Movement therapy addresses social, emotional, behavioral and physical patterns held in an individual’s body. Addressing these issues, via movement, allows a therapist to tap into depths that other forms of therapy can’t always access. A somatic approach uses an educational model with more hands-on facilitation than other types of therapy. These tools help increase awareness in the mover’s body, enhancing synapse connections between body and brain.
Somatic Movement Education Therapy works by:
- engaging and addressing the whole person in a holistic approach
- enhancing sensory motor skills through brain based learning
There are many approved modalities within the field of somatic movement therapy. A short list of these modalities can be found here. A full list of internationally approved modalities and training programs can be found on the ISMETA (International Somatic Movement Education Therapy Association) website.
Dynamic Embodiment™ (DE-SMT), which uniquely combines principles of Laban Movement Analysis/Barteneiff Fundamentals (LMA/BF) and Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen’s Body-Mind Centering® (BMC®), is an ISMETA approved modality.
Benefits of a DE-SMT™ “Hands-On” Approach:
- helps regulate a person’s response to stimuli
- helps monitor proprioceptive (internal body) feedback
- can facilitate movement possibilities that open new neuro-pathways
- can help reduce levels of Cortisol (the “stress” hormone)
- helps develop motor, developmental & perceptual integration
DE™ Somatic Movement Therapy Helps Foster:
- greater self-awareness
- greater ability to focus
- sensory & motor-skill integration
- improved coordination
- neuromuscular re-education
- memory enhancement
- dynamic social skills
* this synopsis of somatic movement therapy & Dynamic Embodiment™ was derived from an article written by Dr. Martha Eddy & Scott Lyons. Info: Center For Kinesthetic Education www.wellnesscke.net
Celeste Ondreya 