Somatic Psychotherapy Today

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From the outset, readers will find that, speaking to its origins as the author’s dance philosophy dissertation, the language used in the book is quite academic and, oftentimes, resembles a college lecture. On the one hand, the fine degree of detail included here is compelling and specific in its use of descriptive language and the outlining of potential relationships between types of movement and experience. On the other hand, the book, though not particularly lengthy, is nonetheless exceptionally dense and warrants a close-read to fully benefit from its presented concepts. A late night coffee-table book this is not. After the updated forward and an older preface to the second edition, the book details the perspectives of dancers and observers being affected differently in their experience of dance. It then goes on to bridge dance into a phenomenological narrative while also detailing the components of force. Abstraction, expression, dynamic line, rhythm, the imaginative space of dance, and the educational implications of dance composition and dance as an art form flesh out the author’s perspective on the embodied experience of movement. An extensive section of notes and a bibliography included in the end of the book might also be useful for research applications if looking into the influences on the original work. To say that The Phenomenology of Dance is an important entry in the broader scope of detailing body awareness, movement, and somatic experience is an understatement. Before this book, there was little to no conceptualization of movement from a serious philosophical standpoint. As a driving influence of further work in phenomenology, its contributions to practice in somatic psychology in particular is invaluable. For those practitioners of body and somatic psychotherapy unacquainted with the work, The Phenomenology of Dance is highly important as an early touchstone for thinking about what it’s like to experience movement and also what the basic elements of movement and dance are. In coming to a greater understanding of movement, Phenomenology continues to give readers a working framework for understanding the nature of movement. Although the book is by no means an easy read nor necessarily transparent even for those immediately acquainted with somatic psychology, readers will find in the book a wealth of enriching perspective on the most basic elements of movement, both as a dancer and as an observer of others. It discusses movement in a way closely resembling the ways somatic psychotherapists might analyze and interpret, for example, Reichian conceptions of character armor. Its applications and influence are quite relevant today, and as a call towards a less structured interpretation of movement in how it relates to the human experience might, for many readers, resonate deeply with their practice and clinical methodology. Maxine Sheets-Johnstone, PhD, is an independent scholar and courtesy professor of philosophy at the University of Oregon. Before completing her doctorate, she worked as a dancer and choreographer. In addition to authoring articles in over seventy art, humanities, and science journals, she has authored nine books, including The Roots of Thinking, The Primacy of Movement, and The Corporeal Turn. She has lectured around the world about dance, movement, and on how to consider them philosophically. Find us digitally @ www.issuu.com/SomaticPsychotherapyToday Somatic Psychotherapy Today | Fall 2015 | Volume 5 Number 4 | page 120
The Phenomenology of Dance: Fiftieth Anniversary Edition A conversation with Maxine Sheets-Johnstone Editor’s Note: I think a question on many of our colleague’s minds is, “Why do therapists write books in the first place, and how do they make the time?“ Maxine Sheets-Johnstone’s first book, The Phenomenology of Dance, came out in the mid 1960’s and was pioneering in terms of its subject matter. Her book publications also include the following: Illuminating Dance: Philosophical Explorations; the “roots” trilogy–The Roots of Thinking; The Roots of Power: Animate Form and Gendered Bodies; and The Roots of Morality; Giving the Body Its Due; The Primacy of Movement; and The Corporeal Turn: An Interdisciplinary Reader. With the publication of the 50th Anniversary Edition of The Phenomenology of Dance now available, SPT asked Michael Fiorni to speak with Maxine to learn more about her writing process. We begin the conversation with Maxine sharing why she wrote The Phenomenology of Dance in the first place. Somatic Psychotherapy Today | Fall 2015 | Volume 5 Number 4 | page 121
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Self-Regulation “A number of tech
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Stephen W. Porges PhD is Distinguis
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An answer came in 2010 in the form
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To sum up in the word of the surviv
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What is EFT? EFT or tapping, develo
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Table One: Evaluation Tools Used Ev
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