If you consider yourself having two left feet, or freeze up the moment you’re asked to dance, the idea of using movement as therapy might sound terrifying. You might worry about looking foolish, feeling self-conscious, or being forced into awkward choreography.
Here is the liberating truth: Dance Movement Therapy does not require you to dance, at least not in the conventional sense. In fact, you don’t need a single ounce of rhythm, coordination, flexibility or dance experience to reap its profound mental health benefits.
Dance Movement Therapists are trained to meet you exactly at your comfort level. If you walk into a session feeling stiff and self-conscious, that feeling itself becomes the starting point of the therapy.
Here is what you can expect from a therapist who is attuned to a client’s starting discomfort:
- Micro-Movements: You do not have to stand up if you do not want to. Movement can be incredibly subtle, and focused inwardly on sensation. It can be as small as the rise and fall of your chest during a deep breath, a gentle stretch of your neck, an almost imperceptible shift in your sitting posture to find a sense of safety, or feeling your feet against the floor.
- Mirroring and Attunement: To establish a safe space of non-judgement, a therapist might gently mirror your movements and move together with you, instead of simply watch you move. This helps to create a sense of acceptance, effectively taking away the pressure to perform under a ‘spotlight’.
- Props: Therapists frequently use therapeutic props to make movement feel less exposing. Moving with a scarf, focusing on a textured object, or using music and visual images, lends more structure and provides guided focus for movement, as well as opportunities to externalise energy.
- Building Somatic Awareness: Before movement, a therapist will help you to cultivate internal somatic awareness. This bridges the gap between mind and body, so that movement arises from within in a way that feels natural to you.
When you reach out to a therapist, feel free to be honest about your discomfort. A good practitioner will welcome your hesitation and work at a pace that feels entirely safe for you. You do not need to be a dancer to connect with your body. You just need to be willing to breathe, lean in, open a tiny space for curiosity, and proceed – one small movement at a time.