Drexel University: CoNHP: Dance/Movement Therapy: Curriculum

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Dance/Movement Therapy: Curriculum

"Students learn to encourage movement responses and interaction from patients and clients in individual or group settings using movement improvisation. "

The dance/movement therapy program provides a comprehensive dance/movement therapy curriculum that leads to a strong professional identity and skilled, sensitive, and creative practice as a dance/movement therapist. Students engage directly in experiential movement learning processes as well as learning in more traditional discussion, lecture, tutorial, and clinical education formats. The curriculum content and teaching methods form a rich texture of integrated and interdisciplinary learning.

Plan of Study
To Review and Download the Dance/Movement Therapy Plan of Study, please click here.

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Coursework

The dance/movement therapy curriculum includes specialty coursework in movement observation and assessment, neuroscience, and dance/movement therapy theory and technique for practice with children, adults, families, and groups. Dance/movement therapy specialty coursework is complemented by core coursework in human development, psychopathology, appraisal, theories of therapy, creativity, group dynamics, behavioral research, multicultural perspectives in therapy, and professional ethics. Dance/movement therapy education develops the awareness, knowledge, and skill to enable students to engage effectively in a therapeutic movement relationships that are informed by developmental, psychodynamic, and social-cultural appreciation and understanding of the therapy participant and the process of therapy.

Clinical Practica and Internships

Students engage in dance/movement therapy clinical education in three different settings during the course of their two years of study. In both years individual clinical supervision is supplemented by small group mental health and dance/movement therapy supervision in the academic setting, a reflection of the program’s commitment to clinical supervision as a learning tool.

In the first year students are placed in two practicum experiences, one with children or adolescents and the other with adults. The student has the opportunity to observe and practice beginning therapy skills with the role modeling and support of an onsite dance/movement therapist.

Students are actively involved in the selection of their second year internship sites with respect to their individual learning needs and interests. The second year internship offers an opportunity for students to mature and specialize as clinical interns over the course of a full academic year. The student functions as an integral member of an on-site treatment team. Students participate in individual supervision with a dance/movement therapist holding the advanced credential of ADTR ( Academy of Dance Therapist Registered).

Research

All dance/movement therapy students conduct original research culminating in the writing of a master’s thesis. Each student is guided by a multidisciplinary advisory committee chaired by a dance/movement therapy program faculty member and comprised of two additional advisors who have interest or expertise in the student’s research topic or research methodology. Completed theses are bound and become a permanent part of the dance/movement therapy literature in the university library. A highlight of the academic year is a Spring Research Colloquium in which students present completed or in-progress research to the academic and professional dance/movement therapy community, family, and friends.

Specialization

Dance/Movement Therapy elective courses and workshops are available to students during the summer. A specialty course in Medical Dance/Movement Therapy is offered each summer, a course unique to the dance/movement therapy program at Drexel University. The Kestenberg Movement Profile and School-Based Dance/Movement Therapy courses are also frequently offered.

Dance/movement therapy students may elect to enroll as auditing students in an intermediate/advanced modern dance technique class in Drexel’s undergraduate dance program. Auditing students have choreographic and performance opportunities with the Drexel Dance Ensemble.