Authentic Movement (AM) Summit 

April 20/21-23, 2023; Online

Authentic Movement (AM) grew out of Mary Starks Whitehouse’s teaching of an approach to inner-directed movement, which she called Movement-in-depth. She was an American dance therapist informed by her studies in Jungian psychology, particularly active imagination. Authentic Movement is an experiential practice sometimes used within Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP), involving a mover who is following inner impulse in the presence of an outer witness. Joan Chodorow (Jungian Analyst) and Janet Adler were both Mary’s students. Joan took the Jungian stream further and Janet developed the mystical element, which she calls the Discipline of Authentic Movement (Adler, 2002).

AM may be particularly beneficial for those who have difficulty processing their issues verbally through traditional forms of therapy. Through expressive, spontaneous movement the whole self can be experienced to facilitate integration in the healing process.

The therapist’s/witness role is to be present and witness the mover, subsequently making a self-referential, verbal offering if requested by the mover, avoiding interpretation, projection, and judgment. Meanings discovered through the movement experienced and witnessed and the verbal dialoguing between witness/s and mover helps to bring about change.

This summit will offer presentations from leaders in the field of AM. Both from a psychotherapeutic and spiritual perspective. AM training and practice are in different ways globally and it has also been used for arts-based inquiry, so we are pleased to present sessions on these elements.