Cecilia King - Dance Therapy

Speaker 1 00:03

With information on the latest developments in assistive technology and initiatives, from the studios of 2RPH in Sydney, RPH Australia brings you AbleQuest.

Speaker 2 00:19

You

Speaker 1 00:22

Hello, I'm Marnie Roper. Since the time of our earliest ancestors, dance has been fundamental to human life and culture, a form of self -expression, celebration, even a way to explore healing. In the mid -20th century, dance became accepted as part of the integral relationship between mind and body, and dance movement therapy emerged.

Speaker 1 00:46

Today, dance movement therapists have extensive training and work with people of all ages and abilities, in special schools, aged care facilities, and in community settings. In today's Ablecrest programme, Elaine Zjondek spoke to Cecilia King, a professional member of the Dance Therapy Association of Australasia.

Speaker 1 01:08

Cecilia works with a group of registered creative arts therapists and clinicians in Bardwell Park, Sydney, to promote confidence, fitness, and wellbeing. Together, they use music, art, and dance, M -A -D.

Speaker 1 01:25

Let's hear more.

Speaker 3 01:26

How did dance movement therapy come about?

Speaker 2 01:31

actually dance movement therapy pretty much began in ancient times for people to use dance and movements as a form of healing, but it did come into a proper therapy back in 1940s and it's pioneered by Marion Chase in the United States.

Speaker 2 01:50

She started off as a modern dancer, but her own training wasn't actually as a dancer. She studied arts and got into an injury and hurt her back, and she was referred to using dance as a way to rehabilitate her back injury to strengthen her back.

Speaker 2 02:09

And that's when she found that dance was her natural form of communication. And she went on to develop dance movement into a form of therapy that supports people with disabilities, with mental health conditions and also people who suffered from PTSD.

Speaker 3 02:28

So how do you think it works? The body and mind working together?

Speaker 2 02:31

Yes. Definitely the body and mind working together. When I engage in movement, I'm also engaging in my sensory experience. I start to realize my feelings and emotions that's associated to these dance and movements I'm engaging in.

Speaker 2 02:48

Also, it helps me to build connections with my peers who dance with me. So on the social level is a very enjoyable exchange that's often done non -verbally. Using different dance styles, we get to also exchange our culture.

Speaker 3 03:05

So are you a classically trained ballerina or are you a jazz dancer?

Speaker 2 03:08

So I started training in ballet at the age of three. I've also studied jazz, a Chinese folk dancing, and also modern dance.

Speaker 3 03:19

And you've just mentioned that you express your feelings and struggles too, I suppose, with dance. So it's been good for you personally, has it? Challenging as well, as good, and also challenging. So then you became a dance therapist yourself.

Speaker 3 03:32

Yes.

Speaker 2 03:34

After studying in dance at University of New South Wales, I went on to dance teaching and also choreography work and then I studied theatre. And I still find that I have a longing for something more in dance and found out about dance movement therapy.

Speaker 2 03:53

That's when I got trained in dance movement therapy in Sydney.

Speaker 3 03:57

So now do you run group sessions or individual sessions?

Speaker 2 04:01

moment I'm running more individual sessions, I used to run quite a lot of groups or dyettes, so parent and child sessions.

Speaker 3 04:10

What kind of children do you have? Do you have children with disabilities?

Speaker 2 04:14

Yes. So I have children who are on the spectrum and also children with ADHD or brain injury, expressive language delay.

Speaker 3 04:24

And can you give an example of a child who's been able to express themselves through dance where they haven't been able to do that verbally?

Speaker 2 04:32

A couple of my clients, like children who came to me at first day would have been like nonverbal and wouldn't really engage in like, eye contact or any kind of meaningful communication exchange. I would join them in whatever that they explore in my room and engage them through whatever they touched.

Speaker 2 04:53

Like I'll just mirror them and move with them and start building that connection through movement with them. And as I do that, children would suddenly realise, oh, that's someone actually reflecting exactly what I'm doing to me.

Speaker 2 05:09

They would then start to engage with me through, take my hand to touch whatever they wanted to engage with. Also, there'll be like magical moments when they all suddenly will look me in the eye and go, oh, you get me, you get what I'm trying to do here.

Speaker 2 05:25

And then they will playfully expand their movement repertoire, I call that. They'll suddenly go like, what if I make myself bigger or what if I make myself smaller? Are you going to follow me? Are you going to join me in this dance?

Speaker 2 05:41

That sounds like fun.

Speaker 3 05:43

The parents can do similar things at home, can they?

Speaker 2 05:45

Yes, so I also help parents to understand what all these movement means to the children and how we could actually build connections with them through engaging with them through these movements and often movements slowly become a dance as well.

Speaker 3 06:03

So, Celia, I imagine it's very rewarding doing what you do.

Speaker 2 06:07

remember working with a child who first came to me with aggressive behavior presentation and would throw chairs at me and would get very upset and also epsilon from the therapy rooms. We worked together in helping him to find his rhythm, find his expression of those big feelings through music, using a bit of musical instruments, finding the rhythm in the body and we started to move together and sometimes it might become a bit too much and we started jumping on trampolines together and the aggression gradually turns into a sword fight on the trampoline and while I interact and match his movement and he started to realize that and he would start to copy my movement and see if he can beat me on that as well.

