Date of Award
Spring 5-16-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
MA - Master of Arts
Department
Expressive Therapies
Advisor
Dr. Sarah Hamil
Abstract
This thesis examined the effects humor has on a Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) warm-up intervention in increasing engagement for individuals in a grief setting who are new to DMT practices. Studies have demonstrated the positive effects humor has on individuals’ sense of comfort and there were notable similarities with the benefits of DMT. The healing advantages of humor were thoroughly studied and the comedic principle of the “Rule of Threes” was chosen and translated into a movement warm-up intervention to create a space that allowed for humor and laughter. This humor strategy for the warm-up intervention was used in a group and individual DMT sessions. Data were collected regarding the individuals’ feelings on movement prior to the intervention as well as after completion of the intervention. The data collected showed that laughter occurred throughout the sessions and individuals felt a sense of readiness to continue with the rest of the DMT session. These findings suggested that utilizing humor and laughter with DMT interventions could lead to increased engagement from participants. Further study is needed to demonstrate effective uses of humor with DMT practices.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Ouimette, Amanda E., "Warming Up to Dance/Movement Therapy Through Humor" (2020). Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses. 286.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_theses/286
Rights
The author owns the copyright to this work.
