Integration Of Adverse Childhood Experiences In Adulthood Through Dance Movement Therapeutic Techniques, 2024 Lesley University
Integration Of Adverse Childhood Experiences In Adulthood Through Dance Movement Therapeutic Techniques, Kimberly Hoj
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
Expanding knowledge about how to self-regulate when faced with challenging circumstances has the potential to benefit individuals and communities, especially in our post-pandemic environment with increasing needs for mental health support. This thesis provides a psychoeducational basis for use of dance movement therapeutic techniques to integrate adverse childhood experiences. The literature review refines an understanding of big T and little t trauma as it relates to mental illness, polyvagal theory, nervous system regulation, the window of tolerance, body armoring, somatic psychotherapy, trauma- informed care, adverse childhood experiences and post-traumatic growth.
This thesis culminates in a personal arts-based autoethnography informed by …
Expressive Arts Therapy To Support Positive Experiences Of Embodiment Among Rural Lgbtq+ Adults: A Literature Review, 2023 Lesley University
Expressive Arts Therapy To Support Positive Experiences Of Embodiment Among Rural Lgbtq+ Adults: A Literature Review, Ann Stromgren
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
This paper investigates the use of expressive arts therapy to support LGBTQ+ adult clients in rural communities. Caring professionals in rural areas often lack training on how to work with LGBTQ+ clients, and best practices for clinical mental health counseling with rural LGBTQ+ clients have yet to be defined. Some evidence suggests that using “metronormative” best practices with rural clients may be irrelevant or cause harm (Giano et al., 2020). Although some recommendations exist for using expressive therapies with LGBTQ+ clients, they are rarely evidence-based, as very few empirical studies exist evaluating the effectiveness of expressive therapy interventions with LGBTQ+ …
Examining State Of Flow And Its Future In Dance/Movement Therapy: A Literature Review, 2023 Lesley University
Examining State Of Flow And Its Future In Dance/Movement Therapy: A Literature Review, Rachael A. Cohen
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
This paper analyzes State of Flow, the definition codified by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and analyzes how Flow as a concept has developed in current psychological and artistic research, alternative therapies, and mainstream medias. This paper also views existing Dance/Movement Therapy frameworks such as Body-Mind Centering and Kestenberg Movement Profile to see how Csikszentmihalyi’s definition could integrate into current Dance/Movement Therapy practice, as well as looks at Laban Movement Analysis and its future in Dance/Movement Therapy. This thesis also examines how gender and neurodivergence may impact how one can experience State of Flow.
Postpartum Depression: Healing Through Archetypes And The Expressive Arts Therapies, 2023 Lesley University
Postpartum Depression: Healing Through Archetypes And The Expressive Arts Therapies, Macushla Roulleau
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
This thesis is a literature review investigating treating postpartum depression through the expressive arts therapies and feminine archetypes. The expressive arts therapies explored for treatment are dance, music, art, and drama. Meditation, mindfulness, and writing are also included. The importance of expressive arts therapies in treating postpartum depression is of interest now because of the increasing number of mothers who experience postpartum depression who are looking for alternatives to treatment beyond, or complementing, traditional talk therapy and medication. A search for literature on treating postpartum depression with expressive arts therapies and archetypes was conducted on-line using the Lesley University database. …
Dance/Movement Therapy Used As An Intervention To Heal Racial Trauma Within The Black Community: A Literature Review, 2023 Lesley University
Dance/Movement Therapy Used As An Intervention To Heal Racial Trauma Within The Black Community: A Literature Review, Jennifer Noboise
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
The history of dance within the black community has served an important role while living through a racist and discriminatory society. Dance has been used to express anger, grief, and joy during hardships and moments of rejoicing from the black experience. African American people have endured years of trauma and abuse from oppressive systems. Research has been conducted to demonstrate that dance/movement therapy has been effective in treating those who have experienced a form of trauma since the trauma is stored in the body. Examining trauma symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and substance use, the research found these symptoms diminished …
