Читать книгу The Creative Arts in Counseling - Samuel Gladding T., Samuel T. Gladding - Страница 86

DMT may also be used in remedial ways, for instance, with women victims of child sexual abuse (Meekums, 2000; L. Mills & Daniluk, 2002). In such a case, dance therapy especially helps clients reconnect with their bodies, play, be spontaneous, struggle constructively, connect with others, and experience a new sense of freedom. Dance and movement have also been used with adults who have depression. In a pilot study with working-age adults, people with mild, moderate, or severe depressive episodes improved their level of depression as well as comorbid anxiety (Punkanen et al., 2014). DMT has been used as an intervention with trauma survivors as well. This therapy can help facilitate the reestablishment of trust, intimacy, social skills, and self-esteem, which are often destroyed in cases of relational trauma (Pierce, 2014). DMT has a positive impact on patients with breast cancer too, improving their quality of life and decreasing psychological distress.

Overall, DMT can improve the quality of life for many adults suffering from stress in the short and long term. Social relations, global value, and physical health seem to improve significantly in the short term, and spirituality and general health factors seem to improve in the long term (Bräuninger, 2012b). For example, DMT statistically decreased psychological distress and body image distress while increasing self-esteem when used with obese women with problems with emotional eating (Meekums et al., 2012).

More formalized DMT is helpful for those who have physical problems. For instance, ballroom dances such as tango improve balance and coordination in patients with Parkinson’s disease (Kiepe et al., 2012). Furthermore, DMT has been used in prison settings to enhance communication and interpersonal relationship skills (Seibel, 2008) and to treat violence.

This practice is based on the knowledge that engaging in the creative process is a deeply healing experience, one that can lead the individual toward new and profoundly different ways of expressing their innermost feelings of rage, frustration, confusion, and alienation. (Milliken, 2002, p. 203)

In addition, movement techniques may be therapeutic in other remedial ways. For instance, a client may address repressed anger and rage by hitting a pile of pillows or a foam rubber block with a tennis racket. To facilitate regression to an earlier age, a client may lie down on a mattress and kick. Likewise, in group settings, one group member may stand across from a client who is hitting or kicking (without actually touching or hurting anyone else) and role-play through various means the object of the negative intent (Wilner, 2001). In other words, DMT and related processes enable upset individuals to release their emotions in constructive, physical, and sometimes symbolic ways.