Dance Movement Therapy (Belgium)

Dancing or moving is – just like talking – an important means of expression for people and a daily happening. Many people have a tense relationship with their body, do not know their body or disapprove of it in various ways. This affects feeling good and confident in oneself and how someone expresses their personality.

The use of dance and movement as a psychotherapeutic or healing agent is rooted in the idea that mind and body are not separate from each other. Our ancestors danced together to celebrate life, to express deep emotions, to release tensions, to realize themselves and to connect. Even now there are peoples who actively experience this. In the 1960s a number of pioneers focused on the healing effects of dance and movement. In this way dance and movement therapy developed into a fully-fledged form of psychotherapy.

“Dance therapy will use the moving and / or dancing body as a means to bring about beneficial changes in a person’s psychological, physical, emotional and social well-being” (definition from the EADMT or European Association for Dance and Movement Therapy).

In this training you learn to deal with emotions and experiences, with fears and limiting beliefs that stand in the way of you feeling good. Becoming aware of your body gives you confidence and freedom. You are stimulated in your creative thinking so that problems become challenges. This form of therapy is effective for anxiety complaints and disorders, emotional complaints, addictions, (prevention of) depression.

The learning-therapeutic model is central; learning by experiencing the therapy not only gives you insight into the effectiveness of the method, it also supports your personal growth process. Out of respect for the roots of dance, we think it is important to introduce you to old and original dances that often go back to nature and naturalness. After the student has been able to experience the therapy and old dances himself, the scientific research and explanatory models of dance and movement therapy are also discussed. Experience teaches us that when a student has experienced the methods and its effects, the theoretical models are more quickly understood and mastered.

The complete training takes 4 years, each year you have 7 training weekends (of 3 or 4 days). If you have successfully completed the 4 years, you will receive the certificate of dance and movement therapist. This certificate gives you the opportunity to study and specialize further at LIMS in New York (USA).