The challenge of working with the embodied mind in the context of a university-based Dance Movement Therapy training

Abstract

Developing the necessary skills for a dance movement therapist, such as working with emotional conscience, accessing the knowledge of the body and enhancing the intelligence of feeling, are only some of the objectives of a Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) training. Experiential groups included in psychotherapy training seek to provide opportunities for reflection on interactions and other important learning for future therapists. In this article the experience of conducting such experiential groups at the Autonomous University of Barcelona is shared through vignettes, portraying some of the emotional aspects that are being activated in both, movement and verbal groups.Special attention is given to the challenge of working with the lived, embodied, experience and the embodied mind in an academic context which commonly emphasizes purely intellectual concepts and evaluation criteria that may at times over-determine free expression of feelings. The multidisciplinary approach adopted by the training is taken into consideration (the Marian Chace approach as well as Authentic Movement elements within the DMT field, along with Group Analytic Psychotherapy and a general intersubjective psychological orientation), as is the multicultural nature of the groups, composed of students coming from nearly twenty different countries.