A video camera with a red, glowing light does little to engender that feeling of safety.
But once in awhile, permission is granted to video and the resulting footage can go a long way to shedding light on our work.
Below is one such video.
Dr. Lori Baudino, a clinical psychologist and board-certified dance/movement therapist, pioneered the development of the first dance/movement therapy program at Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA. (I have also had the distinct pleasure of serving alongside Dr. Baudino on the Board of Directors for the California Chapter of the ADTA.)
In this video, Dr. Baudino explains how she uses dance/movement therapy, one on one, with children in the hospital. The footage might surprise you – the work is subtle. She comments about this, too, in her narrative. There are wonderful clips of Dr. Baudino establishing and building relationship with the children through attuning to their movements. Interspersed with the clips, she explains what she does.
Key to dance/movement therapy (as opposed to a dance class or a Zumba™ class) is the therapeutic relationshiop that exists between therapist and client. All movement expression that occurs does so within that relationship. Movement communicates. Dance communicates. The dance/movement therapist is uniquely trained to understand that communication, facilitate it and deepen it.
Surprised by anything in the video? Curious? Intrigued? Feel free to comment and I’m happy to continue a dialogue or answer any of your questions.
Also, if you’d like to read more about the use of dance/movement therapy in the medical field, the current President of the ADTA, Dr. Sherry Goodill, has written a comprehensive book on the subject: An Introduction to Medical Dance/Movement Therapy – Healing in Motion. It’s an amazing feat of scholarship. If you’d like to take a look inside her book, click here.
Thanks for posting this. I was looking
for a general Dance Therapy intro video.
You wouldn’t know of any overview
documentary’s of the history of the field?
Hi Brian. I’m glad the video was helpful for you. As I said in my post, DMT looks VERY different with different populations and whether it is group or 1:1. For example, a DMT group in psych would look much more like “dancing” while a 1:1 DMT session with someone with an eating disorder could look like the client is barely moving. The American Dance Therapy Association Public Relations Committee is currently working on finding and compiling video examples of DMT to help people visualize the work. As these resources become available I will be posting them here. However, in the meantime, I highly recommend a short video documentary that the NY Chapter of the ADTA did a couple years ago. It has historical pics and contemporary footage of group psych, 1:1 private practice, and work with babies and children. You can order the video here: http://www.nysadta.org/DVDOrderForm.pdf. Also, an older video available from the ADTA is The Power of Movement. You can purchase it here: http://www.adta.org/Default.aspx?pageId=446836. Hope this helps. Just curious… what is your motivation for finding the videos? Happy to help any time… 🙂
Thanks for the links! And I’ll stay tuned for other videos.
Your blog is great. I’m a current Theater Major and certified Alexander Technique Teacher. I’m planning to go to grad school in the somatic therapy field. I’ve been really intrigued with things I have been reading about Dance Therapy and wanted to get some more information about the field because I would like to attend some workshops and possibly get some training.
Hi my name is DarrellA. Brown , I’m a professional Choreography/Dancer who been taking one on one professional Psycho/social Therapy here in NYC, and who like if you could give me references to places here in NYC where I could experience DMT. Thank you
Sincerely Yours,
Darrell A. Brown
Hi Darrell. I’m happy to point you in the right direction. I would start in one of two places. You can look for a BC-DMT practicing in NYC on the New York State Chapter of the ADTA website: http://www.nysadta.org/therapists/index.html. Also you can look up therapists on the ADTA website. http://www.adta.org/Default.aspx?pageId=378067. Those links will help you find BC-DMTs doing 1:1 private practice. If you are interested in experiencing DMT from more of an educational perspective, I recommend following the ADTA’s Facebook page and even posting your request there (if what you are interested in is a workshop or class, event, etc.) The Facebook link is: http://www.facebook.com/groups/2209175161/
Hope these links help. If you need further assistance, feel free to email me privately at lorawilsonmau@mac.com.
All best to you!
Hi there my name is Marise. I live in South Africa and there are no institutions that offer a qualification in movement/dance therapy. I am a professional dancer with 10 years of experience in both teaching and performing. I am studying a Masters degree at the moment (MBA) but I would like to somehow use this business knowledge to open a movemnt therapy centre. Any advice?
Also do you know of any founations that offer scholarships to study movement therapy? Living in South Africa and already paying alot of money for my current studies means the only way I could do this is through a scholarship. I think this is an amazing career, so fulfilling and which allows creative people the opportunity to use their creativity for healing and growth. Its so wonderful that people like you are driving this forward.
Best of luck to you!
Hi Marise. I apologize that I did not reply to your comment sooner. I do appreciate very much that you read my post and are interested in this training.
I have to be honest, I do not know of training opportunities in South Africa. Perhaps you will train elsewhere and be the first pioneer in your country! If you have not done so already, I recommend posting to the American Dance Therapy Association facebook page. There are many international members on that page and perhaps others might have suggestions for you. This is the link to the ADTA FB page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/2209175161/
Also, I know Greece is not close to South Africa by any stretch of the imagination but it is closer than California. 🙂 Danielle Fraenkel, Ph.D., BC-DMT, NCC, LCAT, LMHC, CGP will be hosting a Living Dance~Living Music workshop there the first week of July. I’ve experienced it and it is AMAZING! People from all over the world attend her workshops there and it is an intimate gathering – an in depth, embodied experience that will teach you a lot about DMT. Here is the link to learn more about that workshop: http://kinections.com/corfu.php
I also know Dr. Fraenkel is offering some basic DMT education through skype so I suggest contacting her.
