A broken heart from a wounded land: The use of Korean scarf dance as a dance/movement therapy intervention for a Korean woman with haan

This study provides a rich and detailed description of a clinical case study of a Korean woman suffering from haan (a Korea-specific feeling of oppression), which the dance/movement therapist treated using a Korean scarf dance over 10 sessions. Two specific research questions were addressed: (a) What was the client's emotional experience in creating her own scarf dance? (b) What elements of body movement were mostly utilized by the client in creating her own scarf dance? Data were gathered through notes taken after sessions, a researcher-designed haan-measurement, and drawings made by the client. These data produced four themes: (a) a desire to move forward, (b) a boiling hot emotional container, (c) a body in pain and shame, and (d) wisdom from both the moving and silent body. These four themes contained 13 categories and 59 codes. The experience of creating a scarf dance facilitated a deep emotional exploration of haan, which unlocked resilience and power within the client's body. The use of space was a prominent element in creating this scarf dance, as moving backwards and forwards symbolically represented the client's memories of past abuse and her desire to move forward, respectively.