| Dance Therapy
Because dance is a direct expression of the mind and body, it is an intimate
and powerful medium for therapy. Throughout the world, people have always
danced to celebrate major events, to bond communities, to share sentiments,
and to heal the sick and the alienated. Applications. The use of dance
as a medical therapy in the United States began in 1942 through the pioneering
efforts of Marian Chace. Psychiatrists in Washington, DC, found that their
patients were deriving therapeutic benefits from attending Chace's dance
classes. As a result, Chace was asked to work on the back wards of St.
Elizabeth's Hospital with patients who had been considered too disturbed
to participate in group activities. At about the same time, Trudi Schoop,
a dancer and mime, volunteered to work with patients at Camarillo State
Hospital in California. A group approach for nonverbal and noncommunicative
patients was needed, and dance/movement therapy (DMT) met that need. In
1956, dance therapists from across the country founded the American Dance
Therapy ~Association, which has now grown to more than 1,100 members.12
It publishes a journal, the American Journal of Dance Therapy; fosters
research; monitors standards for professional practice; and develops guidelines
for graduate education. It also maintains a registry for therapists: the
certification registered dance therapist (D.T.R.) is granted to individuals
with a master's degree and 700 hours of supervised clinical internship;
the certification "Academy of Dance Therapists Registered" (A.D.T.R.)
is awarded after therapists have completed 3,640 hours of supervised clinical
work, which qualifies an individual to teach, supervise, and engage in
private practice. Dance/movement therapists are employed in a wide range
of facilities, work with diverse populations, and address the needs of
a broad spectrum of specific disorders and disabilities. Typically, dance/movement
therapists work with individuals who have social, emotional, cognitive,
or physical problems. Evolving specializations include using DMT as a
disease prevention and health promotion service with healthy people and
as a method of reducing the stress of caregivers and of patients with
cancer, AIDS, and Alzheimer's disease.~Therapy goals vary according to
the population served: for the emotionally disturbed, goals are to express
feelings, gain insight, and develop attachments; for the physically disabled,
to increase movement and self-esteem, have fun, and heighten creativity;
for the elderly, to maintain a healthy body, enhance vitality, develop
relationships, and express fear and grief; and for the mentally retarded,
to motivate learning, increase body awareness, and develop social skills.
The underlying assumption in DMT is that visible movement behavior is
analogous to personality. Thus, the process of changing how one moves
(e.g., from fragmented to integrated or graceful) can effect total functioning.
Specific aspects in DMT--such as music, rhythm, and synchronous movement--promote
the healing processes by altering mood states, reawakening stored memories
and feelings, organizing thoughts and actions, reducing isolation, and
establishing rapport. Dancing in a group creates the emotional intensity
necessary for behavioral change, and physical activity increases the endorphin
level, inducing a state of well-being. Total body movement stimulates
functioning of body systems (circulatory, respiratory, skeletal, and neuromuscular).
Activating muscles and joints reduces ~body tension and body armoring.
Unspeakable events, expressed in dance, can then be verbalized. DMT has
been demonstrated to be clinically effective in developing body image,
improving self-concept, increasing self-esteem, facilitating attention,
ameliorating depression, decreasing fears and anxieties, expressing anger,
decreas-ing isolation, increasing communication skills, fostering solidarity,
decreasing bodily tension, reducing chronic pain, enhancing circulatory
and respiratory functions, reducing suicidal ideas, increasing feelings
of well-being, promoting healing, and increasing verbalization (Fisher
and Stark, 1992). Research needs and opportunities. Although the efficacy
of DMT has been demonstrated since the 1940s through extensive clinical
practice, the following kinds of research should be done: • Experimental
studies to establish cause-effect relationships between specific approaches
and patient outcomes. For example, what is the effect of daily DMT on
~depressed teenagers and drug abusers? What are the effects of psychotropic
drugs on the ability of patients to respond to DMT? What are the effects
of DMT on the ability of autistic children to communicate (Holtz, 1990)?
• Regression studies to isolate the independent and interactive effect
of DMT. In many settings DMT is but one of several treatment modalities.
Studies addressing the question of how much of the variation in patient
change is accounted for by DMT alone and by DMT in combination with other
therapies would yield useful information (Holtz, 1990). • Studies about
how specific elements of dance--such as exuberance, vitality, social contact,
and bonding--promote healing, longevity, and health-enhancement. Can the
effects of these different components be dissected and quantified? • If
dance is engaged in for a specific purpose, is its therapeutic effect
diminished? That is, to what extent does the effect of dance depend on
spontaneity? ~ • Studies indicate that DMT is an aid to recovery after
illness. However, few studies exist on the use of dance therapy for prevention
of illness. Studies could be done to evaluate the adjunctive use of dance
in blood pressure control or in reduction of blood lipids.
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