Can Psycho-Social Benefits Be Observed In Those With Intellectual Disabilities During Dmt?, 2023 Lesley University
Can Psycho-Social Benefits Be Observed In Those With Intellectual Disabilities During Dmt?, Hannah Johnson
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
Often training and learning opportunities ignore the unique needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities. Helping this population cope with problems that will occur in their lives could increase their feelings of well-being and might decrease feelings of isolation. This workshop used the techniques from Mary Starks Whitehouse’s practice of Authentic Movement (Whitehouse et al., 1999) to support paticipants’ emotional self regulation during training for a new job at an apple orchard. The use of Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) as an intervention for individuals with intellectual disabilities could increase coping skills, which could create greater opportunities for them to increase their …
Enacting Stories: Discovering Parallels Of Narrative And Expressive Therapies, A Literature Review, 2023 Lesley University
Enacting Stories: Discovering Parallels Of Narrative And Expressive Therapies, A Literature Review, Zoe Reddig
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
This literature review will analyze the use of narrative therapy (NT) techniques, dance/movement therapy (DMT) techniques, and expressive therapy (ET) techniques in an effort to distinguish where theoretical parallels exist between these methods of counsel. Narrative therapy is a postmodern framework of counseling that assists clients in resisting damaging stories that have been embedded through bioecological systems of exposure throughout development. Narrative therapy structures its philosophy through processes of externalization and deconstruction, and encourages the process of reframing or re-authoring one’s personal self-narrative. At their core, DMT and ET already utilize components of foundational NT practices, through processes of enactment, …
Dancing Through Parkinson’S: Investigating The Impact Of Argentine Tango On Motor, Cognitive And Psychosocial Function, 2023 Rowan University
Dancing Through Parkinson’S: Investigating The Impact Of Argentine Tango On Motor, Cognitive And Psychosocial Function, Suraj Pothineni, Fazal Choudhary
Rowan-Virtua Research Day
Background: People with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) undergo progressive motor, cognitive, and psychosocial symptoms, which decrease their quality of life (QOL). Adapted tango (AT) has recently emerged as a promising approach to ameliorating functional mobility, balance, and gait seen in people with PD.
Methods: A comprehensive literature review is conducted using databases such as PubMed, SCOPUS, and Embase. A wide variety of search terms are used, including but not limited to Parkinson’s disease, exercise, dance, tango, motor, cognitive, psychosocial effects, freezing of gait, and balance.
Results: People with PD who have undergone AT have improved in certain motor, cognitive and psychosocial …
Embodied Escapism: Liberation Within Incarceration, 2023 Sarah Lawrence College
Embodied Escapism: Liberation Within Incarceration, Grace Jane Luttrull
Dance/Movement Therapy Theses
Mass incarceration in the United States disproportionately impacts Black people, poor people, and people with serious mental illnesses. The criminalization of poverty, systemic racism, and deinstitutionalization combine to create a nation in which significantly higher numbers of individuals with serious mental illnesses are receiving treatment in jails and prisons rather than psychiatric hospitals. While mental healthcare in jails and prisons has shown improvement in recent years, limited resources and negative public sentiment continue to restrict the effectiveness of mental healthcare for incarcerated individuals. There is a profound need for embodiment and empowerment in jails and prisons, and dance/movement therapy offers …
The Hero's Journey In Dance/Movement Therapy: Answering The Call By Entering Experiences Through The Doorway Of Awe, 2023 Sarah Lawrence College
The Hero's Journey In Dance/Movement Therapy: Answering The Call By Entering Experiences Through The Doorway Of Awe, Rachel Alford
Dance/Movement Therapy Theses
The hero’s journey tells the story of an ordinary person leaving their known life, setting out on an adventure into the unknown to fulfill a quest, and returning to their known world with some form of gift for their society. This storyline can be traced throughout myths and legends across time and cultures and is still used in current books and films to this day. The hero’s journey can also be traced throughout the course of an average person’s life and can be entered into at any time as the person encounters and overcomes trials to develop self-trust and resiliency …
