The benefits of dance/movement therapy as a psychotherapeutic intervention are well-established. The American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA), founded in 1966, is a professional organization dedicated to the profession of dance/movement therapy. Dance/movement therapy (DMT) uses movement to "further the emotional, cognitive, physical and social integration of the individual." Through movement, DMT can help individuals with a wide range of psychological disorders achieve greater self-expression.
This channel is dedicated to sharing the work of registered and board certified dance/movement therapists and promoting the profession of dance/movement therapy.
You can learn more about the profession of dance/movement therapy at the links below.
Movement is sometimes overlooked as an important way of expression as it is often an unconscious act and observation of others. This strengthens the purpose behind dance movement therapy as movement is a key part of our everyday lives and how we interact with the world.
This video about the distinction between dance being referred to as 'therapeutic' for some people and actual dance movement therapy was helpful for gaining a better understanding about what dance therapy is. It clarifies that dance therapists have a certification that grants them the ability to act as a therapist for clients to help them improve their well-being. The therapist knows key techniques that can help in unique client situations and sessions are structured to attain some kind of improvement for clients.
I liked that she mentioned how much we use non-verbal communication. It is something we subconsciously focus on in others and use to influence our response to them. Non-verbal communication is brought out in DMT as people let their body move in the way it needs to. People can often express their emotions through DMT instead of figuring out the right words to say.
I like how she compared dance being "therapeutic" to some activities that we do when we need a mood boost. I think DMT is more of a structured system, while dance being "therapeutic" is more of an objective feeling that can be found in all creative art forms.
What we say without speaking is still a form of communication. Body movements allow us to convey who we are and what we are feeling. Humans are naturally able to understand and interpret body movements and nonverbal cues. Dance movement therapists are professionally equipped to understand body movements and guide an individual with a session to communicate without actually speaking.
Dance has been seen to have therapeutic value, but it needs to be facilitated by certified therapists in order to engage in proper Dance movement therapy. However, dancing can still be a way for anyone to work through their emotions, but it can be enhanced through DMT. Therapists are professions with years of training so that they are able to handle different clients with different needs, to determine what their client may require during a session.
Body language/movement is part of a lot of our daily life. We have our own body language and what we think it means, but someone else could see the same thing in body language in a different way.
Using dance as personal therapy isn't the same as dance/movement therapy. You need a therapist to facilitate the therapy for it to be actual dance movement therapy. They have training and understanding of how to help people work on their experience to help with change.
It is fascinating that our nonverbal cues indicate more than what we say. It shows the reality behind "actions speak louder than words," since we pick up more of each other's actions than our words. This talk showed me just how much I pay attention to others' body cues.
This talk was much needed. I knew there were many differences between dance and DMT like no movement needs to be perfect in DMT whereas it does for dance, but I did not realize just how much change it facilitates over time. I did not realize the extensive training DMTs undergo to become full-fledged therapists.
This video was really interesting! I enjoyed learning about analyzing the body and its movements. I am taking a DMT class right now and am excited to share what I learned about body movements in my class discussion!
The breakdown of a DMT session really helped me visualize the impact of DMT. I did not realize how a typical session went with clients, so this helped me understand the inner workings of it. Starting with a check-in allows the clients to empathize with one another before they begin moving and allows them to get things off their chest. As for the wrap-up, it is vital to get clients to leave safely rather than letting them hold onto this raw emotion before they get launched back into the real world.
I think this talk is a necessity for understanding DMT within cultures. America is not the first place to discover DMT. Many other cultures around the world have discovered it and practiced it. This is shown by the Afro-Caribbean Dance discussed in the video.
I did not realize how many people are diagnosed with mental illnesses and how many take medications to help manage them. This statistic never truly crossed my mind as I knew numbers were high, but I never realized they were that high. It is really cool to see how DMT can incorporate movements and themes from that movement to help a group process and manage their mental illness.
I thought this work was amazing. Thinking about how the therapists decipher movement into patterns to unearth some of the traumatic themes that these young soldiers are facing is incredible. It had to be horrific to do these things to survive, but I am so glad they got to experience DMT to help them process it and get re-integrated into the community.
Mirror movements are used to copy and understand other people's movement, and understand their nonverbal communication. But it is interesting, that if we don't understand our own movement, mirroring can actually lead us astray.
Dance movement therapists are the ONLY dancers trained to do therapy. They use dance and movement to foster health, communication and expression, promote the integration of physical, emotional, cognitive, and social functioning, enhance self-awareness, and facilitate change. I think this is very cool, especially how these trained dance movement therapists can help individuals while in group settings.
She moved through the entire talk, showing how non-verbal communication through movement is so powerful. As youth develop and transition to new periods of their lives, that can include trauma, depression, anxiety, new people, new schools, etc., it is super important to find a way to express the inner most emotions and thoughts, because it can be hard to verbally communicate them sometimes. The youth development program is an incredible way for people to do this, and I like how the example involving Keisha really captures this.
