Dance Therapy with Emily Van Nelson

On Monday, I had the privilege to listen to a lecture by Emily Van Nelson who previously graduated from UWM in 2004 with a Dance BA. Then she continued her education at Columbia College where she earned her masters degree in dance therapy. She now works in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin at Rodgers Memorial Hospital as a dance therapist who helps a wide range of people.

For those who have never heard of dance therapy, it is the "psycho therapeutic use of movement to promote emotional, cognitive, physical, and social integration of individuals" as defined by the American Dance Therapy Association.

One of my confusions about dance therapy was the differences between a dance therapist and a physical therapist. Within the lecture, Emily cleared up for me the fact that in physical therapy they try to help fix body ailments due to physical injury where as in dance/movement therapy the focus is on the body and mind connection to help patients dealing with mental health disorders and addictions along with a number of other issues.

I have always had in the back of my mind an interest for dance therapy. A lot of my work with people in the community is geared in a very similar fashion. My goal for all of my programs with Pilgrimage Dance is to help people build their self esteem. Dance can be very challenging for people to participate in because of their own self doubts, but it can be a great physical, mental, and emotional change that can be very rewarding.

The reason why I couldn't call my work dance therapy is because I don't have research and science to back up what I do. All I know is what I observe that works and doesn't work for me, and how it can apply to helping other people feel more comfortable in their own skin.

Picture taken from the ADTA website

In the lecture, Emily also discussed that one of the biggest challenges facing her in the field is explaining and validating her work. It is a growing field that has a lot of room to develop and catch on, but people have a hard time really understanding the full extent of the benefits from dance therapy without experiencing it first hand.

Maybe somewhere in the future, I will pursue dance therapy, and run with it. I am learning a lot of concepts about dance therapy also in my Laban Movement Analysis class which deals with how movement is connected to how a person is feeling or thinking.

If you are interested in learning more about dance therapy, please click on the links highlighted above.