Observing, Understanding, and Treating Disordered Attachment Patterns: A Dance Movement Therapy Perspective

Author

Arika Schultz, Lesley UniversityFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-18-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Sarah Hamil

Abstract

This literature review discusses attachment patterns formed in infancy and its implications for early childhood development and later life functioning. The impact of attachment patterns on the quality of a child’s interpersonal relationship, body action tendencies, emotion regulation and fear response patterns are explored. The attachment process as facilitator of these patterns is revealed as well as the disruption of healthy and adaptive attachment bonds as predictors of psychopathologies. Healthy neuropsychobiological development is shown to be facilitated by the nonverbal communications between the right brains of the mother-infant dyad. Mismatching in these nonverbal communications are shown to thwart the child’s development. Nonverbal observation skills, assessment, and treatment utilized by dance movement therapists are discussed as uniquely tailored to the early intervention and treatment of attachment trauma.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Schultz, Arika, "Observing, Understanding, and Treating Disordered Attachment Patterns: A Dance Movement Therapy Perspective" (2019). Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses. 227.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_theses/227