This is the last issue by the Devereaux/Harris co-editorial team. Looking back at the journal’s growth over the last three years, we are certain that the next pair of co-editors, Dr. Laura Downey and Ms. Susan Kierr, is well equipped to take over the reins. Each of these dance/movement therapy (DMT) advocates has shown dedication to our field, and has proven skills in research and writing. Undoubtedly, the depth of their professional knowledge will see this journal continue to grow in scope and quality.

It has become a convention for the journal’s first issue each year to highlight proceedings from the previous year’s American Dance Therapy Association annual conference, and this issue expands upon that tradition. We are delighted to begin with a text of Dr. Sharon Goodill’s stirring Marian Chace Lecture, “Movement, Metaphor, and Money,” along with Ellen Schelly-Hill’s aptly laudatory introduction. Excerpts from the 2016 International Panel, “Crossing Continents: Global Pathways of Dance/Movement Therapy,” are also included, and followed by research and poster session abstracts.

Moreover, just as the ADTA’s 50th annual conference itself included a new component—a pair of keynote addresses by Dr. C. Sue Carter and Dr. Stephen W. Porges, along with panel responses from a trio of dance/movement therapy researcher/practitioners—this issue publishes presentations by these same authors. Co-Editor Christina Devereaux interviewed the two conference keynote presenters, and the interviews with Drs. Stephen W. Porges and C. Sue Carter appear in the issue, as do expanded versions of the three panelists’ remarks.

The issue includes, as well, four original articles that follow the conference material:

  • To start, Robyn Flaum Cruz and Jennifer Frank Tantia’s, “Reading and Understanding Qualitative Research,” provides a useful tutorial on how to read and interpret qualitative research. The article includes detailed criteria for use in discerning integrity and validation strategies, along with brief examples that illustrate the criteria presented.

  • Next, Jessica Young’s qualitative study, “The Therapeutic Movement Relationship in Dance/Movement Therapy: A Phenomenological Study,” reports thematic results from semi-structured interviews with eight board-certified dance/movement therapists. Young’s goal was to describe the essence of the therapeutic movement relationship and advance a definition of this concept.

  • The pilot study, “Active Factors in Dance/Movement Therapy: Health Effects of Non-Goal-Orientation in Movement,” conducted by a team of German researchers, tested distinctions between non-goal-oriented versus goal-oriented movement in terms of positive effects on perceived stress, well-being, general self-efficacy, and body self-efficacy, in 46 undergraduate students. Implications of the findings for the discipline of DMT are discussed.

  • Last, authors from Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY, discuss results from an eight-week dance class on executive functioning in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). While not examining DMT specifically, this study examines how dance may improve the executive function domain of cognition, particularly when connected to physical movement. Findings suggest that participating in dance class on a daily short-term basis can, indeed, improve executive function in individuals with PD.

Following the original research articles, the issue features a narrative by second-generation dance/movement therapist Sharon Chaiklin. “Connecting the Practice of Dance/Movement Therapy: What Differentiates Us” illuminates core commonalities in DMT. To end the issue, Book Review Editor Jenny Baxley Lee, for whom this issue is also her last, contributes Of Note, a brief compendium of recent publications of interest to those in the DMT profession.

We take the liberty here of affirming the honor it has been for us to serve as co-editors of this journal, and to work alongside so many dedicated researchers and writers toward enhancing the knowledge base for DMT. We are pleased now to be able to step back and pass the torch to the incoming editors. We feel confident that the American Journal of Dance Therapy will continue to contribute to expanding and deepening our profession through a range of scholarly writings from across the globe. Thank you for your trust in us to serve the journal and our community in this capacity.