Dance/movement therapy is defined by the American Dance Therapy Association as "the psychotherapeutic use of movement as a process which furthers the emotional, cognitive and physical integration of the individual." Dance/movement therapy effects changes in feelings, cognition, physical functioning, and behavior. Basically it is a treatment of psychology that utilizes dance and movement to express and/or deal with feelings and experiences. In other words it is another method for helping you work through things.
I think dance therapy is good for both mental and physical causes. Mentally, it may reduce the stress of people with cancer and other chronic illnesses. It could also improve self-awareness and self-confidence. Physically, dance therapy can provide exercise, improve muscles and reduce muscle tension. It also may strengthen the immune system through muscle movements and prevent diseases. Now many people may disagree that dance therapy cannot prevent diseases but it can improve the mind to have positive feelings which is never a bad disease. Personally, I think dance therapy can really help people with depression. It helps to improve the mood of a person in a positive way and refreshes the mind too. For example, yoga is both intense as it is relaxing. Both of which helps reduce stress and depression. Belly dancing on the other hand is very much an endorphin producing activity. Any exercise you do causes your hormones to produce Endorphins. Endorphins are basically a natural remedy that makes you happier. So, more movements like dancing can produce more endorphins therefore more happiness. After any exercise classes, one feels invigorated, and also feel better about themselves both physically and mentally. Both of these can greatly reduce stress and depression. Not only myself, but many people who exercise/dance can be more pleasantly energetic. The only draw back to dance therapy is that people with physical disabilities may have a slight disadvantage, although there are many other ways to exercise without having to dance.
1 comment:
You know its funny, all my life I have heard of dance therapy and, quite frankly, I always kind of laughed at it and never considered it to be a legitimate form of psychotherapy. But after reading you article I started to think about the idea of movement as therapy instead of dance, and the whole thing started to make a lot of sense.
As long as I can remember, movement has always helped me when I am feeling down or stressed. Instead of dancing, I would go for a motorcycle ride, drive, or if it was winter I ski. Although I never made the correlation between these activities and psychotherapy, I have always felt like they have helped me gain self-awareness and allowed me to communicate with my self more easily.
I find it unfortunate that things like this get labeled with such specific titles. It seems to me, that referring to dance therapy as movement therapy would help legitimize this very effective way of dealing with personal problems in more people’s eyes. This is not to say that dancing is not a great way to improve your mental and physical wellbeing, I am just saying that it is not the only way, and many I think many people would except and try this method of psychotherapy more if it had a different title.
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