Speaker 2 07:00

So the aggression gradually turns into a playful exchange and I could see how he gradually become more regulated even when he's feeling upset when he's angry and up to a point where he could then start to commence therapy with the other therapists with the occupational therapist and his speech therapist who previously couldn't engage with him because of the aggressive behaviors.

Speaker 3 07:28

Does it fit in with other allied health therapies, such as music and art? Yes.

Speaker 2 07:33

I would say with music and art especially with music often music also uses movement and also uses dance but their focus and their training would be the music. The therapist brings in the lens of movement analysis.

Speaker 2 07:48

We would incorporate also arts in our process as part of helping us to understand what's being experienced and similarly with art therapists their focus would be on art however they are also incorporating the body.

Speaker 2 08:06

I work alongside with a music therapist and also an art therapist.

Speaker 3 08:10

That's mad therapy, so does that stand for what?

Speaker 2 08:13

So, M -A -D, so M is for music, A is for art, and D is for dance movement therapy. Within ourselves, we often would work together, we would have shared clients too, and we'll work to understand what the creative process is up to for one another and how we can complement one another.

Speaker 3 08:35

So, some of your clients are children and you have adults as well.

Speaker 2 08:39

well? Yes, I do have add outs as well and I work with add outs who might be experiencing chronic pain and also I work with add outs with felt on the spectrum, Down syndrome,

Speaker 3 08:52

So if you've got chronic pain, sometimes you don't want to move very much. So how does Dan's therapy help with chronic pain?

Speaker 2 09:02

So it's about finding which part of your body and also your breath that would engage certain parts of your body to allow micro movements. We will start really small, we'll start with whatever the body is capable of.

Speaker 2 09:17

From that point on we will find to build connections in the body where the body would find that permission to actually allow big movements. We could also further explore how chronic pain is actually affecting the body and delve a little bit deeper into understanding the emotional and psychological aspects.

Speaker 3 09:40

How does dance movement therapy work with other therapies?

Speaker 2 09:44

Often I work alongside with other types of other health professionals, so such as occupational therapists and speech therapists, to gain an understanding of goals and focus that they're working on. So for example, if a child has certain sensory processing challenges, how could I actually work on those aspects through dance movement and reach between sensory to also the emotional aspects of the clients, to gain an understanding also sometimes from their psychologists of what the child or the person might be struggling with, and to connect those dots back to what does it mean when on the sensory level, on the movement level.

Speaker 3 10:34

So, would someone be referred to you from an occupational therapist or a psychologist?

Speaker 2 10:40

I do have occupational therapists referring to me clients and also psychologists and sometimes music therapists and art therapists as well.

Speaker 3 10:49

So, that's where the mad fits in, is it? Music, art and dance. So, you're the only mad therapist in Sydney?

Speaker 2 10:59

Well, I actually work alongside with another music therapist. Yes. And also an art therapist. Oh, I see. So I'm the D in the M .A .D.

Speaker 3 11:10

Do you use any of those ballet steps anymore?

Speaker 2 11:13

I would assess all the different kinds of training. So I'm training ballet, jazz, modern dance. I've done a bit of Latin ballroom dancing. So I've also been using some of those and Tai Chi, Qi Gong and also Chinese folk dancing.

Speaker 2 11:29

But I don't use them to impose it on the person that I work with. It's more about what natural movement or dance that they bring in. And I'm able to match them and mirror them back through my training.

Speaker 3 11:44

Professor Cecilia, do you think dance movement therapy is taken seriously as a useful tool in clinical practice?

Speaker 2 11:53

I think there is a growing recognition in Australia for the clinical use of dance movement as a form of therapy in the psychotherapeutic tool. Even with being professionals, I think there is a need for them to better understand the use of dance and movement are not purely to support social engagement, just for leisurely pleasure.

Speaker 3 12:14

And I understand you're a registered provider with the NDIS. Does that cover the cost or some of the cost of the sessions?

Speaker 2 12:22

Yes. So in Australia at the moment and under NDIS, dance movement therapy is not covered when you are an agency managed participant. However, because I am a registered NDIS provider because of my training in counselling, so I'm a registered counsellor as well.

Speaker 2 12:41

Through that, I'm able to incorporate my dance movement therapy tools into my sessions. They're covered. And for the rest of the other dance movement therapists who are not registered as an NDIS provider, you can still assess their service if you're plan managed or self -managed.

Speaker 2 12:59

I see.

Speaker 3 13:00

So we can people find out more is an organization which is an umbrella organization for dance therapies in there

Speaker 2 13:07

Yes, there is. I myself is a professional member of the Dance Movement Therapy Association of Australia. If anyone would like to find out more, please visit their website at www .dtaa .au.

Speaker 3 13:23

Somebody in their area

Speaker 2 13:25

Yes, yes, so if you're interested in searching for a Danceroom therapist nearby where you live there's a directory there and you'll be able to also contact DTAA to assist you.

Speaker 3 13:37

Thank you. Thank you very much for coming into the studio and I can see you move a little bit when you were talking to me. You gesture a little bit, don't you? Yeah. Thank you.

Speaker 2 13:47

Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 13:49

I'm Elaine Wziontek, and I've just been talking to Cecilia King, who's been telling us about dance movement therapy. Cecilia is based in Bardwell Park, in Sydney, and her company is MAD, M -A -D, standing for Music, Art and Dance.

Speaker 1 14:17

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