What Is Dance Movement Therapy?

The psychology of dance therapy is based on the concepts of Jung's Analytical Psychology, Gestalt Psychology, and Self Psychology. Dance therapists believe that there is a natural flow of energy within all living beings. Psychological conflict can affect this natural flow and cause a chaotic flow. The outward manifestation of this chaotic flow is maladaptive exercise, posture, and breathing. Dance is a form of exercise that not only corrects people's maladaptive movements, postures, and breathing, but also releases emotions such as anxiety, anger, sorrow, and depression that lurk deep inside, so that people feel themselves. Control of personal presence. Therefore, dance therapy can be an important means to promote physical and mental health.

Chinese name: Dance therapy

Applied discipline: psychology

The rise and development of dance therapy

Dance therapy first emerged in the United States in the 1940s, and then spread to European countries. Latin American countries began to include dance as an effective treatment for mental illness in the mid-1970s. At present, dance therapy in Argentina, Cuba and other countries has been improved. The Cuban government has also set up a dance therapy fund to train dance medical staff and provide dance medical guidance to mental patients in mental hospitals, schools, nursing homes, orphanages and prisons. The Mexican government did not begin systematic research and promotion of dance therapy until 1997.

Dance therapy development process

In the field of early psychology, many psychologists have observed that there is a great correlation between many mental illnesses and body vocabulary. Anthropologists developed a set of muscle movements when studying models of human language. Perceptual dynamics, analyzing the way of human body communication. He believes that humans often use non-verbal methods to communicate. Body language is more extensive than the combination of words. It studies the use of space around people and the posture of their hands when they speak. Changes in movement, intonation, and facial expressions.

Psychologist William Condon believes that when people talk, their body movements are closely related to their language patterns. When people are talking, their bodies are constantly changing. Part of the reason for this change is with the listener and the speaker. There is a close relationship between the movement interactions, and this non-verbal study found that it has an important impact on future dance therapy.

Another psychologist, Welhelm Reich, not only uses psychoanalysis, but also observes the patient's body to understand how the patient applies repression to the body. It pays great attention to the expression of the patient's movements and body language. He believes that any movement of the patient has its special form. By observing the patient's movements, he has developed a set of special rhythmic movements to help the body to regenerate the nervous part Connections also have an emotional and relaxing effect.

Then, C. Jung developed a set of "positive imagination" techniques that can be used to allow patients to express their subconscious experience. He believed that the contact and understanding of the symbolic messages of the subconscious is very important. The dance can be stimulated unknowingly, express these motives, can deal with some emotional distress, and stimulate personal potential. He uses dreams and artistic methods to understand what the experience really means to the individual, and uses dance to guide the patient to express emotions or his dreams, opening a way for dance therapy.

Dance therapy really started to help people grow psychologically. After World War II, when many American officers and soldiers returned to their daily lives after the war, adaptation had serious problems. The reason was that during the war, facing the students during the war, The sequelae caused by the stimulus caused by death are still bothering them after leaving the military life, seriously affecting their daily lives. At this time, the East and West coasts of the United States coincided with the use of improvisational creativity Dance, as a form of teaching, encourages students to express their feelings through their body movements. They begin to use the body as a medium to speak. From the interaction of body movements and the mind, they guide people to understand themselves. Many people have finished Chase s class. I feel that my emotions and physiology have been greatly relieved. This effect has gradually attracted the attention of doctors at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington. After deep understanding, they found that Chase s dance courses are not only helpful to the general public, but also spiritual The patients also had a big influence, so they started to invite Chas in 1942 E went to the hospital to lead the patient's dance activities, so Chase became the first formal dance therapist in the United States. Her contribution in the field of dance therapy also deeply affected the development of future dance therapy. ^[1]

Basic goals of dance therapy

The goals of dance therapy include developing body imagery, self-esteem, physical self, and improving understanding of physical, mental, emotional, and physical tension. Dance is a kind of body language, which not only brings people a sense of excitement and excitement, but also leaves a strong image on the imagination of dance activities, which can promote health and provide the environment to express emotions and let us know the environment and human beings. emotion.

Dance therapy function

1. Dance therapy has a wide range of health benefits. It has been clinically proven to effectively improve people's body shape, self-esteem, attention and communication skills. It can reduce stress, fear, and anxiety. It can also reduce emotional loneliness, physical tension, chronic pain, and depression. In addition, it can improve the function of the body's circulation and respiratory system.

2. Dance therapy has been shown to be beneficial to adolescents, adult patients with mental illness, those with learning disabilities, vision and hearing loss, mental retardation, and the elderly (especially in nursing homes).

3. Proponents of dance therapy claim that dance therapy can also successfully help people treat brain damage, AIDS, arthritis, amputation surgery, bruises, cancer, and other physical diseases.

