Dance/movement therapy, defined by the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) as the “psychotherapeutic use of movement to further the emotional, cognitive, physical, and social integration of the individual,” and reflects a core social work value in its emphasis on meeting clients where they are. Everyone can meaningfully participate, regardless of his or her level of physical or cognitive functioning, and it’s not necessary for clients to be able dance to reap the benefits.

“Movement is the medium of dance/movement therapy the way water is the medium for swimming,” says Donna Newman-Bluestein, BC-DMT, adjunct instructor of dance/movement therapy at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, and official spokesperson for the ADTA. Dance/movement therapists, she says, use dance, expressive movement, and words as the means to engage, interact, and heal. This type of therapy, she says, is healing chiefly because it “engenders a feeling of connectedness to another person; call it bonding or a sense of belonging—this is essential for health and well-being.”

The arts, says Newman-Bluestein, “teach us a great deal about values, about life, about getting along, about balance, and health. The dominant culture has values that I would consider upside-down. Even though no more than 35% of what we express when we speak is verbal, the nonverbal is ignored. For people with cognitive issues, the nonverbal is of the utmost importance. The expressive arts therapies in general are something they can excel at and grow in.”

The entry-level credential, R-DMT (registered dance/movement therapist), is based on completion of a graduate-level dance therapy program approved by the ADTA and 700 hours of supervised clinical fieldwork and internships. Board certification requires an additional two years of paid clinical employment supervised by a licensed/registered mental health professional.