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Dance Therapy
The World Of Dance Therapy
By Sammi Turano
Dance therapy is used to help people express their inner feelings through movement, rather than words. It also helps people improve motor and social skills using gym balls, mats and yoga as tools. It is believed that people can draw from inner conflicts by moving rather than talking because it helps the therapist reach issues that they may not have been able to by simply asking questions.
While it is often used for children during their development, in hospitals and regular therapy, it can also be used for couples who are having trouble communicating.
. Mark Bottos, Assistant Director at the Karden Institute of Arts Therapy, says that you can tell a lot about a dance couple based on how they interact with one another. Although he does not use ballroom dancing as a form of therapy, he observes how couples connect to each other while they are dancing together and tries to figure out why they may or may not be connecting the way they should.
For example, if a couple is very stiff, he can generally tell that they are uncomfortable with each other or that one or both of them might have something else going on—and it is showing in their dancing. Some of the things the therapist looks for are tight, slow or quick movements, all of which give an insight of what may be going on in the mind of the dancer. If the therapist uses ballroom dance as a form of therapy, he or she would then be able to work with the couple and try and figure out why they are having so much trouble connecting with each other.
By allowing the couple to dance together, they not only get to spend some quality time together but they also have a way to better communicate and connect with one another through their dancing.
Although dance therapy generally does not use a specific type of dance, ballroom dance can be used as a form of couple’s therapy. The body language used during the sessions can help detect problems and give the therapist a more in depth look as to what is going on with the couple.
FAST FACTS ABOUT DANCE THERAPY
• In addition to dance therapy, there is also art and music therapy, which uses those mediums to communicate with patients.
• One must obtain at least a Masters in Dance Therapy in order to practice it.
• Marian Chace, a former dancer, founded dance therapy in the 1940s after a diving accident. She discovered that the mind and body were interrelated, so she used her dance experience to help patients improve their health and lives.
• She was the first president of the American Dance Therapy Association in the 1960s and helped people improve their lives through dance until her death at the age of 74.
• Dance therapy can be used to try and help autistic children communicate.
• Although it is called dance therapy, many times, a therapist uses yoga, gym balls and mats to try and get patients to move.
• The main idea behind dance therapy is to see how and why people use their bodies in a certain way.
• Bottos says that dance therapy is much deeper than regular therapy and therapists can reach areas they may not have been able to simply by talking.
• It is an excellent way for a child (especially autistic children) to develop motor skills.
• It is also a way to look for self reflection in adults and help them develop leadership skills. (Think of those leadership retreats with trust exercises, it is a less structured, yet more involved version of that)
By Sammi Turano
Dance therapy is used to help people express their inner feelings through movement, rather than words. It also helps people improve motor and social skills using gym balls, mats and yoga as tools. It is believed that people can draw from inner conflicts by moving rather than talking because it helps the therapist reach issues that they may not have been able to by simply asking questions.
While it is often used for children during their development, in hospitals and regular therapy, it can also be used for couples who are having trouble communicating.
. Mark Bottos, Assistant Director at the Karden Institute of Arts Therapy, says that you can tell a lot about a dance couple based on how they interact with one another. Although he does not use ballroom dancing as a form of therapy, he observes how couples connect to each other while they are dancing together and tries to figure out why they may or may not be connecting the way they should.
For example, if a couple is very stiff, he can generally tell that they are uncomfortable with each other or that one or both of them might have something else going on—and it is showing in their dancing. Some of the things the therapist looks for are tight, slow or quick movements, all of which give an insight of what may be going on in the mind of the dancer. If the therapist uses ballroom dance as a form of therapy, he or she would then be able to work with the couple and try and figure out why they are having so much trouble connecting with each other.
By allowing the couple to dance together, they not only get to spend some quality time together but they also have a way to better communicate and connect with one another through their dancing.
Although dance therapy generally does not use a specific type of dance, ballroom dance can be used as a form of couple’s therapy. The body language used during the sessions can help detect problems and give the therapist a more in depth look as to what is going on with the couple.
FAST FACTS ABOUT DANCE THERAPY
• In addition to dance therapy, there is also art and music therapy, which uses those mediums to communicate with patients.
• One must obtain at least a Masters in Dance Therapy in order to practice it.
• Marian Chace, a former dancer, founded dance therapy in the 1940s after a diving accident. She discovered that the mind and body were interrelated, so she used her dance experience to help patients improve their health and lives.
• She was the first president of the American Dance Therapy Association in the 1960s and helped people improve their lives through dance until her death at the age of 74.
• Dance therapy can be used to try and help autistic children communicate.
• Although it is called dance therapy, many times, a therapist uses yoga, gym balls and mats to try and get patients to move.
• The main idea behind dance therapy is to see how and why people use their bodies in a certain way.
• Bottos says that dance therapy is much deeper than regular therapy and therapists can reach areas they may not have been able to simply by talking.
• It is an excellent way for a child (especially autistic children) to develop motor skills.
• It is also a way to look for self reflection in adults and help them develop leadership skills. (Think of those leadership retreats with trust exercises, it is a less structured, yet more involved version of that)
Comment
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Comment by Ty Tedmon-Jones on July 12, 2009 at 11:08am
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Hello Sammi! Great POST! I am a Professional Dance/Movement Therapist and I love dance and love watching Ballroom Dance! Dancers are such amazing people! - NO?!
Please check out the following: http://dance-movementtherapy.ning.com/
and My Blog: http://somaticrevelations.blogspot.com/
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Comment by Joanna on December 10, 2008 at 6:58am - That was really interesting. Thanks for sharing.
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Comment by Lalewa on December 10, 2008 at 6:30am -
That's very nice for thyrapy..I din'd know about it..
Thank you very much for writing it..(^.^)
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Comment by Deb on December 9, 2008 at 8:55pm -
Hey,
Wow.. that is a lot of facts about Dance Therapy that i never knew. Very interesting. Thank you for writing it. It gives me some things to think about.
hugz
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