Dance/Movement Therapy with Children

Dance therapy is based in the belief that the body, the mind and the spirit are interconnected, and is defined by the American Dance Therapy Association as "the psychotherapeutic use of movement as a process that furthers the emotional, cognitive, social and physical integration of the individual. At birth, we communicate our needs and desires to our caregiver through gesture and sound. Word acquisition is secondary and is limited with regard to emotional expression. Dance speaks the language of the child and involves direct expression of oneself through the body.
Dance therapists utilize this most fundamental art form to help children find a language that expresses their experience. Dance Therapy is extremely effective with children who have behavioral and emotional problems, developmental disorders and sensory integration issues, as well as, victims of abuse and trauma. Children engage readily in dance therapy, often without realizing that it is about their “problems”. A child’s behavior is seen as a form of communication. Through movement observation and assessment, the dance therapist looks at the child’s use of movement in time and space as well as symbolic gesture in order to better understand what the child is experiencing

The therapeutic process is undertaken through movement, dance and play. Dance therapists mirror the movement physically and empathically, while verbally reflecting the child’s story. The child creates and recreates his story, reworking the underlying issues that present as behavior. The plot of the story is how the child experiences his environment. As the therapeutic relationship is recognized and a safe environment is established, the motivation behind the behavior is better understood. The story becomes the therapeutic material and the therapist’s verbal reflection of the story is internalized by the child as “I am being seen and heard” without judgment or expectation. Being seen, heard and ultimately feeling understood is a need that most people have and it is by meeting this need that behaviors are often extinguished.

Take the case of a seven year old boy with behavior problems. The young boy entered the session extremely angry and explosive, having been in a fight with a classmate in school. He began by taking the props for the session - balls, scarves, blankets, musical instruments, art materials and threw them into a heaping pile in the center of the room. With strong. driving rhythmic music playing, he encircled the pile of props dancing around as if they were his opponent in a fight. The therapist mirrored his dance from across the pile while verbally commenting on his actions.
The pile of props symbolized his internal chaos of feeling out of control. After some time, he proceeded to take the props from the pile and construct what he called “a monster”. The dance ensued with more strong fighting movements which eventually led into a collapse on the floor in exhaustion. He then proceeded to calmly construct a fort with the props. His emotional state was transforming. After the fort was complete, he invited the therapist in where they sat for the rest of the session drawing and talking about the fight with his classmate.
The construction of his monster allowed him to give shape and form to the angry feelings which eventually transformed into a safe place, a fort, where he could share his difficult experience in school with another. By meeting this boy where he was, in action, emotion, and words, trust was built. This trust was built over the course of the session and was the foundation upon which he allowed the therapist to enter his world and become an ally in his fight against the world.

Dance therapists look to the creative process and uses non-verbal symbolic expression to help reveal material not readily available on a conscious/intellectual level. The creative process becomes a third party in the therapeutic relationship, and it is in the power of this unique relationship where the child is guided by his/her own impulses to realize his/her full potential.