Background: Dance is an embodied activity, and when applied therapeutically can have several specific and unspecific health benefits. In this meta-analysis, we evaluated the effectiveness of dance movement therapy (DMT) and dance interventions for psychological health outcomes. Research in this area grew considerably from 1.3 detected studies/year in 1996-2012 to 6.8 detected studies/year in 2012-2018. Method: We synthesized 41 controlled intervention studies (N=2374; from 01/2012 to 03/2018), 21 from DMT, 20 from dance, investigating the outcome clusters of quality of life, clinical outcomes (with sub-analyses of depression and anxiety), interpersonal skills, cognitive skills, and (psycho-)motor skills. We included recent randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in areas such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, autism, elderly patients, oncology, neurology, chronic heart failure, and cardiovascular disease, including follow-up data in eight studies. Results: Analyses yielded a medium overall effect (d =.60), with high heterogeneity of results (I²=72.62%). Sorted by outcome clusters, the effects were medium to large (d=.53 to d=.85). All effects, except the one for (psycho-)motor skills, showed high inconsistency of results. Sensitivity analyses revealed that type of intervention (DMT or dance) was a significant moderator of results. In the DMT cluster, the overall medium effect was small, significant and homogenous/consistent (d=.30, p<.001, I²=3.47). In the dance intervention cluster, the overall medium effect was large, significant, yet heterogeneous/non-consistent (d=.81, p<.001, I²=77.96). Results suggest that DMT decreases depression and anxiety and increases quality of life, interpersonal, and cognitive skills, whereas dance interventions increase (psycho-)motor skills. Larger effect sizes resulted from observational measures, possibly indicating bias. Follow-up data showed that on 22 weeks after the intervention most effects remained stable or slightly increased. Discussion: Consistent effects of DMT coincide with findings from former meta-analyses. Most dance intervention studies came from preventive contexts, most DMT studies from institutional health-care contexts with more severely impaired clinical patients, where we found smaller effects, yet with higher clinical relevance. Methodological shortcomings of many included studies and heterogeneity of outcome measures limit results. Initial findings on long-term effects are promising.

There is a growing body of research indicating that bodily sensation and behavior strongly influences one's emotional reaction toward certain situations or objects. On this background, a framework model of embodied affectivity¹ is suggested: we regard emotions as resulting from the circular interaction between affective qualities or affordances in the environment and the subject's bodily resonance, be it in the form of sensations, postures, expressive movements or movement tendencies. Motion and emotion are thus intrinsically connected: one is moved by movement (perception; impression; affection²) and moved to move (action; expression; e-motion). Through its resonance, the body functions as a medium of emotional perception: it colors or charges self-experience and the environment with affective valences while it remains itself in the background of one's own awareness. This model is then applied to emotional social understanding or interaffectivity which is regarded as an intertwinement of two cycles of embodied affectivity, thus continuously modifying each partner's affective affordances and bodily resonance. We conclude with considerations of how embodied affectivity is altered in psychopathology and can be addressed in psychotherapy of the embodied self.

Stress is one of the world’s largest health problems, leading to exhaustion, burnout, anxiety, a weak immune system, or even organ damage. In Germany, stress-induced work absenteeism costs about 20 billion Euros per year. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Central Federal Association of the public Health Insurance Funds in Germany ascribes particular importance to stress prevention and stress management as well as health enhancing measures. Building on current integrative and embodied stress theories, Creative Arts Therapies (CATs) or arts interventions are an innovative way to prevent stress and improve stress management. CATs encompass art, music, dance/movement, and drama therapy as their four major modalities. In order to obtain an overview of CATs and arts interventions’ efficacy in the context of stress reduction and management, we conducted a systematic review with a search in the following data bases: Academic Search Complete, ERIC, Medline, Psyndex, PsycINFO and SocINDEX. Studies were included employing the PICOS principle and rated according to their evidence level. We included 37 studies, 73% of which were randomized controlled trials. 81.1% of the included studies reported a significant reduction of stress in the participants due to interventions of one of the four arts modalities.

