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History
Dance has been used therapeutically for thousands of years. Traditionally, dance was linked to healing and was used to influence fertility, birth, sickness, or death. Dance has been used as a healing ritual since earliest human history, but the establishment of dance therapy as a profession occurred in the 1950's.

Types of Dance styles used for DMT

 * Culturally-based dance
 * Turkish folklore dance
 * Ballroom dance
 * Tango
 * Waltz
 * Foxtrot
 * Aerobic dance
 * Body- oriented psychological therapy

Effectiveness
Dance therapy has been deemed effective in the treatment of those with developmental, medical, social, physical, and psychological impairments. It has been used as treat people with mental and psychological problems and reduction of stress and anxiety for those with chronic diseases and/or cancer. Dance therapy effectiveness also is seen in enhancement of range of movement (ROM), freedom of total body movement,and improvement of mood, body image, and self-esteem.

Benefits
Developmental Movement Therapy can restore a sense of life to someone who has had a debilitating stroke or brain injury by increasing their movement ability as well as cognitive function. It can give children with learning disabilities a sense of fitting in through improved social interaction as well as improved ability to read, focus and participate in a classroom setting in a normal way. It can help children and adults recover from traumatic events and elicit a sense of clarity and creativity. As for what researchers have concluded, "... dance therapy may have a range of benefits including improved self-esteem, psychological mood, body perception, and body awareness, Quality of Life (QOL), and well-being; increased relaxation; and help for participants to accept and cope with illness. Dance therapy may also benefit the elderly maintain or increase range of motion (ROM) and agility."

From research compiled, researchers are saying that dance therapy gives the impression to combine various therapeutically beneficial characteristics, any of them being the reason for its likely health benefits. There is the social component which is valuable for is aspects of psychological functioning through human interaction. Another part is the music that is used during the session, it has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing pain, decreasing anxiety, and increasing relaxation. Since dance requires learning and involves becoming active and discovering capacities for movement, there is also the physical training that could have a possible aspect in DMT as well. Dancing in general is usually enjoyable, uplifting, and more engaging, unlike other types of exercise. Another advantage of dance therapy is the nonverbal communication, "which enables participants to express their feelings without words. this might be helpful when normal communication is absent o has broken down (eg, for patients with dementia). "

A major aspect that is important to dance therapy is learning. Dance forms like the Tango are progressive, so participants are continuously learning. Learning a new activity and interacting with people usually has positive effects. learning to dance for most is a positive reinforcing experience and can help participants overcome negative self-attitudes. Some other characteristics that dance therapy inter grates is mulitsensory, emotional, cognitive, and somatic, each of which are found in a variety of conditions; making dance therapy useful for many conditions.

An additional benefit of dance therapy is for our aging population and those suffering from chronic diseases. Currently, research findings show that dance therapy might be one way to increase quality of life (QOL) and help reserve capacities of elderly in which can let them maintain their performance of daily activities. As for the chronically ill, it has been seen to help support disease self-management because it improved motivation, and the improved body-awareness helped patients better perceive and appreciate their bodies' needs for self-care.

In conclusion, dance therapy has been seen to also, increase quality of life (QOL), support the process of dealing with a chronic disease, and improve well-being and self-esteem.

Mental Disorders
Currently in DMT research they are focusing on mental disorders, including Schizophrenia, Anxiety, and [Depression]]. Researchers have concluded, so far, "that dance therapy improved interaction skills among persons with dementia, improved movement skills and concentration among persons with ADHD, and arthritis symptoms even among those with advance disease." Research for those with Schizophrenia and the use of dance therapy has shown inconclusive results so far.

Positive Effects
For those with dementia, depression, anxiety, learning disabilities, and Parkinson's disease and for breast cancer survivors, there has been positive effects from dance therapy reported. Also, DMT has been discovered to have the following positive effects:
 * reduced risk of falling
 * improved functional capacity
 * weight gain prevention
 * prevention and/or slowing of progression of disability
 * promising but, tentative benefits for those with cystic fibrosis and schizophrenia

Adverse Effects
So far with DMT there are no adverse effects occurring or at least that have been reported.

Allied Professions
Allied professions are areas that a person could do, special studies, short courses, or eventually become trained in the area of DMT.
 * Dance
 * Physical Education
 * Occupational Therapy
 * Physiotherapy
 * Teacher, Special Education Teacher
 * Psychology
 * Arts Therapy
 * Therapies (in general)
 * Nurse
 * Social Worker

Locations

 * Mental Health Settings --> autistic, brain injured, or learning disabled children and/or adults
 * Health Promotion Programs