The importance of being seen: Winnicott, dance movement psychotherapy, and the embodied experience Book Section
| Author: | Tortora, S. |
| Editors: | Spelman, M. B.; Thomson-Salo, F. |
| Article/Chapter Title: | The importance of being seen: Winnicott, dance movement psychotherapy, and the embodied experience |
| Abstract: | (from the introduction) In this chapter, Suzi Tortora reminds us that for Winnicott (1958) the underlying source by which a person comes to gain a sense of self is early body experiences between self, mother, and the environment. Winnicott provides the organizing principles of this chapter: "When I look I am seen, so I exist"; "The self finds itself naturally placed in the body". These quotes resonate deeply in the theoretical structure of both the wellness programmes and psychotherapeutic embodied parenting programmes I lead using movement and dance to support parents and young children to develop healthy attachment relationships. Winnicott's concepts are expanded within the context of current research on the body-to-body experience in neuroscience and infant mental health. This chapter maps out a synergistic relationship between the mind-body-emotion continuum and alliance as discussed in the Ways of Seeing dance/movement psychotherapy method developed by Tortura and colleagues. Ways of Seeing underscores the deep attention dance/movement therapists pay to nonverbal expressions as well as to the concept that the lived experience of the body must be the core organizing experience from which all other aspects of self emerge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved). |
| Keywords: | neuroscience; dance movements psychotherapy; parents & young children; attachment relations |
| Book Title: | The Winnicott tradition: Lines of development—Evolution of theory and practice over the decades |
| ISBN: | 978-1-78220-007-9 |
| Publisher: | Karnac Books |
| Publication Place: | London, England |
| Date Published: | 2015-01-01 |
| Start Page: | 259 |
| End Page: | 272 |
| Language: | English |
| ACCESSION: | Book: 2015-22090-020 |
| PROVIDER: | Ovid Technologies |
| PROVIDER: | psycinfo |
| DOI/URL: | |
| Notes: | Book chapter: 20 -- Originally published as "The need to be seen: from Winnicott to the mirror neuron system, dance/movement therapy comes of age", The American Journal of Dance Therapy, 33.1 (2011): 4-17-- Source: PsycINFO |
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33Tortora
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