As part of therapy, dance can help overcome emotional struggles and boost self-esteem and self-confidence while enhancing physical, cognitive, social, emotional, spiritual, and creative processes (Karkou et al., 2017)..
The American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) defines dance/movement therapy as the psychotherapeutic use of movement to promote emotional, social, cognitive and physical integration of the individual..
Dance/movement therapy is based on the concept that the mind and body are interrelated and mutually influential: moving the body impacts how you feel emotionally and mentally, and vice versa.
How we feel and think resides in the body and impacts how we move..
To facilitate individual expression and communication with other people.
To increase body awareness, spontaneity, creativity and a healthy self-image.
To promote and integrate emotional stability (for example, anger management and stress reduction).
DMT is different from other forms of rehabilitative treatments because it allows creative expression and is more holistic.
It treats the person as a whole- body, mind and spirit.
A variety of dance styles are used in DMT which has four stages: Preparation, Incubation, Illumination and Evaluation..
Dance movement therapy (DMT) is a relatively new form of mind/body psychotherapy that builds on the use of nonverbal communication and symbolic movement (Serlin, 2010)..
Dance/movement therapy (DMT) is defined by the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) as the psychotherapeutic use of movement to promote emotional, social, cognitive, and physical integration of the individual, for the purpose of improving health and well-being..
Dance and movement therapy can be used to treat a number of physical and mental health issues
It can be helpful for improving self-esteem and can be useful for people who struggle with body image issues
Some conditions that it may help with include:
A 2019 review concluded that dance therapy was an effective intervention for the treatment of adults with depression
A 2019 review of studies concluded that dance movement therapy helped to reduce anxiety and depression
It also enhanced interpersonal skills, cognitive skills, and overall quality of life
The intervention is a holistic approach to healing that emerged in the 1940s
Many of the early innovators of the field were accomplished dancers who began to realize that movement was a form of psychotherapy
How does it work? The ADTA explains that dance therapy promotes health through coordinating and unifying all aspects of a person, including:
