Decades ago, we were highly ignorant of the concept of mental wellbeing and its many nuances. How many of us have parents who understand things like the need for space, or anxiety disorders or childhood trauma? It’s rare and that is because it is only recently that the need for therapy—not just for when the situation goes out of hand but also for mental health maintenance—is being realised.
However, the kind of therapy that works on one may not work on the other. This is why it is even more important to know the kind of help we can seek. I came across something called Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) and it is not what many of us may think it is. DMT isn’t about dancing it out of your system. It doesn’t rely on the production of happy hormones in your body. And it is not the kind of content you can post on Instagram with #TherapeuticDance.
What is Dance Movement Therapy?
Ruchi Shah, M A, R-DMT, a licensed Dance Movement Therapy professional explains, “Primarily, DMT is a form of psychotherapy. It is used in a clinical setting. It is used in hospitals, schools, addiction centres, corporates, etc. The function is to help people with mental health challenges that range from lifestyle stress, depression, anxiety, grief and loss, eating disorders as well as neurological issues.”
Shah explained how our mind and body are connected, and how DMT explores the link between motion and emotion. “Our nervous system is interconnected. We have nerves that connect from parts of our body that take in and process sensory information to parts of the brain that store and process emotions and memory. In regular therapy, you talk about your challenges. The part of the brain that gets triggered in the face of traumatic experiences, is not the same part that deals with language. It is therefore imperative to involve the body and the senses in therapy,” Shah explains.
This is when DMT can help individuals because often, especially when someone is experiencing a traumatic situation, a deeper solution is required. “Sometimes, for some people and some situations, just talking about an issue doesn’t heal from the root. It becomes more of a surface level intervention. Not that talking is not helpful, but you need to get deeper into the sensory, non-verbal experience of trauma, before you can safely verbalise it,” Shah informs.
How is it different from a dance class?
Often, people misunderstand DMT to be based on the therapeutic feeling one gets after a good dance session owing to the method’s name. However, it is nothing like going to a dance class to get your dose of happy hormones.
Shah explains that while dance is focused on technique, in DMT there is no right or wrong way to move. “Dance is focussed on the technique, aesthetic, and form of the movement that a person engages in. Dance Movement Therapy doesn’t rely on any stipulated dance style. In a DMT session, there’s no right or wrong way of moving.”
In DMT, there isn’t leadership, like there is in a dance class. “Second thing is that in a dance class, as far as the structure is concerned, there is leadership as the teacher teaches and the students follow. In DMT, yes, there is a therapist and there is a person or multiple persons, but the therapist is not there to teach you any movement or a style of dance. It’s more about what surfaces naturally from the person, which then the therapist uses as information in the session,” Shah says.
It's about feeling safe in your experiences
Clearly, DMT isn’t about going to therapy and walking out feeling light and happy. Yes, the end goal of DMT, like any other therapy, is eventually to feel better but it is not what may happen after each session. “If, in a session, what you feel is grief and loss, the movements that happen in it will help you access those emotions more effectively in a safe and contained space. It might make you feel overwhelmed,” Shah says. “For some people, it is about helping them learn the tools to feel whatever they are feeling without getting dysregulated (hyperaroused or hypoaroused). Sometimes that is what is most important for that individual,” Shah adds.
How DMT empowers us with awareness and acceptance
DMT aims to create a safe space for people to express themselves in various non-verbal ways. Eventually, understanding how we feel and what we experience, in itself can be empowering. “We create a safe space for people to express themselves in their way. I observe and assess what the person might be feeling. Say if a client shares that they feel “very small”. I ask them how that would look in their body and have them actually embody the feeling. Then at some point in the therapy process, we may work on shifting that posture within the body to see what shifts on an emotional level too. That’s when my person may spread their hands or widen their chest to occupy more space. And that becomes the movement,” Shah explains.
How does DMT work? Shah explains that it is about awareness and acceptance, and expanding their window of tolerance. “The first step is being aware of your feelings and how they are manifesting in your body. The second step is acceptance and building tolerance towards what you are feeling. When you accept how you are feeling, the distress goes down, and the window of tolerance starts to open. Say, for instance, you feel anxious. It is about being okay even with those distressing feelings,” Shah points out.
How do you know if you are healing?
“DMT helps a person feel comfortable and safe in their bodies. It helps them feel empowered in it. That is where the healing happens,” Shah explains.
As a therapist, Shah observes a few things about the client to assess their progress. She revealed that the first thing she looks out for is if the person can talk or sit with their narrative without getting completely dysregulated or having a breakdown. If they can, it shows their window of tolerance has opened a little more.
Another important sign of progress is being able to actively cope. “Another thing is if a person can do what is called resourcing,” Shah reveals. Are they able to do what it takes them to feel better? Are you able to notice your triggers and your feelings? In that case, are you able to do something about it, be it talking to a friend or journaling? “If a person can reach into their tool kit and resources to pull out the tool to help themselves get through things, it is a sign of progress,” Shah explains. Another sign of progress is being able to connect the dots and understanding your patterns of triggers, feelings and coping techniques.
Dance Movement Therapy can help you become more aware of your mental and emotional state as well as help you eventually feel safe in your body, experiences and the world. And one doesn’t have to wait for their mental health to worsen to seek therapy.
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