Action Oriented Expressive Arts

• Expressive arts approaches help us to link or transform past feelings from specific events into the here-and-now.
• Through active participation clients gain a sense of increased self-efficacy. 
• The dynamics of artistic experimentation, especially with media where we feel unskilled and incompetent, correspond to the dynamics of change in therapy.
  
• In art, have the ability to transform difficult material into something new and life-affirming,
  
• Artistic engagement offers us a realistic experience where we can learn to grow and change, thus becoming and modeling what we strive to do for others.
  
• Similar to The Hero's Journey, the insight gained through these experiences can be implemented in one’s everyday life - a renewed perspective or a new path. 
  

Embodied Practices
Music, dance and movement can be used to help process difficult feelings when words alone are difficult to come by

• Rhythm and sensory interaction provide healing elements through embodiment (expression, creativity and feedback)

Dance / Movement/ Drama

​The links and articles on this page provide a broad overview of using the Dance, Movement, and Drama in Counseling. There are many more awesome websites and articles that are not listed.

LINKS

• American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA)
• American Music Therapy Association (AMTA)
• Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP)
• Dance Movement Therapy Association of Australasia (DTAA)
• Dance Movement Therapy Association in Canada (DMTAC)
• DanceUSA (includes the archives, preservation, and education programs of the Dance Heritage Coalition)
• European Association Dance Movement Therapy (EADMT)
• International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA)
• North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA)
• 5 Rhythms
• Bonnie Bainbridge: Movement (YouTube)
• https://www.energyschool.com/ (two-chair technique) 
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyi0rwLMdNk&t=18s (Tim Robinson in “The Actor’s Gang Prison Project Makes a Difference”)
• https://appliedtheatrecenter.org/drama-therapy/

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ARTICLES /RESOURCES

• Ackerman, E. (2018). 17+ best drama therapy techniques, activities, & exercises. Positive Psychology. https://positivepsychology.com/drama-therapy/
• Archibald, L., Dewar, J., Reid, C., & Stevens, V. (2012). Dancing, singing, painting, and speaking the healing story: Healing through creative arts. Aboriginal Healing Foundation.​
• Armstrong, K. (2017). ‘I Feel Your Pain’: The Neuroscience of Empathy. APS Observer, 31.
• Chibbaro, J. S., & Holland, C. R. (2013). Using Dance Therapy with High School Students: A Strategy for School Counselors. Georgia School Counselors Association Journal, 20(1), n1.
• Chitty, J. (2013). Dancing with Yin and Yang: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Psychotherapy and Randolph Stone's Polarity Therapy. Polarity Press. 
• Corteville, M. K. (2009). Dance your way to communication: Dance movement therapy to increase self-esteem, poor body image, and communication skills in high school females. 
• Dayton, T. (2006). Psychodrama in the resolution of trauma and grief. Counselor: The Magazine for Addiction Professionals.
• Hildebrandt, M. K., Koch, S. C., & Fuchs, T. (2016). “We Dance and Find Each Other”: Effects of Dance/Movement Therapy on Negative Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Behavioral Sciences (2076-328X), 6(4), bs6040024. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs6040024
• Dushman, R. D., & Sutherland, J. (1997). An Adlerian perspective on dreamwork and creative arts therapies. Individual Psychology, 53(4), 461.
• Johnson, D. R., Sandel, S. L., & Bruno, C. (1984). Effectiveness of different group structures for schizophrenic, character-disordered, and normal groups. International journal of group psychotherapy, 34(3), 415-429. 
• Kedem, D., & Regev, D. (2021). Parent-child dance and movement therapy (PCDMT): mothers’ subjective experiences. Body, Movement & Dance in Psychotherapy, 16(2), 136–149. https://doi.org/10.1080/17432979.2021.1883740
• Lotan Mesika, S., Wengrower, H., & Maoz, H. (2021). Waking up the bear: dance/movement therapy group model with depressed adult patients during Covid-19 2020. Body, Movement & Dance in Psychotherapy, 16(1), 32–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/17432979.2021.1879269 
• Madeson M., (2023a, March 9). Embodiment practices: How to heal through movement. PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/embodiment-philosophy-practices/#examples
  
• Payne, H. (2004). Becoming a client, becoming a practitioner: student narratives of a dance movement therapy group. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 32(4), 511–532. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069880412331303303
• Reed, J. (2016, January 1). The Actor’s Gang Project Makes a Difference. American Artscape Magazine, (Telling All Our Stories: Arts and Diversity). https://www.arts.gov/stories/magazine/2016/1/telling-all-our-stories-arts-and-diversity/actors-gang-prison-project-makes-difference
• Ritter, M., & Low, K. G. (1996). Effects of dance/movement therapy: A meta-analysis. The arts in Psychotherapy, 23(3), 249-260.
• Sandel, S. L., & Johnson, D. R. (1996). Theoretical foundations of the structural analysis of movement sessions. The Arts in psychotherapy, 23(1), 15-25.
• Sandel, S. L., Judge, J. O., Landry, N., Faria, L., Ouellette, R., & Majczak, M. (2005). Dance and movement program improves quality-of-life measures in breast cancer survivors. Cancer nursing, 28(4), 301-309.
• Shuper Engelhard, E., & Yael Furlager, A. (2021). Remaining held: dance/movement therapy with children during lockdown. Body, Movement & Dance in Psychotherapy, 16(1), 73–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/17432979.2020.185052
• Stone, R. (1987). Polarity therapy: The complete collected works. Summertown, TN: CRCS Publications.
• Veach, L. J., & Gladding, S. T. (2006). Using creative group techniques in high schools. The Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 32(1), 71-81.
• Welch, P. (2021). Drama Therapy Concepts & Structure. Imagination Revealed. https://www.imaginationrevealed.com/drama-therapy-concepts-structure/