Pittsburgh Dance Movement Therapy
Authentic Movement and Movement Repatterning Sessions
Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) is the psychotherapeutic use of movement and dance to promote emotional, social, cognitive, and physical well-being. Grounded in the belief that the body and mind are interconnected, DMT offers a unique therapeutic approach that integrates movement, creativity, and verbal processing to support individuals on their healing journey.
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Through guided movement experiences, clients are invited to explore and express their thoughts, feelings, and experiences non-verbally, allowing for deeper insight, self-discovery, and emotional release. DMT can be beneficial for a wide range of populations, including those struggling with trauma, mental health challenges, chronic pain, or simply seeking greater self-awareness and personal growth. By engaging the body in therapeutic movement practices, DMT offers a holistic pathway to healing, transformation, and empowerment.
Why Dance Movement Therapy?
We offer two distinct DMT services designed to foster self-awareness, emotional expression, and holistic well-being through movement. Under the umbrella of Movement Analysis, our Movement Repatterning Sessions provide clients with personalized guidance to explore and address movement patterns that may be contributing to physical discomfort, emotional blocks, or repetitive behaviors. Through skilled observation and therapeutic interventions, clients are supported in rewiring and reprogramming their movement habits for greater ease, freedom, and vitality. In contrast, our
Authentic Movement Sessions offer a space for clients to engage in self-directed, spontaneous movement exploration, facilitated by a trained therapist. These sessions provide a safe and supportive environment for clients to tap into their inner wisdom, express their authentic selves, and deepen their connection to body, mind, and spirit. Whether seeking to release tension, cultivate mindfulness, or access deeper layers of self-expression, our Dance Movement Therapy services offer a dynamic and transformative approach to holistic healing and personal growth.
Meet Our Dance Movement Therapist
Ann-Michele Corbi Potvin
Ann-Michele is a Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist and Graduate Laban-Certified Movement Analyst. She completed her graduate training at Columbia College Chicago in 2005 and has been working as a dance/movement therapist and movement practitioner ever since.
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Deeply passionate about the body/mind connection and somatic ways of knowing and experiencing, she is grateful to support clients in strengthening their self-awareness, self-expression, self-acceptance, and inner knowing. As a person living with chronic pain since early adolescence, Ann-Michele is invested in utilizing her skills as a movement analyst to support clients in increasing sufficiency in their movement patterns and decreasing their experience of suffering.
MA, LPC, BC-DMT, GL-CMA, RYT 200
Licensed Professional Counselor, Dance Movement Therapist, Graduate Laban-Certified Movement Analyst, and Yoga Instructor
Movement Repatterning Sessions
Retrain Movement Habits For Pain Relief
These individualized sessions are designed to focus on areas of painful or inefficient movement in order to increase physical and emotional health and promote/maintain healthy movement throughout your life.
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Movement Repatterning focuses on repatterning developmental movement patterns to optimize ease of movement and self-expression. Just as we go through different stages of brain development in childhood, we also go through developmental movement stages. Sometimes, through the complexity of life events, insufficient movement patterns may develop along the way. Utilizing the frameworks of Bartenieff Fundamentals and Laban Movement Analysis, we can work together to re-train the insufficient movement patterns that may have developed for you.
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For example, it is common for adults who experienced childhood emotional trauma to struggle with chronic lower back pain as a result of holding tension and stress in their body. After an initial holistic assessment, Ann-Michele can tailor a movement repatterning program that addresses both the physical and emotional aspects of the client's pain. They may be guided through movement re-education exercises to improve body awareness, such as Bartenieff heel rock exercises and yield & push/reach & pull exercises. These exercises help the client learn to move more mindfully and efficiently, reducing strain on the lower back and promoting better alignment and movement patterns.
Authentic Movement Sessions
Get In Touch With Your Inner Self
These sessions are aimed at tapping into our inner most selves. By honoring the unique expression of each individual's inner landscape, authentic movement sessions promote healing, personal growth, and a deeper connection to self and others. The ultimate goal is to cultivate a sense of authenticity, presence, and wholeness that can be carried into all aspects of life.
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Authentic Movement is a movement form first developed in the 1950's as a self-directed, spontaneous movement exploration, guided by inner impulses, sensations, and emotions. Rooted in the principles of Jungian psychology and somatic experiencing, authentic movement provides a safe and supportive space for individuals to tap into their inner wisdom, express their authentic selves, and deepen their connection to body, mind, and spirit.
By connecting to the deep internal impulse to move, the patient gains access to emotional and mental content that may be impacting daily living but has not yet been intentionally encountered or addressed. Ann-Michele, acting as the authentic movement facilitator, serves as a non-judgmental witness, providing a safe container for movement exploration as well as serving a supportive guide for processing any emotional content that surfaces.