Dance Therapy
Dance therapy is a type of psychotherapy that uses movement to further the social, cognitive, emotional, and physical development of the individual. Dance therapists work with people who have many kinds of emotional problems, intellectual deficits, and life-threatening illnesses. They are employed in psychiatric hospitals, day care centers, mental health centers, prisons, special schools, and private practice. They work with people of all ages in both group and individual therapy. Some also engage in research.
Dance therapists try to help people develop communication skills, a positive self-image, and emotional stability.
Origins
Dance therapy began as a profession in the 1940s with the work of Marian Chace. A modern dancer, she began teaching dance after ending her career with the Denishawn Dance Company in 1930. In her classes, she noticed that some of her students were more interested in the emotions they expressed while dancing (loneliness, shyness, fear, etc.) than the mechanics of the moves. She began encouraging them by emphasizing more freedom of movement rather than technique.
In time, doctors in the community started sending her patients. They included antisocial children, people with movement problems, and those with psychiatric illnesses. Eventually, Chace became part of the staff of the Red Cross at St. Elizabeth's Hospital. She was the first dance therapist employed in a formal position by the federal government. Chace worked with the emotionally troubled patients at St. Elizabeth's and tried to get them to reach out to others through dance. Some of them were schizophrenics and others were former servicemen suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. Success for these patients meant being able to participate with their class in moving to rhythmic music. "This rhythmic action in unison with others results in a feeling of well-being, relaxation, and good fellowship," Chace said once.
Chace eventually studied at the Washington School of Psychiatry and began making treatment decisions about her patients along with other members of the St. Elizabeth's medical team. Her work attracted many followers and the first dance therapy interns began learning and teaching dance therapy at St. Elizabeth's in the 1950s.
Other dancers also began using dance therapy in the 1940s to help people feel more comfortable with thems...
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...d to practice. After two years they may receive an additional recognition when they become an Academy of Dance Therapist Registered. They can then teach dance therapy and can supervise interns.
Dance therapists can also obtain psychological credentials by taking a test and becoming registered by the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc.
Key Terms
Authentic movement
A type of movement that is influenced heavily by Jungian analysis, and works by analyzing the internal images of the patient. Patients are also urged to dance only when they feel the "impulse" to move.
Freudian analysis
A type of psychological treatment where the therapist seeks to help the patient resolve conflicts and traumas buried in the subconscious.
Jungian analysis
A method of psychological treatment where the patient strives to understand the internal, often mythic images in his or her thoughts and dreams.
Psychotherapy
A medical treatment that seeks to resolve psychological traumas and conflicts, often by discussing them and emotionally reliving difficult events in the past.
Test anxiety
A name for the stress and anxiousness that commonly occur in students before they take exams.
To begin with, Martha’s desperate effort was one of her strong strengths. When Martha began dance, many people murmured that Martha would fail because she was “quite a few years above the average age of all the other girls in the school” (28), “dumpy, [and] unprepossessing” (28). However, she astonished her dance teachers and others “with her determination to learn and her quick mastery of difficult exercises, gestures, and steps” (30). Martha usually spent her time on the studio alone all day and night, seeking for unique, exotic, and alluring movements of her own. Ted Shawn, Mar...
...In this specific style, the therapist tends to have the most success in gaining knowledge of the patients feelings of inadequacy, fear of intimacy, and low self esteem.
The dance cannot exist with music alone; the choreography helps complete the dance. Choreography often involves learning dance from other dancers, or learning a new type of dance to make the existing one more exciting. Going beyond the normal boundary increases the chance that the dance will effectively intertwine the music and choreography, so the dance will go beyond the original idea. Shadowing neurosurgeon Dr. Norgran in high school and pulmonologist Dr. Yaeger in college, has given me a new perspective on going into a career in medicine. These people helped me to see that I would have to be willing to alter the music of my life in order to finish the dance of a medical career.
Learning about Dance: Dance as an Art Form and Entertainment provides visions into the many features of dance and inspires scholars to keep an open mind and think critically about the stimulating, bold, ever-changing and active world of dance. Learning about Dance is particularly useful for those who do not have a wide and diverse dance contextual, such as students in a preliminary level or survey dance course. This book consists of twelve chapters. Chapter one dance as an art form focuses on the basic structures of dance. Dance is displayed through the human body, it has the control to communicate and induce reactions. Dance can be found in many different places, it enables the participants and seekers to touch and knowledge the joy of movement. Dance is discovered as being one of the oldest art forms worldwide. Dance existed in early cultures was recognized in a sequence of rock paintings portrayed dance. Since this discovery of rock paintings, several other forms of art have been found that depict dance. People used rituals in order to worship the gods and believed that the rituals held magical and spiritual powers. During the ancient period civilizations sentient decisions began to be made with regard to dance. Other periods that had an impact on dance were the medieval period, the renaissance period, and the contemporary period. Chapter two the choreographer, the choreographer is a person who comes up with the movements created into a dance routine. The choreographer expresses themselves through choreography because this is their way of communicating with the audience. In order to be a choreographer you must have a passion for dance. Each choreographer has their own approaches and ways of making up a routine. Choreographers ...
...Merce Cunningham continues to be on the pioneering edge of dance. His innovative techniques continue to astound audiences around the world with his creativity and expertise. In every time period throughout history, there has always been a select few who have changed the times. Whether it is Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, or Merce Cunningham, society will always be indebted to these individuals for the contributions they have made in various aspects our lives.