A lot of what she talked about revolved around being able to feel liberated, which is something most people strive for. I like the idea that DMT, especially combined with Afro-Caribbean dance can help feel free from shame, and negative emotions that people struggle with internally.
It was super interesting how DMT provides people with an alternate outlet to expression their emotions that they might not have been able to work through as effectively as in convention and talk therapy approaches
Her movements throughout the talk really emphasized how expressive dance can be. It made the talk really engaging and demonstrated how dance acts as a universal language.
I liked the different explanations of the dances she demonstrated. Many exhibit feelings of power and connection to the Earth which I think would be valuable practices/thoughts during a dance therapy session.
It was interesting hearing about how this therapist uses the mirroring technique and explaining how it helps the patient in his sessions. This technique really seems to allow everyone to connect to one another as you have to pay close attention to what others are doing
It seems that the boys he worked with really dissociated themselves from the trauma they experienced or enacted upon others. This makes it incredible that through dancing, they were able to reconnect with their emotions which can help them process their feelings and eventually find peace within themselves
I loved how this video incorporates movement into the talk ! I was very captivated by her words but even more captivated by her movements and how she used dance to portray her emotions and her words. I really liked how her talked mentioned how the youth needs a safe place to transform and find their authentic selfs because this is how I found my way through my youth. I started dancing very young and it definaley gave me a sense of self empowerment, confidence, and emotional relief. Its very important to recognize how dance can be used to better the youth and this video shows that importants with such great passion and optimism !
It was so interesting to learn about this powerful dance and how DMT can be an outlet for these overlooked issues. This video and lesson was so interesting to watch and learn about.
It seems like a program like the one Dr. Charne Furcron is involved in is deeply helpful to her community. I think that giving these kids an outlet and place to work through their emotions and be apart of a community is beautiful.
I love this idea of collective power through expression. Using dance, individuals are able to tap into the spiritual. And health can be a spiritual experience for those involved in DMT.
I thought this provided a really great perspective on the client/therapist relationship and how important it is to show up with continued commitment to build that eventual trust, slowly but surely.
This provided vital information for the benefits of dance therapy. Therapists are able to accomplish emotional breakthroughs with their clients through the communication of movement.
I love how DMT was being portrayed and used as a way to understand someone else's language and using movement to understand their language first. It was so moving to hear a therapy that can be utilized for autistic individuals that doesn't make them become more "normal" but using movement to build a relationship from where the person is at and how they process it rather than focussing on how they can be "more like everyone else".
I really enjoyed the illustration of David's stories about his experiences with the boys and their unfortunate past. You can tell from his emotions how powerful this experience meant to not only him but the overall well beings of the boys involved and how movement and dance helped them heal. I really liked how he added how DMT allows for peace from the frightening memories by portraying those experiences in order to reprogram them. It's very incredible to hear and understand how DMT can help individuals move past trauma.
Something that really stuck with me is when the speaker says, "the only universal language is a language that is communicated through our bodies and through movement." We all have the ability to express ourselves and understand others through movement.
The way Dr. Furcron talks about the poverty and struggles tons of children face in Atlanta including herself when she was younger, proves she knows what the situation is like. She talked about how dance changed the trajectory of her life, and I think that proves how powerful movement is!
I loved how Dr. Furcron moved as she spoke. It engaged the audience and helped to show, not just "tell" how powerful movement can be in conveying a message.
I love the idea that DMT can help people who are dealing with shame. Shame is something that we internalize and usually keep to ourselves, and it eventually breaks down our confidence and sense of self-worth. DMT can allow people to feel liberated and powerful, almost as if they can free themselves from some of that shame.
I love how this program includes not only the creation of a dance program that was THOUGHT to be helpful to youth, but PROVEN to be helpful by collecting data and makin sure that the program was not only effective in theory but in action as well.
I think it so great that DMT creates an outlet for people to help cope with such an overlooked issues such as the negative effects of institutionalized racism. While it is crucial to breakdown the systems which allow it to thrive, having a treatment for an individual to cope with these disparities is so needed.
I think with mental health becoming less stigmatized it is a great time to promote dance movement therapy. I think this video put into perspective the relationship between patient and therapist. There really has to be slow and steady relationship building in order for the patient to become comfortable. Once patients are comfortable with their therapist, this is when DMT really can help a patient mentally.
I find it so fascinating that dance therapy can just 'flip a witch' and reprogram the body. Dance movement therapy could be beneficial in so many different situations. I like how the video mentions that dance can led to both muscular and spiritual release.
I think that this video proves just how important DMT is and how effective it can be. As a dancer myself I have felt the impact that dance and movement can have on your emotional and social well-being.
I think it is so important that dance/movement therapists understand how cultural dances and traditions can be used in sessions. As a DMT you must be culturally competent and be aware of the things that influence your client's life in order to provide the best care.
I really enjoyed this story of the sense of unity that movement therapy groups can provide for those invovled. It allows people with mental illness a sense of expression, collaboration, and unity with others. I also enjoyed how this story showed the growth of movement based off others in the group.
