Therapeutic factors of dance movement therapy from the perspective of patients and therapists – a multicenter clinical study

There is growing evidence from clinical outcome studies that dance movement therapy (DMT) has multiple beneficial effects on health. Therefore the question of the therapeutic factors of DMT is currently gaining momentum: How does DMT bring about therapeutic change? In a multicenter clinical study, we assessed the therapeutic factors of DMT from the perspective of patients and therapists in eight psychosomatic and psychiatric clinics in Germany. The data sets of these experts by experience comprised the written responses of N=203 patients, which were subjected to a thematic analysis, and extended by the transcribed responses of N=6 therapists from a group interview. Results of the patient data suggest three clusters of therapeutic factors, regarding (1) the general conditions of the therapy sessions, designated as structure, (2) the self-exploration of the patients, with the most frequently coded sub-categories of (a) body awareness, (b) access to emotions and (c) expression of emotions, and (3) the self-management of the patients. DMT was highly accepted and appreciated by the patients as a central therapeutic source of their clinical treatment. Without having been asked for it in the survey, more than 10% of the patients stated a request for the expansion of DMT, especially in aftercare in the outpatient setting. The therapists emphasized active embodiment as one of the most important change factors and the self-efficacy boosting and action-based transfer-to-practice effects of DMT. A comparative analysis of the therapeutic factors in our sample with those previously reported, yielded a considerable fit with recent therapeutic factor models. The reliable observation of and assignment to factor dimensions provoked a critical method discussion regarding their definition and delimitation. The most frequently assigned therapeutic factor domain in the patient and therapist data was embodiment. While still a concept in need of clarification, the distinction into active and receptive components of embodiment helped to create some clarity of its domain scope and further delimitation