Dancing with Recovery: Dance/Movement Therapy and Addiction
“Each person’s movement is honored. From this place of acceptance, understanding and empathy … individuals explore both their dance of addiction and dance of recovery, integrating the strengths of each.” ~ Jessica Young, MA, BC-DMT, LCPC, GL-CMA
Individuals with addictions often have difficulty expressing their words and emotions after years of using substances to numb how they are feeling. The use of dance/movement therapy can help these individuals identify, express and cope with their feelings and provide a sense of relief. Dance/movement therapy, especially sessions conducted in groups, can also mitigate the shame that often accompanies addiction and undermines attempts at recovery, allowing individuals to reconnect with themselves and others in life-affirming ways.
About the speaker:
Jessica Young, MA, BC-DMT, LCPC, GL-CMA is an Associate Professor at Columbia College Chicago in the Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling Program where she has taught a broad range of classes including Addictions Counseling. She has presented workshops in dance/movement therapy, clinical supervision, motivational interviewing, harm reduction, and violence prevention, nationally and internationally. She provides direct client services to children and adults through the Institute of Therapy through the Arts and New Prairie Counseling. Jessica is very active in the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) and currently serves as Chair of the Education Committee and on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors. Her recent publications focus on the therapeutic movement relationship, dance/movement therapy as a strengths-based practice, and the use of Laban Movement Analysis in bridging dance/movement therapy and drama therapy.
To learn more about dance/movement therapy, please visit www.adta.org.