Trisha Brown is considered to be one of the most pivotal choreographers of the 1960’s as her work and practice shifted away from historically considered “appropriate” movement for choreography. This ideology references the modern era of choreographers, moving away from the aesthetics of Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham who worked with codified techniques, virtuosity and expressionism, whereas Brown saw dance as being of greater importance to the physical and mental process of the performer. Born in Aberdeen, Washington and studying dance at Mills College in California, Brown took improvisational workshops with Anna Halprin, discovering the concept of task orientated work. This knowledge would become central to her later experiments and work. She then shifted her life to New York to study composition with Robert Dunn to further her knowledge of movement and choreography. Physical research that was undertaken in these classes became publically presented programs, eventually leading to the evolvement of Judson Dance Theatre. In the late 1960’s, Brown constructed experiments to play with the dynamics and stability of gravity, using props such as ropes and harnesses to extend the dancers past their physical limitations. These experiments went on to become a working method for the work she created throughout her career and with her company which she founded in the 1970’s.
Reality Therapy Introduction William Glasser, who “published his first book, Mental Health or Mental Illness?” was the foundation of “Reality Therapy” in 1961.” (Corey, 1977/1991) “Dr. Glasser began his work in an adolescent girl’s juvenile facility.” (Mary Lahey, 2013 PowerPoint Presentation) This was in total opposition to a popular theory of the times by Sigmund Freud. Freud’s Psychoanalysis theory states that each individual is unique, that there are factors outside of a person's awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings, and experiences) which influence his or her thoughts and actions, that the past shapes the present, that human beings are always engaged in the process of development throughout their lives.
Dance movement therapy came about during the 1940s after modern dance pioneers changed dance forever. I was after modern dance pioneers like Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and others changed dance from strictly stylized form to free spontaneous movement the encouraged individuality. Marian Chace who was a dance instructor at the time came up with the idea of dance movement therapy. Marian Chace notice in her dance classes what the movement of dance provided for her students. She took interest on how dance allowed her dancer to emote their feeling through movement.
Physical Therapist is a “Healthcare professionals who evaluate and treat health problems resulting in injury and disease”-Trisha Hawkins. Physical therapy is the act of healing through therapy that is physical, meaning the patient is getting better. Physical therapy helps people on a daily basis with numerous problems from every race and gender. Physical Therapist originated during World War 1 (1914-1918). The purpose was to rehabilitate wounded soldiers so they could fight more. The word rehabilitation is derived from the words “to enable” and “again”. There are four different kinds of physical therapy: Bedside which is at home at the patient house, Neurological which is at bedside but often used when there is traumatic injuries, orthopedic which the place varies and its often used when there is bad injuries and breaks and Cardiopulmonary and the place varies but it’s used when there are heart surgeries. Becoming a Physical Therapist is hard work but it is very rewarding, there is many perks to being one and if you’ve experienced any injuries at home, there is many at home remedy you can try.
Ideally, the client identifies current sensations and emotions, particularly ones that are painful or disruptive. By applying the therapy, patients are confronted with their unconscious feelings and needs along with the assistance to accept and assert repressed parts of them. The most powerful techniques involve is role-playing is when the patient talks to an empty chair as they imagine that a person associated with an unresolved issue is sitting in the chair. As the patient talks to the "person" in the chair, the patient imagines that the person responds to the expressed feelings. This is significant so that patients’ trust their innate feelings in order to relieve suppressed stress.
Overby, L. (1992). Status of dance in education (Report No. ED348368). Washington, DC: Eric Clearinghouse on Teacher Education. Discusses the status of dance as a part of the elementary school curriculum. This Digest examines the rationale for dance in education, the status of dance education, and selected issues in dance education.
Shelder (2010) describes seven distinguished features of Psychodynamic approach compared to other available therapy forms in his review: focus of effect in relation to client’s express of emotions; understanding resistance in terms of avoidance of important topics and/ or distracting behaviors in therapy sessions; exploring client’s patterns in terms of behaviors, reasoning, emotions, experiences, and connections to others; bringing in the client’s past; examining relational factors and dealings; highlighting the importance of therapy, and bringing in dreams, wishes, or fantasies for exploration.
Kraus (1969) found that " a major influence in helping to bring dance into public schools and colleges was the work of the French dramatic teacher, Francois Delsante " (p.127). By the beginning of the 20th century, dance had become accepted by public schools throughout the United States and was now a required class. The only negative part about dance being taught in public schools, was that not all teachers who taught the dance classes were certified because there main objectives were to teach core classes. Throughout the United States, dance classes provided a form of exercise for children, but the dance were so basic it was not until public schools adopted the concept of modern dan...
As a prospective doctor, I can expect to encounter life’s biggest challenges. Life and Death situations will present themselves, and it will be up to me to make a spontaneous decision which portrays confidence, finesse, and accuracy. There’s so little time to ponder the best procedure to perform; so little time to waste. Dance has prepared me for this type of challenge. It has perfected the preciseness in my judgments. On stage, there have been times when I will forget my steps and my mind goes blank; anxiousness seeps in rushing with adrenaline, and the initial thought is to “book it” and flee, but my experience in dance has enabled my ability to make quick altercations in the choreography, preventing the ruination of the showcase. Similarly, when an alarming case presents itself, as a doctor, I will be ready to make an accurate decision.
“Dance, the art of precise, expressive, and graceful human movement, traditionally, but not necessarily, performed in accord with musical accompaniment. Dancing developed as a natural expression of united feeling and action.”