Dance & Movement Therapy
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What is it?
In this type of therapy a dance therapist helps a group of people to express themselves in movement. Expressing feelings in this way is supposed to improve mood.
How does it work?
It is not known how dance and movement therapy might work. However, as well as the expression of feelings in movement, there might also be benefits from the physical exercise, from interacting with a group and from listening to music.
Is it effective?
A few small studies have looked at the effects of dance movement therapy and dancing on depression.
A randomised controlled trial in Korea found that dance movement therapy worked better than no treatment in adolescent girls with mild depression [1]. However, this study did not include a comparison group that exercised to the same levels as the therapy group. This makes it unclear if the effect resulted from the therapy alone or from exercise (which is know to help depression).
There is also some weak evidence that dance lessons are helpful for depressed people. One small study in Israel found that taking part in traditional circle dances was more effective in reducing symptoms of depression than doing the same level of exercise on a trainer bike [2]. It was also better than listening to the dance music alone. Another controlled study found a trend for ballroom dance lessons to be helpful for depression in older adults [3].
Are there any disadvantages?
Provided a person has no physical health problem that prevents dancing, none are known.
Where do you get it?
Dance and movement therapy is usually led by a dance therapist. However, there are plenty of opportunities for dancing alone or in a group, even without a therapist. There are also books on the practice of dance and movement therapy available in most bookshops or over the internet.
Recommendation
Although there is evidence that physical exercise helps depression, dance and movement therapy have not been properly researched.
Key references
[1] Jeong Y-J, Hong S-C, Lee MS, Park M-C, Kim Y-K, Suh C-M. Dance movement therapy improves emotional responses and modulates neurohormones in adolescents with mild depression. International Journal of Neuroscience 2005; 115: 1711-1720.
[2] Koch SC, Morlinghaus K, Fuchs T. The joy dance: Specific effects of a single dance intervention on psychiatric patients with depression. The Arts in Psychotherapy 2007; 34: 340-349.
[3] Haboush A, Floyd M, Caron J, LaSota M, Alvarez K. Ballroom dance lessons for geriatric depression: An exploratory study. The Arts in Psychotherapy 2006; 33: 89-97.