Good luck to you to! I hope to see you at an ADTA conference someday, speaking on the International Panel! 🙂
Hi Marise.. Did you manage to find any courses in South Africa? I am based in Durban and would love to start dance/movement therapy
[…] So, as I declare “YES! This is what dance/movement therapy looks like!” I simultaneously ask that you remember that other dance/movement therapy sessions do NOT look like this. (In fact, if you’d like to compare and contrast two very different videos, please see my previous post to view dance/movement therapy with hospitalized children.) […]
HI there. I’m very interested in DMT. Can you tell me about the earning capacity of a dance movement therapist and how the field is progressing.
Hello and thank you for your Blog. My name is Kerry and I am currently working towards completing my MA in DMT. I have been teaching movement as a language for over 6 years in under served and invisible populations. It has been difficult piecing my studies together. I applied and was accepted to Naropa but sadly my father passed away and I needed to care for my grandmother and couldn’t attend. The past year i have been earning credit towards my DMT commuting into NYC from CT and taking courses towards a Master’s.
I am a single Mom of 2 beautiful girls 10 and 21 and I am looking for a program that I can attend that would also fit into my life as a mother and provider for my children. Can you suggest any programs that are geared to adults?
Best,
Kerry Kincy
Hi Kerry.
My condolences to you on the passing of your father. My family has experienced multiple deaths in recent years and I know what it is like to both grieve and to have to postpone personal goals in order to tend to family needs. As you move forward with your goals, I can recommend some options for you to consider. Lesley and Pratt both have summer only, low residence DMT Master’s programs. Perhaps that would be a good fit with your current schedule. I would start there.
Please do not hesitate to contact me again for further guidance and suggestions. I wish you the best.
Lora
Hi Lora Wilson, I am Minni and I write from Hong Kong. I am very interested in DMT and I enjoyed reading through your blog. I have watched some videos too and realise how fantastic this can be to bring happiness and health to many in our society. I am currently looking for a course here in Hong Kong or a distance learning programme where I could become a therapist. Could you advise me on this please? Thank you!
Hi Minni! I’m so glad that you find my blog useful. I have a friend who is a dance/movement therapist in Hong Kong. We both received our dance/movement therapy training via the alternoute route at Kinections in Rochester, NY. http://www.kinections.com This is a program that does distance learning – she has had many international students. I suggest you look at that website and contact Danielle Fraenkel – she is a teacher there and the administrator for the program. If you want to be involved in a Masters dance/movement therapy program, both Pratt and Lesley offer distance learning/low residency options. All programs (even alternate route) will involve you coming over here in the summers but at least there are some options that don’t require you to completely relocate for 3 years!
I recommend contacting Rainbow Ho. She is my friend and is a director at the Centre on Behavioral Health at University of Hong Kong. She would be a great connection for you in Hong Kong. http://cbh.hku.hk/about_people.html Best of luck to you and if I can be of any further assistance, do not hesitate to ask. 🙂
I’m gone to inform my little brother, that he should also visit this website on regular basis to take updated from newest information.
In the video The lady mentioned that dance/movement therapy helped “to intergrate their [being the patients] experiences”
What does that mean?
Hey there, I was wondering if being a professional dancer is necessary/ideal for being a movement therapist?
Hi Catherine. You do not need to have been a professional dancer to become a dance/movement therapist but you do need to have at least 5 years of dance training. Every school is different in their requirements but that is a basic foundation. The more diverse the training, the better. Are you thinking about pursuing a career in DMT?
This is great. Thank you for posting this! I am nearing the end of my graduate program at Texas State University in Professional Counseling and I have been a dancer my entire life. I didn’t even know that DMT existed until I was assigned the task of creating a group curricula for a class. I could use some expert help in this! If you are available; I want to have a 8 group sessions (hypothetical for now) using DMT with kids who have experienced trauma or deprivation/neglect. Any ideas on what an outline of a session would look like? Start? Middle? End? Goals? I promise I am not asking you to DO the assignment, just some guiDANCE! Thank you!-MJ
Hi MJ! Glad you learned about our field and thanks for reaching out. Let me give you some additional resources that can help you answer those questions. Of course, to really understand how to answer those questions, you need to have studied to be a dance/movement therapist. DMT sessions are not classes and not set up like that – they are highly nuanced therapeutic group processes and dance/movement therapists are trained to observe and respond to what is being expressed nonverbally by our clients. Dance therapists respond in the moment to what is happening – it is an improvisational process (with goals in mind) but the interventions are determined in moment, based on 2+ years of graduate level training to know how to do so. Here are some places to learn more about DMT with children who have experienced trauma: http://adta.org/event-1852651
http://adta.org/page-395630
And please join the ADTA community on Facebook to engage in dialogue: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AmericanDanceTherapyAssociation/
Good luck!
Lora