Читать книгу The Creative Arts in Counseling - Samuel Gladding T., Samuel T. Gladding - Страница 71

DMT is “the psychotherapeutic use of movement to promote emotional, social, cognitive, and physical integration of the individual, for the purpose of improving health and well-being” (American Dance Therapy Association, 2020, para. 1). It is a widespread art-based form of psychotherapy for many somatic and psychic illnesses that has been developed since the 1940s with different orientations. The philosophy behind DMT is that body and mind are inseparable. Body movements reflect emotional states from anxiety to trauma (Dieterich-Hartwell, 2017). Research over the past couple of decades has found small but consistent effects of therapeutic use of dance and movement in terms of improving clients’ well-being, mood, affect, and body image (S. Koch et al., 2014). International research confirms that DMT is effective in work with oncology patients and patients with depression. Some people with Parkinson’s disease who generally cannot move at all can walk in time to music (Dingfelder, 2010). Furthermore, DMT is useful in the assessment of people suffering from schizophrenia and in the evaluation of parent-child interactions (S. Koch & Bräuninger, 2006).

The use of dance and movement in counseling and therapeutic settings benefits clients in one or more of six areas:

1 Resocialization and integration within a larger group system

2 Nonverbal creative expression of emotions

3 Total self- and body awareness and enhanced self-esteem (S. Ali et al., 2017)

4 Muscular coordination, broader movement capabilities, and release of tension

5 Enjoyment through relaxation (Ritter & Low, 1996, p. 249)

6 Promotion of empathy and prosocial behavior (Behrends et al., 2012)

As approaches used in therapeutic settings, dance and movement are premised on a number of theoretical assumptions (Best, 2000). The first comes from the psychoanalytic literature, through the implicit belief that the initial awareness of self is through the body (Freud, 1923/1961). It is further assumed that body movement (as a representative aspect of the unconscious) may inform the conscious mind of feelings and repressed influences that affect a person’s life (Payne, 2020). “Movement conveys truth” and “is the direct printout from the unconscious” (Hendricks, 1982, p. 166). In this tradition, dance and movement promote awareness and further “the physical and psychic integration” of people (Krueger & Schofield, 1986, p. 327). These avenues of expression help clients heal their fragmentation and alienation from themselves and others (Chaiklin & Wengrower, 2016; S. K. Levine, 1996; Thomson, 1997).

A second premise on which dance and movement in counseling is based is bodywork. There are many forms of bodywork, including

various forms of massage, rolfing, bioenergetics, yoga, Tragerwork, Lomi bodywork, and acupressure. They are all designed to help people dissolve psychophysical blocks in the body. Some are more physical in nature (massage), and others focus more on psychological blocks (bioenergetics). Direct manipulation of the body often triggers memories of old traumas and injuries or can produce a flood of feelings. (Weinhold, 1987, p. 7)

When people work their bodies through dance and movement, avenues of awareness that were previously closed begin to open up. Bodywork seeks to help people become more integrative. It is especially effective with people who are closed to talking about their feelings.