Exploring the experience of psychotherapists offering dance movement therapy online: an embodied artistic inquiry

Dance movement psychotherapy is an established psychotherapeutic intervention that engages clients in a creative process using body movement and dance to assist in the integration of emotional, cognitive, physical and social aspects of self. I undertook this embodied artistic inquiry to explore how psychotherapists experience using dance/movement in online therapy, a practice traditionally rooted in shared physical space. As both a psychotherapist and dancer, I was curious about how embodied connection translates through the online environment and how practitioners adapt creatively to this shift. Eight participants took part in an experience-based, body-anchored interview online via videoconferencing. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using a hybrid method combining aesthetic analysis based on Hervey’s (2000) aesthetic criteria and thematic analysis. The results were presented through both creative outputs and qualitative analysis consisting of five main themes and nineteen subthemes. Key embodied themes such as ‘reaching through the screen’, ‘disjointed connection’, and ‘therapist health and safety’ emerged from participants’ narratives and nonverbal movements. These were expressed through movement sequences, dance reflections, and thematic analysis, capturing both the felt sense and the meaning-making processes of using dance/movement in online therapy. The results reveal that different electronic devices (i.e., phones, iPad, laptops, desktop computers etc.) are used by therapists and clients in sessions and movements are used differently with each one. In some cases, the device can become a therapeutic tool to explore movement and can be used creatively, and in others it is simply a platform facilitating sessions. It demonstrates that there were some client groups that psychotherapists either struggled to, or could not, work online with, but also celebrates surprises of working effectively online with new clients using specific dance/movement interventions. In addition, some therapists viewed working online no differently to in-person while others had found it to be a different practice altogether. Key findings show that avoidant behaviours were often seen as opportunities to invite trust and deepen the therapeutic alliance. The process of adaptation was not merely intellectual but deeply embodied; embodied challenges called for embodied solutions. The study, overall, highlights the importance of self-care, movement, and collaboration in sustaining therapeutic presence online and throughout the research process, reflecting both participants’ and my own experiences of how virtual spaces can still nurture connection, growth, and healing. The study recommends further investigation into online dance movement psychotherapy practice and recognises the need for structured support in converting body-based psychotherapeutic interventions for online delivery.