The "Whole Person Approach" and how it helps children of trauma

Last September, I had the unique privilege of participating a conference hosted by the American Dance Therapy Association, in Brooklyn, New York. Being one of only a few college students learning at the feet of experienced, published, and award-winning psychologists (and other experts in the field of dance therapy)was a privilege. While at the conference there were several presentations regarding dance therapy for children of abuse and trauma. This subject, in particular, hit close to home in myriad ways.

Among these presentations, was one given by a licensed social worker and dance therapist, Claire LeMessurier. She is a contributing author on two books about dance therapy as a tool for traumatized children, is an adjunct professor of applied psychology at Antitoch University of New England, and maintains a successful private counseling practice in Vermont.

So, as today closes National Dance Week, below are a few brief excerpts of many copious notes taken during LeMessurier's presentation:

- It is important to combine both verbal and nonverbal methods into psychotherapy/counseling because:

a) it "helps when we get stuck in our heads. [...] Experiential (i.e., art [drawing/painting/clay], music, sand tray, and dance) approaches can open us for a deeper understanding of self."

b) allows clients to "choose what feels right for them." For example, "one structured way might be to move first, then use an art material or sand tray, and finally use verbal expression to process feelings."

c) "there is a greater integration of healing for the whole self when using body, mind, and heart in the therapy process."

-  Due to increasingly alarming rates of trauma experienced by children throughout the United States these days, the escalation of emotional challenges stemming from such calls for a multi-faceted approach for therapeutic healing. (This is even true for adults, such as soldiers returning from war or rape/sexual abuse survivors* dealing with posttraumatic stress (PTSD)). Thusly, a "Whole Person Approach" that addresses "psychological, physical, and spiritual aspects of loss and healing" is both ideal and essential.

- Referencing an article by Ilene Serlin, PhD, ADTR, entitled Posttraumatic Growth: Whole Person Approaches to Working with Trauma (The California Psychologist September/October 2008) to further illustrate; a Whole Personal Approach, which includes various methods of therapy such as those previously mentioned, have been documented to:

1) "Bring together the split body/mind that occurs with dehumanizing terror;
2) Provide a creative means for discharging aggression and resoring interpersonal conenctions;
3) Strenthen individual and community resilience;
4) Express strong emotions withing a safe container;
5) Bridge multicultural symbolic forms, and
6) Allow creativity to symbolize traumatic losses/belief symptems and hopes for the future."

- A child or adolescent who "has experience or witnessed multiple or prolonged adverse events, over a perioud od of at least one year" is suspectible to Developmental Trauma Disorder (DTD), which is determined by:

a) Exposure
b) Affective and Psychological Dysregulation
c) Attentional and Behavioral Dysregulation
d) Self and Relational Dysfunction
e) Posstraumatic Spectrum Symptoms
f) Duration of disturbance for at least six months
g) Functional Impairment
(please download the entire list of descriptions at http://ww.traumacenter.org/announcements/DTD_papers_Oct_09.pdf)

  LeMessurier concluded her presentation by saying: "We learn and grow from our relationships with others. In the therapeutic setting, the client and therapist work together as equals. Believing that the client knows within them what is best for their well-being, the therapist follows the client's lead, listens closely and acts as a guide to help access inner peace and knowledge."

 For more information, you may reference the following books (in which LeMessurier coauthored):


- "Speaking with the Body" Using Dance/Movement Therapy to Enhance Communication and Healing in Young Children" 

and

- "Hands On Approach to Helping Children Heal from Traumatic Events".

Dance as a tool for Socio-Emotional Development in Preschool

Literature Review:

Lily Thom: The Use of Creative Movement to Enhance Socio-Emotional Development in the Preschool Curriculum

American Journal of Dance Therapy, Springer Publications, ISBN#0146-3721 December 2010

Danielle White

  In her article, Lily Thom, a preschool teacher and doctoral candidate in clinical psychology, talks about how movement helps children develop into more self-aware individuals, and facilitates social, emotional, and cognitive development in addition to promoting physical health. She recently conducted a seven-month long survey of 15 three-year-olds, analyzing how incorporating yoga and other creative movement as a regular fixture in preschool curriculum affected (if at all) them. Through this, Thom discovered that movement enhanced “their ability to recognize, regulate, and express emotion which echoed their developing use of movement.” (Thom, 2010).

 Consequently, one may wonder why the regular use of creative movement such as yoga, lyrical dance, and the like, would have such a noticeable – even marked – impact on a young child’s ability to gain anonymity or, self-awareness? The answer: Dance allows for conscious expression. This is particularly advantageous for youngsters. Preschool children have yet to acquire the ability to effectively communicate verbally as adults do; rather, they use their body – including facial expressions – to convey acute emotions. For instance, a child can easily offer a hug as a gesture of affection much easier than they can explain their feelings of affection.

  That said, humans are physical beings thus the aforementioned makes sense. After all, we first experience the world through our senses; we learn to walk (or move) before learning to talk. Moreover, neurological and psychological research show an individual’s physical experiences are virtually inextricable from both cognitive and emotional development. Thusly, Thom explains how dance/movement therapy, which is essentially the practice of incorporating movement expression coupled with traditional “talk therapy” – or cognitive behavioral therapy, saying: “Movement and body awareness,” she says “can contribute to children's emotional development and developing social cognition […] [because] the body is directly connected to mental health.” Continuing further, Thom references Piaget-based concepts saying: “the preschool age child learns through physical action upon the environment [and] then incorporate[s] the effects of these physical action into their scheme of the world.” She notes that preschool children often struggle to regulate their emotional responses, but through movement learn the ability to discover themselves from within rather than seeking for purely external confirmations. Movement/dance teaches breathing, concentration, coordination, expression, and creativity which, promotes cognition and, in turn, emotional regulation through an increased awareness of self. It also enhances their ability interact with others around them.  By recognizing somatic cues, a child receives an indication as to how certain “feelings feel” and thus is better able to organize their impulses and even learn how to integrate those into their social surroundings.

 Summarily, by incorporating dance/movement into the preschool curriculum children learn vital lessons and skills including mirroring, attachment, empathy, cooperation, socialization, listening, creativity, self-regulation through self-awareness, even team work and interpersonal "relating" – all of which breed self-esteem as a result of their mastery over self.