This book demonstrates the use of dance/movement therapy to directly counteract social injustices and promote healing in international settings. It also demonstrates the potential for dance/movement therapy in prevention and wellness in clinical and community settings. The use of improvisational and creative dance is presented throughout the book as a tremendously clear, strong and powerful inroad to healing in every setting. The chapters in this book do not directly address social justice in dance/movement therapy, but rather provide provoking social justice related positions. This call for a provoking re-examination of the definition of dance/movement therapy is fitting as we—as a community—challenge our identity as dance/movement therapists, educators, supervisors and as human beings who have internalized oppression in various forms through our many identifiers and the unique intersections of those identifiers. The editors and authors posit that social justice cannot be fully addressed by focusing solely on the social issues. Rather, we must be aware of where and how the social issues come into the individual(s), the setting, and the therapy process itself. Chapter “‘Breaking Free': One Adolescent Woman's Recovery from Dating Violence Through Creative Dance" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license via link.springer.com.

Dance, Human Rights, and Social Justice: Dignity in Motion presents a wide-ranging compilation of essays, spanning more than 15 countries. Organized in four parts, the articles examine the regulation and exploitation of dancers and dance activity by government and authoritative groups, including abusive treatment of dancers within the dance profession; choreography involving human rights as a central theme; the engagement of dance as a means of healing victims of human rights abuses; and national and local social/political movements in which dance plays a powerful role in helping people fight oppression. These groundbreaking papers_both detailed scholarship and riveting personal accounts_encompass a broad spectrum of issues, from slavery and the Holocaust to the Bosnian and Rwandan genocides to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; from First Amendment cases and the AIDS epidemic to discrimination resulting from age, gender, race, and disability. A range of academics, choreographers, dancers, and dance/movement therapists draw connections between refugee camp, courtroom, theater, rehearsal studio, and university classroom.

Dance/Movement Therapists in Action fosters awareness of the living body, honors diverse ways of working, and leads toward creative expression and integration. This edited text, written by authors with exemplary credentials, spans and illuminates a breadth of investigative inquiry approaches and models to all students, clinicians, and researchers interested in dance/movement therapy (DMT) research. The text highlights two basic research frameworks-quantitative (objective) and qualitative (interpretative)-including their underlying philo­sophic and theoretical tenets. The authors' goal has been to create a comprehensible, accessible book that is readable and engaging: one that contains accepted research protocols in conjunction with practical infor­mation written in "nontechnical" terms. Many examples are incorporated throughout the text to clarify and amplify each of the various research options. A spectrum of research alternatives are presented that can inform clinical practice, inspire clinicians and students, and guide further research inquiry. These chapters hold a wealth of information and examples that will be of particular use and interest to clinicians and were conceived and written with practitioners in mind-for example, one featuring the use of movement observation scales for DMT research and clinical practice, and one on using research results to inform clinical practice. A completely new chapter on embodied descriptive and interpretive methods in DMT research also has been added. This volume will afford dance/movement therapists the tools to conduct research related to both clinical practice and academic inquiry.

This book offers a timely, detailed, and comprehensive synopsis of dance/movement therapy (DMT) in the treatment of psychological trauma. Along with the foundational concepts of DMT, tied to traditional trauma theory and a neurobiological framework, contributions contain rich clinical examples that illustrate the use of dance, creative movement, and body awareness with a wide variety of populations including survivors of sex trafficking, military veterans, refugees, those with multigenerational trauma, and others. Chapters emphasize the underlying influences of power, privilege, and oppression on trauma, prompting practitioners to consider and understand the dynamics of sociocultural contexts and engage in continuous self-reflection. Featuring multiple perspectives, as well as cultural and contextual considerations, this book provides direct takeaways for clinicians and professionals and concludes with a roadmap for the trajectory of trauma-informed, healing-centered DMT.

A timely anthology that explores power, privilege, and oppression and their relationship to marginalized bodies Asserting that the body is the main site of oppression in Western society, the contributors to this pioneering volume explore the complex issue of embodiment and how it relates to social inclusion and marginalization. In a culture where bodies of people who are brown, black, female, transgender, disabled, fat, or queer are often shamed, sexualized, ignored, and oppressed, what does it mean to live in a marginalized body? Through theory, personal narrative, and artistic expression, this anthology explores how power, privilege, oppression, and attempted disembodiment play out on the bodies of disparaged individuals and what happens when the body’s expression is stereotyped and stunted. Bringing together a range of voices, this book offers strategies and practices for embodiment and activism and considers what it means to be an embodied ally to anyone experiencing bodily oppression.

This updated and expanded new edition continues the theme of the first edition that presents a spectrum of research alternatives that can inform clinical practice, inspire the clinician, and guide scholarly dance/movement therapy (DMT) research. It highlights two basic research frameworks— quantitative (objective) and qualitative (interpretative)—including their underlying philosophic and theoretical tenets. The book is divided into four sections. Section 1 provides a sequential guide to the contents of the volume and establishes a rationale for the relevance of research to the field of dance/movement therapy. Section 2 explores the “Traditional Methods and Research Considerations” and is primarily devoted to experimental designs and the alternatives within the quantitative research paradigm. Section 3 addresses varying modes of qualitative approaches, and the interpretive designs that continue to evolve to meet the changing conditions of research inquiry in the arts and behavioral sciences. Section 4 comprises chapters that examine research alternatives and growing trends. These chapters include a spectrum of research models and methods such as evaluation research, embodied artistic inquiry, and mixing qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study. Throughout the book, many examples are given that provide knowledge and awareness of the living body, the diverse ways of working, and the importance of creative expression and integration. In addition, creative alternatives and options, artistic inquiry, single-subject design (SSD), individual case study, issues of reliability and validity, interviews, observations, and content analysis are explored that will assist the dance/movement therapist. This text will be an accessible introduction for students and interns as well as a useful guide for seasoned professionals.

This book provides an overview of dance movement psychotherapy for young people and adults with learning disabilities. Contributors from a variety of backgrounds examine their work with clients from across the disabilities spectrum, ranging from mild to complex needs. The book chapters present theory and practice relating to the client group and subsequent therapy processes. This comprises psychotherapeutic interventions, dance movement interventions, theoretical constructs, case study material, practitioner care, and practitioner learning and development related to individual and group therapy work. The logistics of a Dance Movement Psychotherapy intervention, the intervention itself and the ripples of influence into the clients’ wider socio-cultural context are discussed. This stance speaks to current research and practice discourse in health and social care. The book champions acceptance of difference and equality in the health and social care needs for people with learning disabilities whilst emphasising the importance of dance movement psychotherapy for people with non-verbal communication. Dance Movement Psychotherapy with People with Learning Disabilities: Out of the Shadows, into the Light will provide a practical and theoretical resource for practitioners and students of dance movement psychotherapy as well as allied health professionals, service providers and carers.