Relational Family Therapy (RFT) emphasises the importance of the earliest relationships, which shape the individual's psycho-organic structure, based on which, later in life, through the mechanisms of projective and introjective identification, they seek out relationships similar to those they have been accustomed to. In such relationships, their psycho-organic, implicit contents can be reawakened, and by becoming aware of them and taking responsibility for them, it is possible for the individual to resolve them. In RFT, one of the relationships where this is possible is the therapeutic relationship.
Dance movement therapy (DMT) is the youngest discipline among art therapies and involves the purposeful use of art – dance and movement – in the psychotherapeutic context to bring about therapeutic change. Since its beginnings, DMT has emphasised the inextricable connection between body and mind. It understands movement as the medium used by the individual to enter into relationships from the earliest age in order to communicate and build intersubjectivity. In DMT, body and movement, with dance as a key expression of movement, serve as fundamental means of expression and communication, while kinesthetic empathy enables the therapist to sense and address the client's inner world.
This doctoral thesis deals with the integration of RFT with elements of DMT by exploring the theoretical and practical feasibility and effects of such integration. The theoretical part of the thesis first describes RFT and DMT since their beginnings, including the most important influences on their development, and then, by presenting their key concepts, places them in the contemporary psychotherapy context. This is followed by a substantiated overview of their commonalities, and the key part – a review of the important features of DMT, which in theory afford possibilities for enriching RFT through integration.
In the empirical part of the doctoral thesis, the integration of RFT with elements of DMT was studied practically. Here, our study was divided into a quantitative and a qualitative part. In the quantitative part of the research, an experiment was conducted involving three groups of women facing daily challenges. We provided group therapy using the RFT method to the first group (RFT) for six months, group therapy using the RFT method together with DMT elements to the second group (RFT + DMT), whereas the third group (WL) was placed on a waiting list and did not receive any treatment from us during the time when the other two groups were in therapy. The results showed that (1) both active groups (RFT and RFT+DMT) achieved a better score than the passive group (WL) on all measured variables, (2) both groups in the therapeutic process (RFT and RFT+DMT) scored better on measured variables at the end of the process than at the beginning, (3) the RFT+DMT group scored better than the RFT group on most but not all of the measured variables, (4) women with better developed emotional processing skills are more compassionate towards themselves, develop more mindful self-care and experience fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress.
In the qualitative part of the study, we conducted a focus group with the RFT+DMT group to explore the participants' overall impression of our integration. By using reflexive thematic analysis, 4 main themes were identified in the reports of the focus group participants: (1) a shift from mind to body, which refers to an increasing ability of body awareness and expression through the body, (2) therapy becomes play, which facilitates the therapeutic process and refers to the relaxed, creative and fun aspect of the therapeutic process and the awakening of the inner child, (3) relationship as the foundation of safety and acceptance in the therapy group, which refers to strengthening self-compassion through the therapeutic relationship and group interactions, where dance and movement interventions played a significant role in building interpersonal connectedness, and (4) a new way of being with the self and the other, which refers to changes in the participants' attitudes to their bodies, emotions and themselves and in their relationships with others.
The results of the quantitative and qualitative part of the research indicated consistency with the theoretical possibilities afforded by the integration of RFT with elements of DMT. It was shown that such an integration is possible and effective, since it produces both quantitatively measurable and self-reported changes in the study participants, and that it enriches RFT, as demonstrated both through quantitatively measurable results and through the results of the subjective experience reported by the participants.
In both parts of the study, we highlighted the research limitations, in particular the small sample of participants, and put forward suggestions for further research, with special emphasis on the proposal for research on different populations and types of problems addressed with therapeutic treatment using the RFT method with elements of DMT.
|
