Fran Levy

One of the required readings for my Supervision course this term is the book entitled "Dance and Other Expressive Therapies: When Words Are Not Enough" edited by Fran Levy. This book has been fascinating to read so far with the chapters being short enough not to overwhelm but still giving enough information and case studies to keep my interest.

The chapters are each devoted to DMT with a specific population such as battered women, anxiety and chemical addiction to only name a few. I think this will be a book that I return to time and time again when I work with a client from these populations.

Business Cards

Yay! Finally got my business cards in the mail today for networking and I think they turned out great. I ordered them through vistaprint.com.

Spring Classes

Well I have survived the first week back and am getting my head back into the school mindset. I have now had 3/4 classes once and so far I think it will be another really interesting term. Quite a bit of work as can be expected but lots of freedom in choosing topics to discuss and research which will be great.

The classes for this term are DMT Theories and Practice II, Body/Movement Observation and Assessment I, Psychopathology and Clinical Practice and DMT Supervision. For my theories class we will be at a school for the blind all semester working with a child one on one with DMT. This is the one class I have not had yet as last Monday was a holiday here. I think it will be rewarding working at the school however this will be my first time working with children in a DMT context. Psychopathology I think will take the cake this term as I have found myself wanting a more clinical course which this is proving to be...DSM-5 is one of the many texts for the course.

I am in the midst of applying for second year internship sites which has been a daunting task. I am hoping to be at a site working with children and also hoping for a clinical setting. For our second year site we will be under the supervision of a BC-DMT on-site whom I am looking forward to be working with and gaining feedback from.

This term will be busy and a lot of hard work but I will be one step closer to being a DMT! I leave you with a quote from Martha Graham that I came across on Pinterest...

Short and Sweet

As I begin to switch back into school mode and try to get a head start on readings I came across this video and blog. I plan on having a better read over the blog when I have time but for now thought I'd share this video and hope that you enjoy!

DMT: Greater Than the Sum

New Year, New Term

Since I last wrote, my first term of training to be a DMT has ended (with straight As I may add) and I had an amazing 4 week break back in Canada.

Now as I sit at the boarding gate I have already begun my "To Do" list for when I arrive back in Cambridge.

The syllabi are posted and it looks like another busy but interesting term ahead.

Saying goodbye is always hard to do but knowing I am attending one of the best training programs for DMT and that it is where I am supposed to be is comforting.

Here's to 2014!

End of Term Madness

Oy vey I am slacking on these posts lately. Although I did just realize one of the posts I had done on my phone never successfully got published. Oh technology! I will try to address that after posting this.

I am currently in the throws of final papers and projects. A lot of them are centred around professional development that has happened over the course of the term during our internships, and of course there are the research papers too. I have to say as much as I am enjoying the classes and content, I am very much looking forward to the holiday break.

One of the final projects I am working on is forming a mock DMT session based on Diane Fletcher's model. It has been interesting researching a dance/movement therapist who incorporates the psyche quite obviously in her work. In the same class we have been discussing which DMT's model works well with which client group. I feel as though I am gaining so much practical knowledge in addition to the history of the field and the different models that are used.

My dance/movement therapy program at my internship site continues to be a success and I have a large turnout each time which is reassuring.

I am going to wrap this up for now but stay tuned for a post on the different props to potentially use during a session!

First DMT Session at Internship

Hey everyone! My first DMT group session at my site was last Wednesday and went really well. I had a large turnout and everyone had a great time, including myself! My supervisor was also extremely pleased and said she immediately knew why I am pursuing this as a career, she could tell this is where my passion lay.

The first session was only half an hour but we are hoping to turn this into a weekly program and extend the time to 45 minutes.  For the next few weeks I'll be getting bumped around a bit by all the carollers that come in as they were already booked. Come next semester I will be locked into the calendar so the residents will know when my program is, which will be great.

For this first session I didn't use any props but have been able to get an Octaband from the library so am hoping to use that soon. We have some time to fill on Friday afternoon at the site so I believe the plan is that I will bring in some of the different props I use and we will have some music playing and people can experiment with them and have a good time!

I am realizing I need a bigger bag, Octaband, balloons, parachute, Ipod player, running shoes...my bag is bursting! And I have turned into one of those people on transit that no matter how hard I try I always seem to be hitting someone with either my bag or the running shoes hanging off my bag. Sorry in advance to anyone on the T with me!