therapeutic support

Carys is a Dance & Movement Psychotherapist, having trained at Goldsmith’s University, and registered with the Association of Dance & Movement Psychotherapy UK.

As a therapist, Carys has worked in a variety of settings, including schools, autism provisions, the NHS, and with charities in the community. She now continues to work with a number of mental health charities in London, providing therapeutic support and leading Dance Therapy groups. She currently works as a therapist with Spectra, and as a WellFamily Plus Practitioner and Social Prescribing Wellbeing Coordinator at Family Action, where she also leads combined LifeSkills and Dance Therapy groups.

She is also a facilitator for True You Today’s Workshops for Survivors series, where she leads Creative Movement sessions and 1:1 DJing workshops with survivors to empower them with the skills and thrills of music-making and movement to support healing, partnering with Pirate Studios to provide aspirational and exciting experiences for participants.

What is dance therapy?

Dance & Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) is a psychotherapeutic practice - as with other types of psychodynamic therapies, unconscious processes and relational patterns are explored in sessions. Rather than using words as the primary form of communication, movement is used as a medium to enable non-verbal expression, and co-creation between therapist and client, helping to connect and integrate one’s mind-body experience. A combination of creative and verbal expression can support processing and transformation.

DMP has the benefit of being accessible to all: we can all move and express ourselves with our bodies, to different degrees. Non-verbal expression can be fully explored, which is essential for many. DMP doesn’t have to involve anything that resembles dance whatsoever: movement - which can be simply breathing or shrugging one’s shoulders - is simply one mode of expression. Sessions can use art materials, music, colourful props and toys, imagery, a range of musical instruments - all in service of what might help a client to express themselves and access their inner experience.

Whilst working with the body and developing somatic connection (rather than splitting mind/body) can be a transformative and healing experience, especially for people whose relationship to the body is challenging, it can also feel extremely vulnerable. Utilising trauma-informed approaches and working with the body’s possibilities and limitations is essential. Carys has delivered workplace training in the NHS on trauma-informed approaches, to support healthcare professionals in embedding some of these core principles in their practice.