EN - Dance Movement Therapy | susanagarciamedrano

What is

Dance Movement Psychotherapy ?

Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) is psychotherapy that works through body movement and its meanings to improve health and wellbeing.

Through observation, analysis and transformation of movements, participants achieve integration of mind, body and emotions. As it is known, diseases and malaise are related to the fragmentation of emotional live, and that is why psychotherapeutic currents aim towards integration.

DMP has its origins in the United States in the forties. Its founders were modern dancers who realized that the duality body and mind is influenced by movement. By practicing with students and patients at clinics they arrived to the conclusion that dance and a variety of movements helped them reach unconscious states and express themselves more easily and freely, and thus contributing to improve their health.

Dancing is not subject to any specific technique, rather to the ability that all humans have to express emotions and deeper thoughts through movement. Through history, dance has been a key element for the development of human groups. Whether festive or ritual, dance has contributed along thousands of years to group cohesion and identity building.

What are their theoretical bases?

Since its inception, the DMP has been documenting the changes observed in people starting a therapeutic process, so that to date have been recorded and published cases, research and experiences in journals for over 70 years. The founders of DMP were based on information from psychoanalysis in its various currents. Currently, in addition to the contributions of psychoanalysis, DMP also relies on the psychology of human development, research in neuroscience around the work of mirror neurons, research on nonverbal communication, research on sports medicine, bioenergetics and different systems motion analysis.

What is or what are the benefits of taking it?

All forms of psychotherapy pursue health and welfare of people. Several investigations allow promotes DMT ensure that people are healthier, because:

Increase trust between the / os members of a group
Promotes self-knowledge
Increases the feeling of well being
Facilitates integration of people (body, mind and feelings)
Helps blocked the expression of emotional aspects
Through movement allows the expression of ideas or thoughts difficult to name (as many traumas product experiences)
Reduce stress
Increased spontaneity, flexibility and creativity
Increase awareness of the body, movement and sensation
Promotes relaxation, concentration and calm