Waking up the bear: dance/movement therapy group model with depressed adult patients during Covid-19 2020

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article introduces a dance movement therapy group model used with adults diagnosed with depression and its adaptation to the conditions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic that helped preserve continuity of the therapeutic group and the therapeutic relationships. The model was initially researched as a pilot project and was offered as an option in the available treatment plan. The evaluation indicates that the DMT group model increased patients’ motivation to play, which then led to an increased experience of affective vitality and alleviated symptoms of depression. All participants in the groups were recruited from psychiatric units and an outpatient clinic. Because of the pandemic, the meeting spaces moved to virtual spaces allowed by mobile phone videos, online therapy and the outdoors. Work in the open air inspired new interventions that were welcomed by the groups.