Trilogy of Body Imaginary: Dance/Movement Therapy for a Psychiatric Patient with Depression

The purpose of this study is to discuss the application of dance/movement therapy to the case of ChunLi, a 56-year-old woman diagnosed with major depression with psychotic features, and underscore the relevance of psychic meanings to the treatment process. The treatment consisted of three phases: phase one was focused on building the therapeutic relationship with Chun-Li through regimens and healthenhancing exercise that are rooted in Taiwanese folklore; in phase two, she was encouraged to pay attention to her body and make verbal interpretations in relation to her movements; and phase three was intended to help her embody the inner imagination, making contact with her inner conflict and revealing her traumatic event. In this paper, three aspects of the casework are discussed and related to the theories and practices of dance movement therapy: (1) the bodily relationship in ballroom dance; (2) the effect of the partnership in ballroom dance on Chun-Li; and (3) the imagination invoked by a moving body in dance. This article attempts to explain the meanings of significant body experience and body knowledge development through the transformation of the body. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Dance/movement therapy, emerging around 1950 in North America, is an interdisciplinary field, composed of the creative and expressive characteristics of dance, as well as the knowledge and methods of psychotherapy. In this integrative discipline, dance/movement therapists are immersed in the language of the body rather than focus solely on verbal communication (Cruz & Berrol, 2004). Movements serve as an intermediary between the inner and outer world, whereby a patient may be able to truly contact his/her psyche and, thus, enable the function of self-healing (Dosamantes-Alperson, 1981). Body movements can trigger feelings and thoughts in a person, as well as facilitate their expression to the outer world around him/her. In the therapeutic movement process, one’s feelings/thoughts may be transformed through the moving body and, in turn, the bodily expression of the feelings/thoughts changes (Schmais, 1974). Movements activate an interactive process between one’s outward expression and inner feelings/thoughts, and serve as a gateway between one’s inner and outer world. Through expressive movements, one becomes aware of oneself and opens the self to the outer world. The perception of one’s self in relation to the outer world keeps unfolding throughout ∗ Corresponding author at: Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 2 29393091x88082 (office), fax: +886 2 29387717. E-mail address: tdtdt@nccu.edu.tw one’s own moment-to-moment, unique experience in the body; that is, the process of one’s change is somehow corporal and differs from person to person. In this sense, dance/movement therapy is tailored for each individual and group; the meanings of similar movements or movement rhythms would differ across individuals. For example, the gesture made with lengthened fingers and palms together, which Goodill (2005) called “prayer position hands” (p. 48), may signify different meanings to a believer than those to a non-believer. Thus, the interpretation of movement cannot be generalized when its meaning is related to personal conditions and history. Inheriting the spirit of modern dance, dance/movement therapy is characterized as a therapeutic approach via creative, spontaneous movement. However, Taiwanese bodily self-expression differs very much from that of Westerners’. Tsai (Hsiao, 1998), a pioneer modern dancer in Taiwan, stated that she grew up in a body-restricted society and felt embarrassed by her bodily self-expression. The patient in this case study, Chun-Li( )1, is a Taiwanese as well, and the way that she used her body was typical in the body-restrained society. She preferred to follow and repeat a set of movements, 1 “Chun( )” means spring and “Li( )” means “beauty” in Chinese language. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2014.07.006 0197-4556/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T.-C. Lee / The Arts in Psychotherapy 41 (2014) 400–408 401 such as ballroom dances and some types of well-being exercises for health and longevity. This article reported the author’s work with Chun-Li, who was suffering from major depressive disorder. Following Chun-Li, the author (also the therapist) incorporated in the process the movement elements originating from traditional Chinese culture, such as traditional regimens, specific well-being exercises, and local ritual dance. In the following sections, the author will describe in detail and discuss in depth how she helped Chun-Li with the transformation of restricted bodily self-expression. Making use of her history with Chun-Li and Chun-Li’s own stories, the author investigates what Chun-Li was embodying during dancing from various aspects, such as bodily relationships and inner imagination in dance.