Dance/movement therapy during adolescence - Learning about adolescence through the experiential movement of dance/movement therapy students

Emotional processes during adolescence occur in the psyche (mind) and the soma (body). This article will present a preliminary phenomenological study with 20 dance/movement therapy students. The objective of the research was to learn about adolescence through the type of emotional content that would surface as a result of movement experiences that focused on patterns of movement during adolescence. The participants were asked to move to the music that symbolized their adolescent years to them in the same way they used to move during adolescence. Based on their written reflections of the movement experience, two main themes emerged. In one, the adolescent body is experienced as a vehicle to express urges and desires, and in the other, the adolescent body is experienced in a threatening and revealing manner. These results serve as the basis for my discussion of the therapeutic technique and the somatic countertransference process in movement therapy with adolescents.