Dance/Movement Therapy
An Experiential Approach to Relationship Therapy

We will provide you with the tools to learn what your body can teach you about the continual, rhythmic dance you experience at each moment and over the larger arc of your life. It can be difficult to fully grasp just how integral sexuality is to our overall vitality because we have been taught that it is only about sex and that it must remain hidden. Yet, sexuality is rich with wisdom for us about what ignites our vitality and the nature of our growing edges. Shifts in sexual interest, expression, and function offer valuable information about sexuality, your level of life stress, the quality of your relationships, and your overall wellness. Irmgard Bartenieff, a founding dance movement therapist, said that the goal of working with the body on a somatic level was to find a “lively interplay between internal connectivity and external expressivity.” The blueprint of this somatic approach offers a set of tools to listen from your body and participate in integrous, connected relationships. 

Helpful Terms

Dance/Movement: Any movement felt and/or expressed by the body including breath, heartbeat, temperature, gesture, facial expression, voice tone and volume (paraverbals), and larger movements and rhythms. Dance/Movement can be visible on a spectrum of tiny movements all the way to large movements. We will build awareness around movement in the body during the session.

The Body: The body includes the physical body and mind as well as the energy systems that run through and surround the vessel of connective tissue, muscle, and bone. Our intention is to support our clients in continually returning to the wisdom of their body throughout the session.  

Stories: Stories are not always verbal. Stories can be a combination of emotion, sensation, and memories appearing in the form of smells, visions, sounds, pain, pleasure, etc. This is the “Mother Tongue” of the body – a pre-verbal form of communication where our bodies speak to us. These are the stories that surface throughout the session and inform the healing process.  

True North: A feeling of “being in the flow” with our sense of purpose or destiny in life. Just as the north star guides our path from the celestial map, we too have a north star within us, guiding our journey as an inner compass. Knowing how to locate our inner north star supports us to find our way through the most tumultuous of storms.