Friday, September 9, 2016

The Origin Of Movement Therapy

The Origin Of Movement Therapy


by Karen Carter


Movement/Dance therapy refers to the therapeutic use of dance and movement for the purpose of supporting emotional, motor, and intellectual functions of the body. The term movement/dance therapy is often abbreviated as DMT and is commonly used in the United States and Australia. In the United Kingdom, this therapeutic treatment is referred by the name dance movement psychotherapy. The abbreviated form used in the United Kingdom is DMP.

DMT makes one of the many forms of expressive therapies. Identification of the relationship between motion and emotions is the main goal of this field. Movement therapy has one of the longest histories. In the ancient world, dance was used during healing rituals in fertility, sickness, birth, death and similar events. In Europe and the United States, the belief that dance was more than just one of the expressive arts came up between 1840 and 1930 and continued to develop into what it is today.

Even though dance has traditionally been used for healing for thousands of years back, it is in the 1950s that it got established as a profession and therapy. American Dance Therapy Association founder, Chance Marian had a big role to play in this establishment. DMT has historically had two waves of development throughout. The first wave owes its development to Chance whilst the second wave interested American therapists a great deal.

The theory of DMT bases on the belief that there is constant interaction between the mind and the body. Conscious and unconscious movements people make base on the dualist premise of mind body. Those movements reflect personality and affect total functioning in people. As such, the relationship between clients and therapists are in a small part based on body language and other non-verbal cues. A sense of wholeness is offered to every individual by DMT by exploring the unity of the spirit, body, and mind.

The participant needs to complete all the four stages entailed in this process. There are smaller goals entailed in each stage that need to be achieved. The smaller goals contribute to a much larger goal. Goals and stages are varied depending on the participant. The stages are progressive, moving from one to the other. However, stages may sometimes be revisited several times as the session continues.

The four stages involved in this therapeutic method are, preparation, illumination, evaluation, and incubation. The preparation stage also goes by the name warm-up stage. It involves preparing a safe and adequate space without distractions or obstacles. The stage also involves participants forming supportive relationships with witnesses. Comfort is needed for the participants to move while closing their eyes.

The incubation stage involves the leader prompting participants to go into subconscious. The prompt is given verbally. The subconscious is an internal environment of relaxation and serenity that the participant needs in order to exploit their emotions. Incubation is followed by the illumination process, which is integrated through dialogue. The witness offers dialogue to the conscious awareness to allow for self-reflection.

Motivations hidden in the subconscious are resolved and uncovered through self-reflections. Positive as well as negative effects are associated with excess self-awareness. The session comes to a conclusion with the therapist evaluating insights gathered and discussing their significance.




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