From the 1970s on, case studies reported the effectiveness of therapeutic mirroring in movement with children with autism spectrum disorder. In this feasibility study, we tested a dance movement therapy intervention based on mirroring in movement in a population of 31 young adults with autism spectrum disorder (mainly high-functioning and Asperger’s syndrome) with the aim to increase body awareness, social skills, self–other distinction, empathy, and well-being. We employed a manualized dance movement therapy intervention implemented in hourly sessions once a week for 7 weeks. The treatment group (n = 16) and the no-intervention control group (n = 15) were matched by sex, age, and symptom severity. Participants did not participate in any other therapies for the duration of the study. After the treatment, participants in the intervention group reported improved well-being, improved body awareness, improved self–other distinction, and increased social skills. The dance movement therapy–based mirroring approach seemed to address more primary developmental aspects of autism than the presently prevailing theory-of-mind approach. Results suggest that dance movement therapy can be an effective and feasible therapy approach for autism spectrum disorder, while future randomized control trials with bigger samples are needed.

Background: Dance is an embodied activity with benefits for mobility, balance, and quality of life of persons affected by Parkinson’s Disease (PD). It is enjoyable and likely to support adherence to movement prescriptions. The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of measuring changes in psychological outcomes, specifically well-being, body self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and experienced beauty after a single Argentine Tango intervention in a workshop format. To anchor experienced beauty in a theory, the article introduces a model of embodied aesthetics featuring active art-making as a central aspect of healing in arts-based interventions. Methods: In a single-group pre-post design, we tested the feasibility of measuring psychological changes of 34 PD patients from Southern Germany after an introductory workshop in Argentine Tango. They participated in a 90 minutes Tango for PD intervention and completed the Heidelberg State Inventory (HSI-24; Koch, Morlinghaus, & Fuchs, 2007), the Body Self-Efficacy Scale (BSE; Fuchs & Koch, 2014) with a subdimension on aesthetic experience, and the Credibility-Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ; Devilly & Borkovec, 2000) before and after the intervention. A subgroup completed the therapeutic factors of arts therapies-scale, a new measure to elaborate on the aesthetic experience. We analyzed pre-post-differences with a t-test for paired samples. Results and Discussion: The study supports the feasibility of measuring health-related psychological changes from a single Argentine Tango intervention for PD patients, as well as acceptance and appropriateness of the intervention for the patient group. After the tango intervention, well-being, body self-efficacy, and outcome expectancies increased. Participants also experienced an increase in beauty of their movements and other aesthetic aspects. We suspect that, in addition to the functional and psychological factors identified so far, the aesthetic experience in dance may be an important therapeutic factor mediating several outcomes of dance and other arts-based interventions. A controlled study for evidence-based testing of targeted variables can now follow to examine the new hypotheses.

One of the frequently overlooked psychosocial problems of refugees is the phenomenon of homesickness. Being forced into exile and unable to return home may cause natural feelings of nostalgia but may also result in emotional, cognitive, behavioral and physical adversities. According to the literature, the creative arts therapies with their attention to preverbal language—music, imagery, dance, role play, and movement—are able to reach individuals through the senses and promote successive integration, which can lead to transformation and therapeutic change. These forms of therapy can be a temporary home for refugees in the acculturation process, by serving as a safe and enactive transitional space. More specifically, working with dance and movement can foster the experience of the body as a home and thus provide a safe starting place, from which to regulate arousal, increase interoception, and symbolize trauma- and resource-related processes. Hearing, playing, and singing music from the home culture may assist individuals in maintaining their cultural and personal individuality. Creating drawings, paintings, or sculpturing around the topics of houses and environments from the past can help refugees to retain their identity through art, creating safe spaces for the future helps to look ahead, retain resources, and regain control. This article provides a literature review related to home and homesickness, and the role the arts therapies can play for refugees in transition. It further reports selected interview data on adverse life events and burdens in the host country from a German study. We propose that the creative arts therapies are not only a container that offers a temporary home, but can also serve as a bridge that gently guides refugees to a stepwise integration in the host country. Several clinical and research examples are presented suggesting that the support and affirmation through the creative arts can strengthen individuals in their process of moving from an old to a new environment.