Dance Therapy California

Dance Therapy California & Dance Therapy Online 

The only time you feel relief is if you are moving. . .either dancing or exercising. . .anything to make you feel some peace.  Only when you are doing something physical does your brain clear.   You know that you can’t keep moving all the time and you are so worn out but you don’t know what will happen if you stop.

You want to find some relief but talking doesn’t seem to help.  Some kind of therapy that involved your body sounds appealing. . . but where to start?  

I’m Lisa Manca, a Board Certified Dance Therapist in California 

Together we can explore how to feel emotions without wanting to run away or find distractions. We use movement to access thoughts and feelings that otherwise might stay hidden. By connecting to our bodies, we can truly feel our emotions and let them go (along with all the tension, pain, and stress that we carry).

Dance Therapy FAQs 

Q. What is dance therapy?

A. Dance therapy is based off the premise that the mind and the body are connected.  If you work with the body, you can affect what is going on in your mind as well.  Dance therapists are trained to observe movement and based on their observations, provide movement interventions. Dance therapists also studied mental health and therapeutic techniques to help clients verbally process their movement and the meaning behind their movements.  If we can change how you move, we can change how you feel, and if you change how you feel, you can change your life!

Q. What kinds of mental health issues is dance therapy used for?

A. Dance therapy has been used to help treat symptoms of a wide range of disorders such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and eating disorders.  It is especially useful in the treatment of psychological trauma because many of the symptoms of trauma appear as physical sensations in the body.

Q. Is dance therapy as effective as regular talk therapy?

A. Anecdotally, I have seen clients have the same or sometimes better results when using dance therapy vs. only talk therapy. In addition to processing feelings verbally, dance therapy involves changing body movements and patterns, which can access feelings and thoughts in a more profound and effective way. Our bodies often store trauma and dance therapy is an avenue to explore and heal that trauma. There is a growing body of research about dance therapy’s effectiveness; Feel free to click here to read some of that research on the American Dance Therapy Association’s website.

Q. Is dance therapy a somatic therapy? What is the difference between dance therapy and other somatic therapies such as somatic experiencing?

A.Any therapy that works with the body is a somatic therapy—therefore dance therapy is a somatic therapy. Dance therapy involves a great deal of training in both observing movement for psychological themes, learning movement interventions that will help clients, and learning what our (the therapists’) own movement patterns are and how they might affect clients.

The in-depth training that dance therapists receives most often involves getting a master’s degree in dance therapy, two years of full-time dance therapy work and supervision, and finally going through a board certification process which is overseen by a national governing body. Other somatic therapies are offered after a clinician has received a degree in counseling or psychology and may not involve a similar level of training or oversight.

Q. Do I have to be a good dancer to do dance therapy?

A. You don’t have to be a dancer at all do dance therapy. If you can move, you can benefit from dance therapy. The dance part of dance therapy simply means that the therapist has training to observe movement and help give movement interventions.

Q. What does a dance therapy session look like?

A. A dance therapy session has a movement warm-up, a middle section based on a psychological theme that emerges, and a closure. I ask questions based on the movement I see and focus on thoughts and feelings that come up as you move.

Q. Where do I do dance therapy? Is it in person or online?

A. You can do dance therapy in person with me (if you are in San Francisco) or online if you feel more comfortable moving in your own home. Either way, you can start healing in a way that is convenient for your life and schedule.

If you are ready to stop letting anxiety and fear keep you both busy and exhausted and start living an embodied, empowered life, please contact me for a FREE 15 minute consultation at (415) 212-8780 or click here to book your free consultation. My specialties include dance therapy, anxiety therapy, movement therapy, self-compassion work, and moving beyond talk therapy.