Читать книгу The Creative Arts in Counseling - Samuel Gladding T., Samuel T. Gladding - Страница 77

As noted previously, few traditional counseling theories have basic rationales that emphasize dance and movement as primary ways of clarifying or resolving problems. Nevertheless, dance and movement therapists consider such psychologically based authorities as Sigmund Freud, William James, Gordon Allport, Wilhelm Reich, Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, Alfred Adler, and Harry Stack Sullivan to have been influential in the development of their specialty (Chaiklin & Wengrower, 2016). For example, Liljan Espenak, a pioneer in dance therapy, based much of her work on integrating Adlerian concepts with the discipline of dance therapy. These Adlerian concepts included aggressive drive, inferiority feelings, social feelings, lifestyle, and first memory. The nonverbal emphases of other theorists have been especially valued by dance and movement therapists. The following examples illustrate how theories of counseling and movement are used separately or together.

The first example is gestalt therapy. It has two primary foci centered on movement. One focus is simply body language, in which the counselor and eventually the client concentrate on what different parts of the body are doing in conjunction with the client’s verbalizations. A client may claim to be calm and relaxed while simultaneously making a kicking motion. The incongruence of these messages is pointed out, and the client is confronted with the inconsistency of verbal and nonverbal signals (Gladding, 2018). In the process, clients are encouraged to examine and own their personal feelings and behaviors more directly.

The other focus of gestalt therapy is the movement encouraged with the technique of becoming a dream (in which a dream event is enacted). In this process, each part of a dream (e.g., people, events, and moods) is considered to be a projection of the self, and parts often represent contradictory roles. Dreamers are asked to become each part of their dream and to invent dialogue and interactions between the various components regardless of how absurd such a process may seem. Through this technique, opposite sides are expressed and become clearer, and the dream becomes the “royal road to integration” (Perls, 1969, p. 66).

A second example of how theories of counseling and movement are used involves social learning theory and family therapy, both of which focus on what many in these approaches call the dance: regular rhythmic interactions that enhance or impede one’s overall functioning. These perspectives emphasize developing social skills and competencies through dance. Selective dances are shaped and reinforced using a plethora of techniques derived from these traditions. The way in which individuals and family members generally relate to significant others in their lives determines how rigid, spontaneous, or healthy their lives will be. For example, in a social situation, a husband and wife may constantly put each other down or compliment and encourage each other. As a result of these actions, their behavior will be either positive (spiraling up in a virtuous cycle) or negative (spiraling down in a vicious cycle).

Additional examples of how theories of counseling and movement are used separately or together involve atheoretical approaches, and these include a number of effective generic movement and dance experiences. Many of these approaches are associated with groups. For example, a movement activity that creates greater awareness among group members about the nature of conflict is home spot. In this nonverbal experience, individuals are asked to join hands or put their arms around one another’s shoulders. Then they are to pick out a spot in the room to which they wish to take the group, without telling anyone. Finally, they begin trying to move the group toward the spot they have selected. The ongoing group dynamics are the primary focus of the exercise as group members struggle with issues of power and persuasion in a 2- to 5-minute time span. After the struggle that inevitably comes with the exercise, group members talk to one another about the specifics as well as the general nature of the dance they just went through and what it can mean for the life of the group and their own individual lives.

Overall, movement (and dance) are actively practiced as a part of counseling because they

 get people moving around and keep them from becoming fatigued from sitting too long in one spot,

 provide a change in format and an opportunity to renew interest and energize,

 give individuals a chance to experience something rather than simply discuss it,

 help participants remember what they experience more vividly than words alone, and

 involve all people in a counseling experience or the total person that is the client in a way not possible otherwise.