Читать книгу The Creative Arts in Counseling - Samuel Gladding T., Samuel T. Gladding - Страница 83

Dance and movement can be used preventively and therapeutically with a wide range of adolescents (Anderson et al., 2014; Block, 2001). Preventive dance and movement focus on helping adolescents explore “the radical changes in body image and awareness [they are undergoing] and the transient feelings of depersonalization this engenders” (Emunah, 1990, p. 103). DMT influences moods in adolescents regardless of gender, ethnicity, or diagnosis (Anderson et al., 2014). Dance and movement also lead to the expression of creativity within adolescents in healthy and actualizing ways. For example, they may help at-risk Black youth to develop socially appropriate skills and trust while having fun (Farr, 1997).

DMT enables adolescents to express their conflicts in an active, behavioral form, which is often easier for them than verbalizing what they are experiencing. Adolescents who are angry or confused can show their feelings in a safe and dynamic form by enacting them through dance and movement that can be accompanied by music. For clients with severe disorders, such as those with anorexia nervosa, body boundary exercises are used: Clients attend to the tactile differences “between their bodies and other objects in the environment” (Kaslow & Eicher, 1988, p. 180). Other movement- and dance-related exercises, such as muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and centering, are also helpful for this population regardless of the problems they present.