Frequently Asked Questions
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What is Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP)?
Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) offers a safe, confidential space, which allows individuals to explore and discover their unique inner depths through embodied experience. The body becomes a place of transformation, through sensory, physical and intuitive communication, as well as through creative, symbolic movement. The process of DMP offers a space to increase self-awareness and to learn to manage difficult feelings. As DMP practitioner grounded in the principles of ecopsychology, Caroline facilitates an integration of experiencing body and perceiving mind, in relation to wider community and ecological concerns.
Caroline is a Senior Registered Dance Movement Psychotherapist who has worked with a range of people, and offers an approach which respects difference, equality of opportunity and the wider ecological context. An initial consultation can be arranged to think about the feasibility of ongoing work and to agree a realistic working frame.
For further information on Dance Movement Psychotherapy, see:
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What is Ecopsychology?
Ecopsychology questions the power relations between human and the non-human elements of the wider ecology. It offers a radical framework within which to perceive the therapeutic encounter, defining the self within an ecological matrix as a dynamic and mutually dependent organism, rather than as a separate, self- sufficient entity. There is enormous concern and anxiety about environmental issues as environmental conditions become increasingly unstable and unpredictable. Ecopsychology asks how we make sense of what is happening around us and considers how our changing world impacts on the individual and the collective psyche. We are the environment – in the words of eco-philosopher Arne Naess, ‘we are in and of nature’ - and it is the body which serves to connect us to the wider rhythms and cycles of our ecology.
For further information on Ecopsychology see:
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Who is this approach suitable for?
Dance Movement Psychotherapy is suitable for anyone who wishes to work on an embodied level. Words are often not enough to express our inner depths. Movement can offer an immediate expression of our inner world, which can then find shape and meaning through a process of shared thinking. An Ecopsychological perspective can then contextualise that individual experience within a wider ecology. The approach is accessible to men, women, young, old, abled bodied and disabled alike.
Do I need previous dance experience?
No previous dance experience is necessary. The body holds the story of our life experience, some of which the mind has forgotten. Some sessions may be spent talking and some moving, but the emphasis is on the embodied relationship.
What should I wear & what sort of people seek DMP?
Wear comfortable clothing, which allows the spontaneous and creative expression of the body.
Those seeking Dance Movement Psychotherapy wish to resolve issues through an embodied, creative medium. Some my have become frustrated with therapy as a ‘talking cure’ and wish to explore different ways of working. Some will seek a therapeutic medium which integrates the experiencing body and the perceiving mind. An initial consultation can provide a place to think about whether or not this approach suits the individual.