The Association of Dance Therapists (International) was set up in 1964 at the suggestion of a group of London doctors to promote the use of Dance and Movement as Therapy within the NHS. Our first distance learning Diploma course was set up in London supported by weekly workshops at the Dance Centre in Covent Garden. This Course was designed primarily for Occupational Therapists to help them increase the use of dance within their work.

The School of Dance Therapy' has been set up specifically to address non-psychiatric issues in the community.

The doctors soon urged us, however, to invite dancers and dance teachers to join our group, because of the unique contribution it was rightly believed they could make in this field - working under medical supervision and sharing expertise with other staff in the workplace.

There soon began a series of significant achievements on the part of our Diploma holders: for example, Helen, a lady GP who went on to take charge of a residential home for heavily dependent elderly clients and, by the use of gentle movement-to-music, was able to significantly reduce the need for medication and give the clients new hope. Easton, a young psychiatric nurse who was an expert in jazz dance, was soon asked by doctors in a large London teaching hospital to give a daily class for new patients, not only to help them settle in, but to assist with assessing their needs. Several nurses in our group began giving daily 'Dance Therapy' sessions as part of their routine, and teachers were soon using Community Dance Therapy techniques for pupils in need of extra support.

Later, an initiative launched by the Association in St Petersburg, Russia resulted in a group of talented local dance teachers providing a new start in life to some of the all-too-numerous 'orphans of perestroika'. The methods which these teachers were able to develop after achieving our Diploma proved so successful that plans were put in place to extend the initial training programme to other cities in Russia. Currently the ADT (Int'l) initiative in Moscow is progressing well. A group of volunteers are studying the 'Working with Dance Therapy Diploma Course' and we hope will be joined by many more in the coming years.

For more information please choose one of the options below:

• Write to Denise Puttock, Director of Studies, The School of Dance Therapy, Penlee, Lindridge Road, TORQUAY, Devon, United Kingdom
• Telephone from the United Kingdom 01803 314366
• Telephone from Overseas +44 1803 314366
• Complete the form on our Contact page »