Dance/movement therapy: Its use in a 28-day substance abuse program

Abstract

Substance abuse is a major issue and its treatment is a high priority in contemporary society. Hundreds of thousands of men and women in the United States and throughout the world have begun, and continue, their recovery not only from alcoholism, but a variety of problems with chemical dependence, through the support of Twelve-Step programs (Scott, 1989). The Twelve-Step program was initiated by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and has been proved successful in dealing with numerous addictions including cocaine, marijuana, narcotics, and others. The overall effectiveness of this approach has been widely accepted and is in use in a majority of treatment centers, inpatient hospital programs, and groups/meetings all over the world. The fact is, therefore, that if one is to consider working in the treatment of substance abuse in the 1990s one must also consider working in conjunction with the AA model. The Twelve-Step AA model is a process of recovery that includes twelve principles to be practiced as a way of life. The initial steps involve an admission of powerlessness, an acceptance of life as unmanageable, the belief in a Power greater than self and turning oneself over to that Power. There is a commitment to an ongoing personal inventory, a sharing of those discoveries and the making of amends. There is a spiritual pledge to make a conscious contact with a Higher Power, knowing that this has a different meaning for each person. In the final step there is a commitment to carry the message to others. Questions have been raised with respect to AA’s disease-oriented philosophy of alcoholism (Herman, 1988; Khantzian, 1980; Szasz in Vataz & Weinberg, 1983). Those who question this model do not challenge the success of the AA program, but generally feel a meaningful and complete approach to alcoholism must ultimately include considerations of cause and effect relationships between alcohol and social, biological, andpsychologicalfactors (Khantzian, 1980). Though the ego impairments and other psychopathology that relate to substance abuse and addiction must be dealt with, it is clear this work requires one to be in a sober state. As it has been proved that sobriety can be accomplished through the AA Twelve-Step program, it is the focus of the work done in early treatment (Brown, 1985; FitzGerald, 1988). With the above in mind it is useful to improve patients’ capacities to perform the AA steps (Anderson & Gilbert, 1989). This paper will focus on how to support treatment of the chemically dependent in a 28-day inpatient hospital program through the use of dance/movement therapy.