An Existential – Humanistic Approach to Movement: An East/West Dialogue

Abstract

This article considers existential-humanistic (EH) psychotherapy in relation to concepts in ­Chinese culture and shows how those approaches are experienced in the body. An embodied form of EH group dance movement therapy called “KinAesthetic Imagining” can bridge West and Eastern philosophies through symbolic nonverbal communication. In the following article, the philosophical foundation and training of KinAesthetic Imagining is described. It is followed by a dialogue and observations from a student from China whose background in existential philosophy, and Yalom group therapy gave her a philosophical perspective on becoming embodied. She describes her own experience of a theme central to existential psychotherapy, death, and rebirth and how she experienced this in her body in a new and profound way.

Keywords

• existential-humanistic therapy
• embodiment
• existential dance movement therapy
• life and death education
• group psychotherapy
• kinaesthetic imagining