Reflections on mary whitehouse

Abstract

Mary Whitehouse, one of the pioneers in dance therapy, developed a unique approach called Movement-in-Depth which was a way of working on both psychological and physical levels. The principles of her approach, her humanistic, growth-oriented model and her process-oriented work, are explored. A discussion follows of the premises for her work: that the individual can connect to the unconscious through movement and that this process has inherent healing value; that movement reflects personality; and that movement with awareness can produce psychic changes. Also examined are the three stages of her approach: becoming aware of the body and movement; trusting the inner impulse and allowing the movement to happen; and then making an outer connection. A sense of Mary’s commitment to the movement process for healing and growth as well as a feeling for her role in the therapy setting and as a human being is presented through the discussion of the author’s personal experiences and a description of the dance/movement therapy session.

Gradually I came to see that movement is one of the great laws of life. It is the primary medium of our aliveness, the flow of energy going on in us like a river all the time, awake or asleep, twenty-four hours a day. Our movement is ourbehavior; there is a direct connection between what we are like and how we move. Distortion, tension, and deadness in our movement is distortion, tension, and deadness in ourselves. (Whitehouse, 1969, p. 63)