Dance Therapy and Depth Psychology: The Moving Imagination

As a psychotherapeutic technique dance/movement as active imagination was originated by Carl Gustav Jung in 1916. It was later developed in the 1960s by dance therapy pioneer Mary Whitehouse. Today it is an approach to dance therapy as well as a form of active imagination in analysis.

Joan Chodorow, a leading dance therapist and Jungian analyst, provides a detailed exploration of the origins, theory and practice of dance/movement as active imagination.

The author begins with her own story, through early dance studies and performing and teaching, to becoming a dance therapist, psychotherapist and Jungian analyst. It is a story that shows, in an immediate way, how dance/movement is of value to psychotherapy--how the expression of the patient's emotions and their role in each individual's psychological development are of crucial importance. An historical overview of Jung's basic concepts is given, as well as the most recent depth psychological synthesis of affect theory, based on the work of Silvan Tomkins and Louis Stewart, among others. Finally, in discussing the use of dance/movement as active imagination in the practice of psychotherapy, the movement themes that emerge and the nonverbal expressive aspects of the therapeutic relationship are described.

This delightful introduction to depth psychology from the perspective of body, psyche and the emotions will be of interest to practitioners, teachers and students of psychotherapy and dance therapy, as well as those concerned with psychology and the arts.