Dear Readers,
We are delighted with the number of entries for our new researcher award. The entries are of a high standard and are forging new ground in dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) and body psychotherapy (BP). We envisage that in forthcoming issues we shall publish as many of these research articles as possible. We intend to foster clinicians and researchers early on in their careers. In so doing we want to move away from what is often seen as a false dichotomy between research and clinical practice. Please watch out for the award-winning article, which will be announced in a future issue.
We are pleased to be able to begin publishing some of this exciting material in this issue of the journal. Our first article, by Julie Wadsworth and Simon Hackett and from the UK about ‘Dance movement psychotherapy with an adult with autistic spectrum disorder: An observational single-case study’, is a successful collaboration between an MSc student in placement and her clinical supervisor. Julie's final project was an observational case study of ‘Mike’, a 23-year-old who received seven structured and consistent weekly DMP sessions of 45 min. The DMP sessions involved selecting symbols for his emotional state at the start, a warm up to release tension and mirroring activities. The main part of the sessions included an adaptation of the six-part narrative approach used in dramatherapy, adapted for movement. The session ended with relaxation activities and completed with the selection again of a symbol matching his mood. The authors conclude that the work was beneficial, and narrative approaches to DMP may be suited to adults with autism spectrum disorder. Their findings, generated through therapist observations and in-therapy responses from the patient, warrant further studies of this nature. Their work is innovative given that most previous studies of autistic spectrum disorder and DMP have been conducted with children.
Next, we have a research study by a team from Italy – Cristina Endrizzi, Roberta Bastita, Mirella Palella, Paola Cossino and Gabriella D'Amico – entitled ‘Health workers faced with death: The influence of training on the language employed in the passage from life to death’. Health workers attended courses focussing on death within palliative care. After the training, the health workers were asked to select words from a list to represent death. The authors analysed the choice of words used by health workers to describe the passage of life to death. They compared those who had looked at death in the training through brainstorming with a group who had had mind–body training. Their study found some flexibility in the choice of words by participants and also ‘stable words’ that were not modified by training. This is an intriguing study, which again merits follow-up studies.
The topic of research continues through the article by Rae Johnson from Naropa University, USA, ‘Somatic psychotherapy and research: Walking the common ground’. Johnson draws upon her lengthy experience in the field to highlight shared characteristics between somatic psychotherapy and specific types of research. She makes references to innovative qualitative methodologies such as heuristic inquiry, organic research, grounded theory, participatory action research, anti-oppressive research and feminist research. She argues that, similar to somatic psychotherapy practice, in these methodologies there is emphasis on the personal experience and the process, there are clear attempts to avoid preconceived ideas and allow things to evolve organically and there is a marked departure from regarding the researcher/therapist as the expert and the participant/client as needing outside expertise. This characteristic mirrors approaches such as the well-established collaborative research methodology. Johnson concludes:
Research that conscientiously and systematically advances our knowledge of somatic psychology not only provides our community of practitioners with current information and ideas for new ways of working, but it also opens doors to dialogue with colleagues in different modalities and disciplines, supports funding proposals for new initiatives, and builds credibility for an approach to psychotherapy that I believe deserves much wider recognition. (p. 91)
The final article in this issue comes from a UK DMP clinician, Bethan Manford, and is called ‘Insecure attachment and borderline personality disorder: working with dissociation and the “capacity to think”’. It explores time-limited DMP with a female offender who was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Her main argument is that through developing the therapeutic relationship, DMP has enabled the client to increase her ‘capacity to think’. She also describes how the work provided alternative approaches for managing emotions opposed to ‘acting out’ difficulties. For this client who has had early experiences of deprivation and trauma, the therapeutic relationship, conceptualised through attachment theory, provided a containing and holding environment that supported the development of healthy attachments. Laban movement analysis, psychodynamic and mentalisation approaches were used to underpin the assessment, formulation of treatment and therapeutic interventions.
We also have a conference report held in the Czech Republic ‘ARS TERAPEUTICA – 3rd International Conference of Arts Therapies in Olomouc, the Czech Republic’ from Libuše Cvaková. Our first book review is from Ronen Levy on Asaf Rolef Ben-Shahar's book published in Hebrew An Anatomy of Therapy – Body Psychotherapy. The second book review and last publication in this issue comes from Rosa Sellarès Viola on the book The Emergence of Somatic Psychology and Bodymind Therapy, by Barnaby B. Barrat.
We hope you enjoy reading through this issue and you will continue engaging in sharing your clinical and research work with us. Also, look out for the special issue on research that is coming out in the autumn.