New Year, New Goals

Have you ever felt like you were take one step forward and two steps back?

As I reflect on my professional journey this past year I am realizing that this resonates with me. I find whenever I visit my blog to write a new post I stare at the screen and think, "I don't have anything to write about, everything is still the same".

2016 has had it's moments; attending the first National Symposium for Dance and Well-Being in Canada, receiving qualifying status with the CRPO and facilitating some wonderful programs through Art With A Heart Inc. However when I look at my goals for 2016, there are many that have been left uncrossed.

The last couple of weeks I have begun to think about what goals I'd like to set for 2017. I have begun to read "Playing Big" by Tara Mohr (and would highly recommend it to any women struggling to find their professional voice or form their professional identity). Keeping in mind what I have read so far, this year when setting my goals I'm going to break them into smaller goals that are more attainable, building blocks to create the bigger goals.

Goal #1: Be more diligent in writing blog posts.

Goal #2: Focus on the steps forward, acknowledge them however small they may seem.

What professional goals are you setting this New Year's? Have you broken them down into smaller stepping stones to get there?

Here's to 2017 and what steps it may bring, however big they may be!

Finally Moving Forward

How time flies since November!

I'd like to say a lot has happened, and in some ways it has, but a lot has felt stagnant as well.

It has taken since August, but I have finally heard from the CRPO that I have been approved for qualifying status. At first this was disappointing as I had thought I had enough hours for full registration status, however I was informed that the bulk of my supervision hours would not count due to being completed as part of a course.

While at Lesley I was enrolled in supervision courses while completing my internship. These were courses taught by qualified supervisors and were essentially group supervision. In my opinion the courses took supervision a step further by having assignments that deepened our thinking of issues that arose at our sites. However because they were courses, the CRPO policy is to not count them towards registration. Therefore I was bumped down to qualifying status. This is still good news and I'm happy to have heard and be able to move forward.

It will take some time to accumulate the rest of my supervision hours as without being a student there is now a cost associated with supervision. In addition to the supervision hours I will need to successfully complete the registration exam which I believe will be in the Fall.

With this news we are working hard at getting my website up and running! Stay tuned for more updates as I continue to navigate the next steps in the registration process.

Patience is a Virtue

"Patience is a Virtue" has become my new motto when it comes to working in the field. The registration process with the CRPO (College of Registered Psychotherapists) has become a much longer process than anticipated. Between documents needing to be sent in by third parties and hours not being counted that I anticipated counting, I have been reminding myself that things will work out all in due time and to take a deep breath.

Meanwhile work has been great. I've been fortunate enough to be able to incorporate DMT into some of the groups I have been facilitating and look forward to bringing in more in the future.

My identity as a professional has been developing and has been a source of reflection lately. I am a dance/movement therapist, not an expressive arts therapist, not an arts and crafts teacher but a dance/movement therapist.

I read a great blog post that someone had posted on the ADTA blog in honour of American Thanksgiving. Please follow the link below to get to it and give it a read, it captures my sentiments fully.

Keep moving, until next time!

http://blog.adta.org/2015/11/25/22-reasons-i-am-grateful-to-be-a-dancemovement-therapist/

Happy National Dance Day

I'm two days late but better late than never! Happy National Dance Day (July 25, 2015). Hope you got a chance to move/dance the day away.

Photo from Pinterest

Another great video!

Another great video from the ADTA blog explaining the difference between therapeutic dance and dance/movement therapy. This video is relatively short to watch and Susan Imus does a great job of using examples to differentiate between the two forms.



The Difference Between “Therapeutic” Dance and Dance/Movement Therapy: An ADTA Talk

Back in Canada

Almost two months since my last post and my return to Canada. I must say it is the simple things in Canadian life that I am enjoying again such as milk in bags and Tim Hortons steeped tea!

A lot has happened in the time since my last post including finishing my thesis, graduation, moving into my new apartment and starting a new job. I received my approval from the American Dance Therapy Association and received my Registered Dance/Movement Therapist (R-DMT) status and am still in the process of registering with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. I am working at Art With A Heart Inc. (www.artwithaheart.ca) as a psychotherapist and dance/movement therapist part-time and just secured a part-time gig at Sport Chek (excellent employee discount on yoga pants, the uniform of DMTs).

We are still working on getting my website up and running which involves much more time and decision making than I originally thought. What information do I want on it, what colour scheme and layout do I like best? Thankfully I have a wonderful web designer/developer on my side. Hopefully it will be live soon!

Lots of projects on the horizon so stay tuned for updates....now that I'm getting into a routine again I'll be more diligent about posting.
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Name Change of the Program

I recently found out that the names of my degree and program have changed. Now instead of being an M.A. in Expressive Therapies: Dance/Movement Therapy with a Specialization in Mental Health Counseling it is an M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Dance/Movement Therapy. The school's reasoning behind the change is that it will make it easier for people to apply for licensure after graduation.

There doesn't seem to be a consensus as to whether this change is for the best or not. I personally think that having the Clinical Mental Health Counselor title come first will help with licensure and receiving credibility from other professions. However, I am torn about the removal of Expressive Therapies from the title. I see my identity as a dance/movement therapist not an expressive therapist, however I think the expressive therapist piece is important to acknowledge.

Only time will tell how this change will affect us.