ARBN 633105736

Vanessa Patterson

Vanessa Patterson – Bio


Edition:

Vanessa is a Masters Candidate in Creative Arts Therapy at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Dance Therapy, also from RMIT, and a Graduate Diploma in Expressive Therapies from the University of Western Sydney. Vanessa has worked as a dancer, actor, and visual artist, and holds qualifications in these fields from the University of Sydney and the Brent Street School of Arts. This experience combined with her work on Body Mind Centering under the guidance of Alice Cummins fueled particular interest in the creative processes that surround her life and art making and has launched Vanessa on her developing career in Dance and Creative Arts Therapy.

Affiliation of Space: A presentation of Mandala and the Self in dance therapy


Edition: 2004 Vol. 3 No. 4

Keywords
therapeutic space, Jung, humanistic approach, individuation, Integrative Body Therapy (IBT), witnessing

This is an excerpt from the content:

“Inspired by the archetypal image of the mandala (Jung, 1972) and a body/mind approach to space and awareness, I will describe the way the Self can manifest within the layers of personal, interpersonal and general space and how the potential for healing can be accessed through them and embodied in dance therapy. After defining the Therapeutic Space and the Self, I will offer the universal mandala as a model and metaphor of the healing space. The ‘where’ of therapy in terms of individual process will be discussed from the perspectives of both therapist and client. This includes: the core of the Self connected with the breath, the inner or interpersonal Space found in the relationship between therapist and client and others in the group, and finally moving into the general Space incorporating observation, witnessing and the therapy room.” (pp 14-18)

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