Becoming visible as a profession in a climate of competitiveness: The role of research

Abstract

Dance movement therapy risks invisibility due to dominant academic discourses and defensive rejection of science by practitioners. An argument is made for the community of practice to engage with both positivist research, on the one hand, and emancipatory/transformational research (privileging the marginalised voice of the individual) which could be seen as at the other end of a paradigmatic spectrum. The position taken here is that these offer equally important but different forms of knowledge and empowerment, though quality is less easily assessed for research of the individual. Ethics of research of the individual are also discussed and a clear set of guidelines are offered. The article concludes with a rallying call to all those who are engaged in training to engage in their own research and lead by example, forging alliances to support students who wish to engage with statistical analysis.

Keywords::

• research
• dance movement therapy
• science
• embodied wisdom
• emancipatory/transformational research
• splitting and projection

Notes

^1. Produced in Shepperton Studios by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, directed by Frank Launder with choreography by Philip and Betty Buchel and screenplay by Frank Launder, Val Valentine and Sydney Gilliat. I am grateful to Philip Spence for bringing this reference to my attention.

^2. I have used the term DMT throughout this article, as this is an internationally recognised term. The profession is also referred in the British context to dance movement psychotherapy, and in the American context to dance/movement therapy.

^3. I am using the term research here to mean ‘a critical systematic process of inquiry: its aim is to move from opinion to knowledge’ (Williams & Irving, 1999, cited in Cruz & Berrol, 2004, p. 11).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bonnie Meekums

Bonnie Meekums is a UK DMP pioneer who has taught in several countries worldwide. Her research focuses on mental health and the arts. She has published numerous peer reviewed articles and two books: Creative Group Therapy for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (2000, JKP) and Dance Movement Therapy (2002, Sage). She is an Associate Editor of Body Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy and Symposium Co-Editor of the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling. She also sits on the General Board of the Arts in Psychotherapy.