“Exploratory research on therapeutic dance demonstrates benefits for the healing of sexual trauma, with the scientific literature reporting positive outcomes across three domains: affect, the self, and interpersonal relationships.”
THERAPEUTIC DANCE FOR THE HEALING
OF SEXUAL TRAUMA:
A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
In the US, one in three women and one in four men experience contact sexual violence in their lifetime. Sexual violence can have damaging consequences on health, including but not limited to: bodily injury or genital trauma, gastrointestinal distress, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, and disordered eating. The psychotherapeutic use of dance has been increasingly recognized as a treatment modality for the healing of sexual trauma, but literature on its benefits has not been catalogued, to our knowledge.
We partnered with Swan Within, a dance program dedicated to serving incarcerated adolescent victims of sex trafficking, abuse, and trauma, to examine the evidence regarding therapeutic dance interventions for healing after sexual trauma. Systematic literature review was conducted at UCLA by Joyce Lee, Janeet Dhauna, Dr. Liz Barnert, and Dr. Jennifer Silvers in collaboration with Meredith H. Houston and colleagues at Swan Within. Using PRISMA guidelines, we identified intervention studies on the use of therapeutic dance for individuals suffering from sexual trauma. We extracted reported outcomes of therapeutic dance and organized them into emergent domains.
We identified a total of 1049 articles that: 1) involved individuals who were exposed to sexual trauma; 2) reported on any form of dance as a therapeutic intervention; and 3) reported on intervention outcomes, and 11 studies were included for analysis. Studies were exploratory (small samples, qualitative) but consistent in showing benefit.
Overall, the 11 studies suggested that: 1) therapeutic dance is a promising intervention; 2) the impact of sexual trauma has a somatic and bodily component; and 3) movement through dance engages the connection between mind and body.
We found that the exploratory research on therapeutic dance demonstrates benefits for the healing of sexual trauma, with the scientific literature reporting positive outcomes across three domains: affect, the self, and interpersonal relationships. Positive effects on affect were assessed through improved self-awareness, expression, and regulation of emotion. Benefits to interpersonal relationships were assessed through improved boundary formation and improved relational experience.Benefits to the self were assessed through a sense of safety and freedom, improved body awareness and body image, positive future orientation, and self-empowerment.
Thus, the existing research suggests that the adolescents reached through Swan Within’s and other such dance programs are likely to benefit from therapeutic dance. However, randomized trials and other robust intervention studies are lacking at this time, and a program evaluation can allow for measurement of the impact of programs such as Swan Within, with guidance from the existing literature on key outcomes to measure.
“Movement through dance engages the connection between mind and body”
— UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families.