Dance therapy treatment structure

Dance therapy place

It is usually held in a hall or gym where light weight sports can be performed. Open group therapy for hospital patients can be performed in the lobby of the ward building.

Dance therapy time and frequency

Depending on the purpose of treatment, this can be done several times a week. If you want to pursue the quality of the group and the depth of communication, once a week is the minimum. The implementation time varies depending on the frequency, target, and temperature conditions of the implementation site. Treatments for adults with mental disorders are usually done once a week for about 45 minutes. If it is performed more than once a week, or for children and the elderly, the implementation time can be shortened.

Number of dance therapy participants

In order to promote meaningful mutual communication within the group, as with speech small group therapy, 6 to 8 people are appropriate.

The therapist group is managed and guided by a dance therapist. If necessary, an assistant therapist can be set up, or the staff of the relevant treatment institution can be invited to participate in the treatment together. From my experience, the therapist should be able to cope with a small number of participants, but if there are more than 8 participants or members with low energy ability to join, it is necessary to ask an assistant therapist or other personnel Assistance. These entries are mainly concerned with the movement of participants, assisting the dance therapist in group operations, and preventing members from falling behind.

Dance Therapy Conference

Therapists will have meetings to discuss before and after treatment activities. In order for treatment to be meaningful and safe, information about individual patient and overall ward dynamics is collected during pre-treatment meetings. After the treatment activities, it is necessary to summarize the psychological changes of the patients during the treatment activities, and try to let the treatment team share all the information that is beneficial to the treatment. ^[1]

Dance therapy advancement

At the beginning of the therapeutic activity, the dance therapist must try his best to feel the atmosphere of the scene, and choose the music that is consistent with the atmosphere of the scene. The movement is based on the patient's spontaneous movement, improvising the constructive and healthy part of the patient's movement. You can't use the same music every time or move in the same way. Participants' psychological states can change over time, and the therapist will change the direction of treatment based on these changes. The specific contents of general treatment activities are as follows:

1. Warm up: Create an atmosphere of acceptance. Improve the activity of each part of the body, enhance the awareness of physical activity, and guide as much as possible expressive movements.

2. Development: Promote the development of expressive actions, and promote the group's emotional performance and emotional experience.

3. Termination: Adjusting the rising emotions and ending treatment activities in a calm atmosphere

The main techniques of dance therapy

Dance Therapy Performance

From the patient's spontaneous action towel, select the adaptable and healthy part, following the natural rhythm. Improvise action. At this time, while empathizing with the participants' emotions, it is also necessary to promote the development of emotional expression. The elements of the action are shown in the table on the right:

Use of dance therapy music

Appropriate use of music can promote the development of emotional expression while regulating movements. In order to meet the various needs of the participants, I always prepare many CDs and adjust the tracks according to the progress of the treatment activities. The music used includes classical, jazz, pop, folk music, etc. In principle, avoid using songs that the patient can understand the lyrics or songs with a special meaning. This is to avoid the emergence of ideas and ideas unrelated to the treatment process and prevent Come unnecessary emotions. ^[1]

Dance intervention language intervention

The language description of the symbolic meaning of dance movements performed by the group can promote participants' understanding of the meaning of movements and help them achieve emotional expression through movements. In addition, by explaining the content expressed by non-verbal expressions such as actions, this verbal expression can deepen the participants' awareness of self-experience. ^[1]

Conditions for dance therapy to become a therapist

Dance therapists are people who use dance and other physical movements for psychotherapy. Therefore, on the basis of mastering dance techniques, there is also the qualification and skills of a psychotherapist. That is, the therapist must have a variety of dance techniques, be familiar with dance therapy theory, have the skills to observe, analyze, and evaluate movements, be proficient in the psychokinetic theory of individuals and groups, and have a basic knowledge of the human body and various functions Ability to understand various mental illnesses, and to understand the whole treatment. In addition, you must regularly receive treatment supervision to assume the duties and responsibilities of the therapist. ^[1]

Dance therapy benefits

1. Participants have low tension and burden, and the scope of application is relatively wide, even including cases where it is difficult to achieve empathy in language-mediated therapy.

2. Because action is the pre-linguistic expression medium, some emotions that cannot be expressed in language will be directly and naturally expressed through action, which is very effective for patients with strong psychological defense.

3. Because the emotional expression is conducted under the guidance of a trained and experienced dance therapist, the movements caused by the intense emotional fluctuations during the treatment will also be naturally restrained with the rhythm, and the degree of danger relatively low.

4. In group therapy, group members can share pre-linguistic and diverse emotional expressions and experiences. Participants accumulate a variety of emotional experiences under the empathy, accommodation and support of the group, and can confirm the universality and validity of their emotions. ^[1]