Jennifer Knapp Counseling and Dance/Movement Therapy Services
Our bodies can change and influence our minds and our minds can change and influence our bodies. The
10/16/2020
Dance movement therapy allows those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia to move as a means to communicate, which helps them develop a “physical vocabulary,” according to experts. One way we do that at United Hebrew is through props. Props like parachutes and foam noodles enable push and pull, and offer ways for our residents to connect with other people, especially those with limited mobility. You see eyes light up. People who may have arrived at the session in a wheelchair may get up to dance. Suddenly, someone who hasn’t been very responsive is tossing a balloon. It’s contagious.
10/15/2020
Not only is dance an enjoyable way to stay physically fit, but for people with Parkinson’s Disease, the rhythm and repetitive motions are said to help them rediscover their lost movements. Specifically, dance can help with:
Motor symptoms such as gait difficulties, freezing episodes, bradykinesia, and start hesitation
Maintain a stead pace
Reduce tremors and involuntary movements (dyskinesia)
Learn to synchronize and control activity/start and complete patterns and sequences of movement
Build confidence
10/14/2020
Any form of exercise is great for relieving stress in the mind and body. Dance is no different. Dance therapy is a great stress reliever, not only because it is great physically for the body but it is also emotionally therapeutic. Since movement can be related to thoughts and feelings, dancing can bring changes to emotions and attitudes almost instantly. I have seen individuals come to class upset or emotionally energized and within moments of beginning to move with the music I have seen changes in their overall well-being.
10/13/2020
Once a dancer recovers from an injury, it’s paramount to prevent it. This means reviewing technique and body form, determining where weaknesses lie. Knowing about the injury, how it happened, and what caused it is essential to prevention. Physical therapy offers that unique skill set for dancers, as physical therapists study how the body moves. They also point out bad technique that could lead or has caused an injury.
10/12/2020
According to a study conducted by the University of Oxford, almost like the emotions you experience once you and a stranger are talking, and find out the 2 of you grew up within the same neighborhood, dancing alongside other dancers “lights up brain pathways,” which break down the invisible walls your brain builds up between you and a stranger. As a result, establishing these connections helps one experience a way of oneness and unity.
10/09/2020
Dance, contrary to popular notions, is not only restricted to those who have lithe limbs and graceful body movements; neither is it supposed to be only for those who have mastered the art form. The line Anybody Can Dance (ABCD) holds true for each and every individual of our society. And dance therapy has been recognized as one of the most effective ways to address various types of physical, mental and emotional conditions.
10/08/2020
Dance Movement Therapy has recently made its mark as a viable treatment option for people with Autism. Dance Movement Therapy uses movement to reinforce emotions, behaviors, and motor skills. People with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) are oftenless or not conscious of their mind and body. Dance Movement Therapy uses bodily sensations to stimulate and re-establish the mind-body connection, which successively helps them to return to harmony. Many pieces of research and studies have supported the positive effects of dance movement therapy on people with autism.
10/07/2020
The benefits of dance therapy are diverse (psychological, cognitive, social, and physical) and run through scientifically explained magic long known to different cultures. Communities have used dance as a healing ritual since early human history but somewhere along the way, modern society forgot the facility of this natural medicine. However, neuroscience is now increasingly curious about the neuroplasticity of dance.
10/06/2020
Results from systematic reviews of studies with all client groups suggest that DMP can have a relatively large impact on a wide range of symptoms. The authors conclude that the degree to which DMP can achieve therapeutic change can be compared to other forms of psychotherapy. A more recent study also suggested that this form of therapy can increase quality of life, well-being, mood, body-image and can offer substantial decrease in levels of depression.
10/05/2020
One of the main reasons people dance is to modify their emotional state; typically, they strive to feel more joy and happiness and to reduce stress and anxiety. Since its inception dance therapy, similar to somatic psychotherapies, has emphasized the reciprocal interaction between body and mind, and the ability to regulate emotions via changes in body postures and movements.
10/02/2020
Sometimes DMT has to be used as a form of therapeutic intervention (improving the well-being of someone who needs help but refuses it). It may be your first choice of therapy or it could be your last resort. Thankfully, it’s a helpful form of therapy to get to the root cause. Whether it’s anxiety, depression or an eating disorder – movement is a powerful way to express your emotions (whether you know you’re doing it or not).
10/01/2020
Dance movement therapy is another example of the unique treatment options available at Honey Lake Clinic which enable us to help you address your health across all three spheres—spirit, mind and body—offering you your greatest potential for wholeness and transformative growth.
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In using Dance as Psychotherapy, we are not teaching people to dance and we are not physical therapist for dancers. The movement is not scripted or forced. The client is in control the entire time and the therapeutic relationship or session is not affected if the client chooses not to move. A typical dance/movement therapy can look like a “talk therapy” counseling session with some movement experiential that can take 5 minutes for 20 minutes. Since a therapy session is a psychotherapy session and is personal to the client it can’t be “recreated” because they follow each person’s individual needs. Dance/movement therapy sessions follow the same breakdown as typical therapy sessions of one hour to a half hour to a one hour or one and half hour for group work. Dance/movement therapists can take insurance if they are licensed in their state as a counselor and are paneled with insurance companies. They also contract and have a self-pay rate just like licensed professional counselors in their state. [JK1]
As a Dance/Movement Therapist, I use what people know as “traditional talk therapy skills” along with focusing on movement that expresses and connects to those thoughts and feelings that comes from the body. Body movement, which is a core component to dance, is also psychological. All of our movements, including facial expressions, body postures, and gestures, are connected to our thoughts and feelings, whether we are aware of it or not. We use movement in a variety of different ways from pure assessment and observation to using it as an intervention.
All of our movement is psychological. Our bodies can change and influence our minds and our minds can change and influence our bodies. The impact that these two forces have together is amazing. We can process a lot of information by assessing, observing, and moving the body. We can help the individual become more aware of what they are thinking and feeling and how that presents itself in the body.
In using Dance as Psychotherapy, we are not teaching people to dance and we are not physical therapist for dancers. The movement is not scripted or forced. The client is in control the entire time and the therapeutic relationship or session is not affected if the client chooses not to move. A typical dance/movement therapy can look like a “talk therapy” counseling session with some movement experientials that can take 5 minutes to 20 minutes. Since a therapy session is a psychotherapy session and is personal to the client it can’t be “recreated” because they follow each person’s individual needs. Dance/movement therapy sessions follow the same breakdown as typical therapy sessions of half hour to one hour to a one hour or one and half hour for group work. Dance/movement therapists can take insurance if they are licensed in their state as a counselor and are paneled with insurance companies. They also contract and have a self-pay rate just like licensed professional counselors in their state.
We are not asking for people to dance. We are not critiquing someone’s movements. We are using movement as a way to reflect and express oneself in a different way. The movement can be concrete to abstract. It might be having someone notice how the body feels inside when they have a thought or feel an emotion. The movement can be expressed sitting down, standing up, etc and the movement can be gestures, facial expressions, posture, and overall body movement patterning. For example, the core movement of life is breath. So, with my clients I work quite a bit on helping them to repattern their movement by looking at body alignment and breath pattern. This is connected to helping with anxiety, depression, and trauma or feelings of shame or pressure that one may put on themselves or feel from others. [JK1]
