Dancing, moving and writing in clinical supervision? Employing embodied practices in psychotherapy supervision

This paper takes a new look at the methods of embodiment for psychotherapy supervision. It makes a rigorous distinction between knowledge derived by language and knowledge derived by the body without the intervention of conscious thought.In an account of a study (Panhofer, 2010) whereby the principal researcher and her co-researchers, all professional practitioners of dance movement psychotherapy, shows the genesis and development of new tools designed to capture the connection between movement and the possibility of “languaging” the embodied experience (Sheets-Johnstone, 2007, p. 1). An unexpected outcome resulted in which the methodology developed for the study proved to be useful for clinical supervision. Of the several different models developed, one, a model for self-supervision, is presented here as a practical example of how to access the knowledge of the body when reflecting on practice day to day. In putting forward implications for practice, the authors suggest that the integration of movement and writing may be beneficial not only for clinical supervision in dance movement psychotherapy, but also for body psychotherapies, arts therapies, and for any verbal approaches of psychotherapy supervision that aim to integrate and explore the embodied experience.

Research highlights
► Knowledge can be achieved through the moving body and without the intervention of conscious thought.
► Not all of the embodied experience can or needs to be “languaged” – put into words.
► Movement and writing may be beneficial for clinical supervision in dance movement psychotherapy, as well as for body psychotherapies, arts therapies, and for other verbal approaches of psychotherapy supervision that aim to integrate the embodied experience.