Heather Lundy

Movement Therapy Techniques and Therapeutic Holding with Children: Study of the Effectiveness of Dance / Movement Therapy Techniques to Augment ... with Children in Residential Treatment Heather Lundy

This study investigated the effect of incorporating Dance/Movement Therapy techniques before and after standard physical restraint procedures for violence prevention in order to increase effectiveness of the intervention. Effectiveness is defined as improved therapeutic dynamics and empathy between the participants. This study was conducted at the Terry Children?s Psychiatric Center in New Castle, Delaware, USA. Participants included children and staff. Children were asked about their experiences in therapeutic holds in order to qualitatively document their experience and inform the Workshop. Adult participants attended a four-hour Dance/Movement Therapy Training Workshop to learn to integrate Dance/Movement Therapy techniques with normal restraint procedures. Pre and Post intervention information was gathered using a mixed methodology approach, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods. A model of the Dance/Movement Therapy training course was developed and executed as a project. It was found that the D/MT training increased adult empathy, awareness, and confidence in the procedure.