Date of Award
Spring 5-1-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
Counseling & Psychology
First Advisor
Maggie Giles, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Robyn Cruz, Ph.D., BC-DMT
Third Advisor
Jacelyn Biondo, Ph.D., MPH, MA, BC-DMT, LPC, RYT
Abstract
This qualitative, arts-informed research study explored how White-identifying dance/movement therapists experience and articulate their awareness of embodied White supremacy within therapeutic relationships. Grounded in critical race theory, relational-cultural theory, and embodied critical transformation theory, the study addressed a gap in dance/movement therapy literature concerning how White supremacy is not only cognitively understood, but also somatically felt, relationally enacted, and professionally navigated. The purpose of the study was to understand how White-identifying dance/movement therapists perceive, kinesthetically experience, and make meaning of embodied White supremacy in therapeutic practice, and to explore how these embodied experiences influence therapeutic presence, attunement, and the potential for growth-fostering relationships.
Using Sensory Creative Inquiry, an arts-informed qualitative method developed for this research, four White-identifying dance/movement therapists participated in a multi-phase process. Reflexive Thematic Analysis guided the analytic process. Five themes were generated through this analysis: (1) Recognition of Embodied White Supremacy, (2) Internal Conflict and Emotional Responses to Engaging with Embodied White Supremacy, (3) Relational Reorientation in Professional and Interpersonal Contexts, (4) Metaphorical and Visual Representation of Embodied Experience, and (5) Emergent Pathways Toward Change and Action. Findings suggested that embodied White supremacy was experienced as relational, emotional, institutional, and somatic, often expressed through tension, constriction, vigilance, fragmentation, and discomfort, while also prompting accountability, relational awareness, and movement toward change. This study contributes to dance/movement therapy scholarship by making visible the embodied and relational dimensions of White supremacy in clinical practice and by offering an arts-informed approach to critical inquiry, reflection, and transformation.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Gamba, Melody E., "Unveiling Embodied White Supremacy: Therapists’ Experiences and Its Imprint on Therapeutic Relationships in Dance/Movement Therapy" (2026). Counseling and Psychology Dissertations. 10.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/counseling_psychology_dissertation/10
Number of Pages
188
Included in
Community-Based Learning Commons, Community-Based Research Commons, Community Psychology Commons, Counseling Commons, Counseling Psychology Commons, Interactive Arts Commons, Multicultural Psychology Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social Justice Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, Somatic Psychology Commons
