Dance Therapy 101: A crash course as experienced at Ohio University

OK, so maybe skeptics can accept that arts therapies can serve useful functions, including improving communication and expression and increasing physical, emotional, cognitive and/or social functioning. But how exactly does this happen?

It’s necessary to understand that different therapy sessions target different objectives. For example, the primary area of focus for the weekly dance therapy group with ATCO participants is to increase physical functioning. My co-facilitator, Haley, and I find that they – like many adults – typically do not have the opportunities to use their bodies freely and to their full potential. As a result of this attitude toward movement (viewing it in a purely functional light, therefore minimizing its possibilities), the ATCO participants have developed a limited range of movement patterns. Because our primary objective is to increase physical functioning, our class tends to be run almost like a creative movement class, focusing on the exploration of using the body in different ways.

Inside the dancer’s studio

A typical 35-minute dance/creative movement session with ATCO participants might follow a schedule like this:

11:10 a.m. – ATCO participants (usually six) arrive and remove their shoes, a ritual that helps them shift into a “movement” mindset. They are joined by about six volunteers, college students who partner with the ATCO participants in all activities. This one-to-one (participant-to-volunteer) ratio is important because the participants having varying levels of mobility and activity comprehension. Volunteers help the participants tailor movement activities to the level that will be most beneficial to them.

11:15 a.m. – We begin warm-up activities, such as moving different body parts to music. This helps participants begin to acknowledge movement in places they might not have previously considered, such as their shoulders or knees.

(I've included several pictures in this entry to help illustrate different activities I describe. I took all of them during a recent creative movement session.)

In this picture, my co-facilitator Haley and ATCO participant Rex work together to stretch their arms as far as possible during a warm-up.

11:20 a.m. – The group begins to do more, larger movement within the context of different dance concepts, such as level, speed and locomotion. Haley or I will lead an activity, giving the participants and volunteers movement directions. For example, when exploring speed, we might say, “When the music is loud, move quickly around the room and when it is soft, move slowly.” This allows participants with different skill levels different movement options ranging from simple walking to running, galloping, jumping, etc.

In the pictures below, we used scarves as a prop to encourage movement. Their floating quality encourages large arced arm movements and tossing movements (to throw them up and catch them as they floated down). Participants focused on upper body movement in this activity.

Here, (left to right) ATCO participants Jason and Rex, and volunteers Haley, Sjannake and Ashleigh explore the movement possibilities of the scarves.

Volunteer Ashley and ATCO participant Marcia begin to warm up to the idea of holding on to the scarf while simlutaneously doing other movement.

11:40 a.m. – We gather together as a group to recap what we have done during the session and usually go through some slow, cooling down movements. This gives participants time to store the session’s “movement knowledge” and to make the transition to their next activity.

It’s important to remember that this is only one type of dance therapy session. Many other types, which are more specialized and likely to address emotional and cognitive issues, are led by professionals certified by the American Dance Therapy Association. These cognitive and emotional focuses – as well as the physical focus that the ATCO group takes – can be useful to all populations of people.

Begin at the beginning: an exploration of arts therapies

Taking the first step

Once in a while, you see, hear or do something that just makes you stop and say, Wow. Of course, exactly what sparks that “magic moment” will be different for everyone: it might be seeing a thought-provoking documentary, driving a certain car for the first time or meeting a truly inspirational person. For me, a wow moment occurred about a year ago when Ashleigh Ochs, a friend of mine, asked me to help her with a new project.

Ashleigh (an Ohio University social work major with a dance minor) was serving an internship with ATCO, an organization in Athens, Ohio that helps adults with disabilities to “picture their potentials,” according to its Web site. ATCO provides opportunities for its participants to develop life skills, gain employment and acquire social skills and friendships through various activities and outings in the community. When Ashleigh’s supervisor learned she had a background in dance, he excitedly encouraged her to try something new with the ATCO participants – dance therapy.

Ashleigh began organizing the group and asked another dance major (Haley Dulman) and I to join her in the formation of a weekly creative dance/movement group for the ATCO participants. And with that, I was brought into the world of creative arts therapies.

What are those people doing??

Even in today’s society, which is increasingly using “alternative” types of therapeutic and medicinal treatments, most people have a fairly ambiguous and unclear idea of what exactly arts therapies are. When I mention my involvement with dance therapy sessions, people sometimes ask if we “dance about our feelings” or “just run and dance around and let out emotions.” These responses have elements of truth in them, but they do not touch on the full power or breadth of the spectrum of functions covered by dance/movement therapy or arts therapies.

The Web site of the National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations (NCCATA) does a great job in giving a simple, brief overview of exactly what arts therapies are – and what they do. The organization comprises the professional organizations of the six main types of creative arts therapies: art therapy, dance/movement therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, poetry therapy and psychodrama.

Each of these arts therapies uses different creative processes to achieve a variety of goals, including
• improving communication and expression
• increasing physical, emotional, cognitive and/or social functioning.

Another misconception that I encounter is that arts therapies are really only appropriate for certain populations, such as people with disabilities or those in psychiatric hospitals. In reality, however – as the NCCATA points out on its fact sheet – anyone can benefit from arts therapies, particularly people with
• mental health needs
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• chronic illness
• head injuries
• substance abuse problem
• physical disabilities
• developmental disabilities.

While they are still considered unconventional, it is possible arts therapies to play an important role in people’s everyday lives – perhaps even yours.