Dancing the Demons Away: Dance/Movement Therapy as a Tool in Counseling Sexually Abused Children in the Philippines

Keywords
Psychotherapy research, Piers-Harris Self Concept Scale for Children, Movement Indicator Checklist for Sexually Abused Children, Trauma, body image, LMA, KMP

This research was a pioneering study in the Philippines on the use of Dance Movement therapy (DMT) in counselling sexually abused female children that were institutionalised in a government shelter. It was undertaken as a final fulfilment for an M.Ed., course at the University of the Philippines and was submitted in March 2005.

Dinghy pioneered the first Master’s thesis on Dance therapy in her country with this research that used purposive sampling with five girls (ages 6-9 years old) who attended ten DMT sessions over a period of two months. Discussion centres on the researcher’s intention to explore the nature of trauma for these girls as well as their movement characteristics, and the possible healing effects of DMT, specifically on their body image and self-concept. This successful study paves the way for further innovative and creative forms of psychotherapy for sexually abused children in the Phillipines. (pp 2-9)

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