Choosing the best dance therapy course involves researching available courses, accreditation requirements, and selecting a specialty. Programs offer courses in dance technique, counseling, and supervised fieldwork. Specializing in age groups, disabilities, or cultural backgrounds is important. Researching local licensing standards is crucial.
Choosing the best dance therapy course requires familiarizing yourself with the variety of courses available, investigating accreditation requirements in your field, and possibly selecting a dance therapy specialty. Dance therapy programs typically offer courses in dance technique, body movement assessment, ethics, psychopathology, counseling methods, and supervised fieldwork. Specializing in helping people of specific age groups, developmental disabilities or cultural backgrounds can also play a role in dance therapy course choices. Researching local requirements for becoming a licensed mental health professional and dance therapist is also an important step before you choose a course.
Dance therapy programs often offer courses that equip the aspiring dance therapist with skills in the areas of psychological assessment, counseling, and creative art therapy. The right dance therapy course supports the overall goals of the dance therapy student by strengthening mental health assessment skills, counseling techniques and dance skills. For the student whose dance training took place a long time ago, the best dance therapy courses may focus on dance technique or improvisation. A strong dancer who is new to the field of mental health therapy might focus more on courses that address body language interpretation, psychological diagnosis, and counseling techniques.
A dance therapy specialization is also an important consideration before selecting a dance therapy course. Working with young children, for example, requires knowledge of their developmental needs and effective dance therapy exercises and counseling methods. Individuals with disabilities also have special needs and require experienced dance therapists who have taken relevant courses and understand how to appropriately tailor therapy sessions. A desire to work with adults from specific cultural backgrounds may also guide your selection of dance therapy courses, and you may want to focus on courses that address cultural interpretations of movement or cultural taboos. In virtually all cases, taking courses with instructors who have extensive experience in that area of expertise is important for gaining exposure to the most relevant issues and effective counseling techniques.
Accreditation requirements research also plays a role in course selection. Dance therapy is a form of mental health counseling and often requires special licensing before patients can be treated. A national certifying association, for example, may require a specific number of courses related to dance skills or counseling. Local licensing standards should also be considered to select courses that meet the necessary requirements. Investigating these requirements may lead you to selecting a specific dance therapy program, studying courses that can prepare you for licensure exams, and/or enrolling in courses that involve guided fieldwork or dance therapy internships.
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