 About Dance therapy and movement therapy...
Dance therapy and dance/movement therapy is an adaptable and inspirational type of treatment, it has many applications from basic to complex levels for treating:
- Muscle tension
- Tiredness
- Arthritis
- Disabilities
- Poor communication and concentration
- Psychological and physical problems
- Social skills
- Emotional stress and conflict
- Stress
- Injury
- Poor confidence
- Motivation
- Relaxation
- Posture
- Pain management
- Poor self-esteem
- Depression
- Poor circulation
- Respiratory problems
- Mentally handicapped
- Stroke and cancer victims
Dance and movement therapy promotes self-healing in a number of ways. Moving rhythmically eases muscular tension, reduces anxiety, and increases energy. Moving spontaneously helps people learn to recognise and trust their impulses, and to act on or contain them as they choose. Moving creatively encourages self-expression and opens up new ways of thinking and doing.
Dance and movement therapy provides all the benefits of any other exercise: improved health, well-being, coordination, and muscle tone. On an emotional level, it helps people to feel more happy, confident and allows them to explore such issues as anger, frustration, and loss that may be too difficult to explore verbally. On a mental level, dance therapy seeks to enhance cognitive skills, motivation, and memory.
You don’t need any previous dance training to benefit from dance therapy.
Your dance or movement therapist will assess how you move naturally and your issues or problems. Different dance and movement therapists have different styles and work in different ways. You may be treated on an individual basis or as part of a group. Each way has its own benefits depending on the type of problems that you have. Group work can address issues such as trust, isolation and confidence. They can also be a lot of fun with shared experiences and support. The number of sessions, both for individual and group work, will vary. As this type of therapy is very physical, it is a long term ‘investment’ in your well-being. It may take longer for you to feel the benefits while you get accustomed to using different muscles and doing movements that you aren’t used to experiencing.
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