“Nope. Don’T Like That.” In Search Of Justice And Commitment To Nonmaleficence In Dance/Movement Therapy, 2023 Sarah Lawrence College
“Nope. Don’T Like That.” In Search Of Justice And Commitment To Nonmaleficence In Dance/Movement Therapy, Johnee Border
Dance/Movement Therapy Theses
The American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) and Dance/Movement Therapy Certification Board (DMTCB) have ensured those dance/movement therapists who have been educated, registered, and board-certified share a commitment to equity, justice, and nonmaleficence according to the ADTA and DMTCB’s Code of Ethics and Standards (The Code) (ADTA, 2015). “Nope. Don’t like that,” has been the actual, verbal, expression of the embodied experience of intersectional harm from a lack of assessed, decolonized dance/movement therapy practice and pedagogy. The ADTA, students, educators, and credentialed dance/movement therapists hold an established, ethical responsibility to justice and nonmaleficence, and as such, must demonstrate a commitment to …
Enhancing The Quality Of Life For Senior Citizens: A Facilitator’S Guidebook For Mindful Music And Movement, 2023 Lesley University
Enhancing The Quality Of Life For Senior Citizens: A Facilitator’S Guidebook For Mindful Music And Movement, Shannon Sexton
Mindfulness Studies Theses
Music appreciation and enjoyment enhance well-being throughout the lifespan. The challenges and constraints that people experience as they age can lead to lack of access to music, decreased physical activity, and fewer avenues for creative expression. Group music and movement interventions created for older populations offer opportunities for social connection and improved quality of life. Mindful practices add further benefit when combined with these interventions. Current available programs are scarce and most often do not encompass mixed modalities. In addition, the benefits of these programs do not show long-term sustainability. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the effects …
Two Dimensions Of A Bodhisattva, 2023 Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Two Dimensions Of A Bodhisattva, Douglas Duckworth
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive
This paper presents two dimensions of a bodhisattva, the ideal of Maha- ya- na Buddhism. One dimension involves contemplative practices that disclose a pure nature that is always already present; this reality is unveiled after the obscurations that cloud it are removed. I refer to this as a “top-down” approach because it is based on qualities of awakening that are already there, yet lie beyond an ordinary being’s comprehension. The second dimension, which I refer to as a “bottom-up” approach, involves directed training and discipline. Unlike the top-down approach, this is not about “going with the flow” or simply letting …
Authentic Mindfulness Within Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Qualitative Study Of Participants' Experiences, 2023 Awake to Wisdom Centre for Meditation and Mindfulness Research, Nottingham, UK
Authentic Mindfulness Within Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Qualitative Study Of Participants' Experiences, Supakyada Sapthiang, Edo Shonin, Paul Barrows, William Van Gordon
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive
There are concerns that participants of some modern mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are receiving a superficial form of mindfulness training. However, empirical investigation of this issue according to participants’ first-hand experiences has been limited. Thus, this qualitative study aimed to capture the first-hand perspectives relating to authentic mindfulness of participants who had recently attended an MBI in the UK. Ten adults completed a recorded, online semistructured interview. Based on a thematic analysis, the following four master themes were identified: (a) authentic mindfulness as a construct, (b) positive aspects of the training, (c) something missing, and (d) recommendations for authenticity. Although all …
Mindfulness Traps And The Entanglement Of Self: An Inquiry Into The Regime Of Mind, 2023 Dharma College, Berkeley, CA, USA
Mindfulness Traps And The Entanglement Of Self: An Inquiry Into The Regime Of Mind, Richard Dixey, Ronald E. Purser
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive
Mindfulness meditation can provide salutary therapeutic benefits, as well as lead advanced practitioners to states of calm and equanimity. In this paper, we argue that such forms of meditation may subtly entrap practitioners in circular, self-reflexive feedback loops. Because these meditation traps fail to clearly discern the operations of mind, they offer a temporary oasis of peace within an unaltered dualistic realm of mind that leaves the root delusion of self-identity intact. Drawing upon Tarthang Tulku’s seminal book Revelations of Mind, we present what he refers to as the “regime of mind,” the processes of cognition, identification and re-cognition in …
