Speaker Meeting, 6.15 for 6.30pm

Claudia Albornoz trained in Chile and specialises in Latin Dance. She has taught Salsa, Cha Cha and Meringue for 19 years. She currently teaches Salsa Fitness and Fit Steps at David Lloyd in Swindon. Claudia is also in her 3rd year of study in Dance Movement Psychotherapy, Dementia and Special Needs at Dance Voice in Bristol.

What is Dance Movement Psychotherapy?

Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) recognises body movement as an implicit instrument of communication and expression. DMP is a relational process in which clients and therapist engage creatively using body movement and dance, as well as verbal and non-verbal reflection.

Dance Movement Psychotherapists work in a variety of settings within the public, private, and voluntary sectors. including health, education and social services. DMP may be recommended as a primary service or as a complement to other forms of on-going treatment, rehabilitation, or education. Therapy can be short-term or long-term.

DMP can benefit individuals, couples, families, groups, and organisational teams. Dance Movement Psychotherapists work with children and adults of all ages and abilities, and with people who experience a wide range of difficulties. 

For example, people experiencing mental or emotional distress or conflict, problems with communication or difficulties with body image, physical discomfort or movement restrictions.  Or they may be struggling with the impact of trauma or having to deal with loss, transition or change in their lives, or relationship difficulties.  Or suffering anxieties, depression, eating disorders, psychoses, bereavement, post-traumatic stress, abuse, addiction, learning disabilities, sensory difficulties, physical disabilities, emotional/behavioural difficulties and autism. 

DMP can also support personal development by enhancing personal communication skills, self-exploration, and self-understanding.

The focus on the moving body and non-verbal phenomena means that DMP can support

• an increase in self-awareness, self-esteem, self-confidence, personal autonomy, and self-expression
• discovery of inner resources through contained creative movement play 
• the development of tools with which to express or manage overwhelming feelings or thoughts 
• expansion of resources and skills in communication and social interaction 
• trust within relationships through opportunity to test the impact of self on others in a safe and contained environment 
• space to test the relationship between inner and outer reality and opportunity to increase and rehearse adaptive coping behaviours 
• the potential for physical, emotional, and cognitive shifts as DMP promotes experiencing links between actions, feelings, and thoughts 
• exploration of relational and developmental issues arising from early infancy through to older age