Movement As Medicine: Dance/Movement Therapy For Individuals With Autism, Parkinson’S Disease, And Cancer, 2023 Claremont McKenna College
Movement As Medicine: Dance/Movement Therapy For Individuals With Autism, Parkinson’S Disease, And Cancer, Alessia Zanobini
CMC Senior Theses
Dance/movement therapy (D/MT) is the psychotherapeutic use of expressive, creative movement to support holistic well-being. D/MT views the human being as a single body-mind unit and movement as a manifestation of life experiences. While typically practiced as a mental health intervention, D/MT can be adapted for a variety of populations. This thesis evaluates scientific data for the non-traditional use of D/MT for three conditions: autism, Parkinson’s disease, and cancer. For individuals on the autism spectrum, D/MT can strengthen attunement skills, provide creative communication outlets, and relieve harmful physical manifestations of autism. For individuals with Parkinson’s disease, D/MT can simultaneously ease …
Transformative, Noetic, And Transpersonal Experiences During Personal Development Workshops, 2022 Research Department, Institute of Noetic Sciences
Transformative, Noetic, And Transpersonal Experiences During Personal Development Workshops, Helané Wahbeh, Cassandra Vieten, Garret Young, Agnes Cartry-Jacobsen, Dean Radin, Arnaud Delorme
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive
The global personal development market was valued at $38.28 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow an additional 5% from 2020 to 2027. Many of these workshops promise to be transformational. This secondary analysis study examined transformative, transpersonal, and noetic aspects of personal development workshops. We found that 74% of post-survey records endorsed that participants experienced a moment of clarity or profound insight during their workshop. In addition, 66% endorsed that participants had experienced at least one noetic experience, and 84% endorsed at least one transpersonal experience. These analyses provide preliminary evidence for the transformational potential of personal development …
Interdisciplinary Integration: Linking Differentiated P(Arts) To Create Accessible Dance Experiences, 2022 George Fox University
Interdisciplinary Integration: Linking Differentiated P(Arts) To Create Accessible Dance Experiences, Kate Corby, Mariah M. Lefeber, Mary L. Patterson
Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling
This article introduces Performing Ourselves, an interdisciplinary community dance program that utilizes principles from dance education and dance/movement therapy to serve beginning dancers in grades PK-8 in schools and community centers. After defining the integrative elements of the curriculum, the article outlines how Performing Ourselves used the shift to virtual programming during the COVID-19 pandemic as a means of creating accessible dance opportunities. In addition to the exploration of how one arts organization approached this challenging time, the article offers ideas and further questions for integrative interdisciplinarity in the arts.
Epistemic Injustice, Endometriosis And Dance/ Movement Therapy: An Autoethnographic Investigation, 2022 Lesley University
Epistemic Injustice, Endometriosis And Dance/ Movement Therapy: An Autoethnographic Investigation, Kevana West
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
As the field of dance/ movement therapy evolves to meet the demands of a rapidly changing social landscape, it is imperative that clinicians think critically about the degree to which our work is steeped in oppressive frameworks and ideologies. This investigation uses testimony to explore epistemic injustice as it relates to the author’s experience of living with endometriosis and the pursuit of professional licensure. Considering the limited amount of research on the condition, along with the perceived absence of literature within the field of dance/ movement therapy, further study is warranted. The experimentation phase of this research incorporated the use …
Touch In Drama Therapy: A Literature Review, 2022 Lesley University
Touch In Drama Therapy: A Literature Review, Sara Hood
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
This article is a cursory look at how touch is perceived in the field of drama therapy. Touch is integral to our experience as humans and can be present in drama therapy sessions. Ethical guidelines for touch in the literature are identified and relevant drama therapy texts and articles describing touch are discussed. While drama therapy has a clear voice when it comes to ethically engaging in touch with a client, very little research was found exploring the intention and outcome of touch in a drama therapy session. Other therapeutic modalities, specifically Developmental Transformations and dance/movement therapy, are identified as …