Adlerian dance therapy

1. Introduction

Version followed: Liljan Espenak's dance therapy as she placed it within Adlerian (Individual) psychology in her Individual Psychologist papers (1966, 1970) and her textbook Dance Therapy: Theory and Application (Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 1981; German edition 1985), using the book's own chapter structure (psychomotor therapy; diagnosis and evaluation; treatment phase 1, restructuring; treatment phase 2, integration; expressive movement in group interaction) as the frame. [source: Internet Archive record of the 1981 book] Verified: the 1981 book's publisher, length, chapter titles and flap description (Internet Archive record); the 1966 paper's citation, Individual Psychologist 4(1), 8–9 (AdlerPedia); the author and date of the Australasian test comparison (David Eckel, DTAA journal, 2003); the use of Espenak's movement diagnostic tests in a recent Korean study, whose abstract counts them as seven [uncertain: single secondary source for the count]; and the US credential route (ADTA/DMTCB). The content of the 1966 and 1970 papers, the names and items of Espenak's tests, her exercise steps, and how she tied them to Adlerian concepts are not documented in the sources used and remain [uncertain]. Every Steps section below is the writer's own [synthesis], not Espenak's protocol; check the 1970 paper and the 1981 book before relying on any procedural detail.

What it is. Liljan Espenak (1905–1988) trained as a modern dancer under Mary Wigman, performed and choreographed in Berlin, London, Paris and the United States, ran the Espenak School in New York, and later worked as a dance therapist with physically and intellectually disabled children and adults. From 1965 to 1981 she headed the Creative Arts Department at New York Medical College's Mental Retardation Institute and taught a graduate-level dance therapy programme there. [source: NYPL Espenak papers finding aid; NYPL Espenak dance therapy collection record] She held the ADTR credential of the American Dance Therapy Association. [source: NYPL "The walk as expression of body image" record] She is counted among the founding pioneers of dance therapy. [source: Bender 2020, table of contents; Lee 1994 abstract]

This is one pioneer's approach, not a manualised therapy with a current training institute. It belongs to the early, eclectic period of American dance/movement therapy. Its link to Adler is shown by the titles of her papers in the Adlerian journal Individual Psychologist: one on the role of dance therapy in Adlerian psychology (1966), and one presenting "movement diagnosis tests" as "an aid in detecting the life style" (1970). [source: AdlerPedia records 15360, 15361] Life style is the Adlerian term for a person's characteristic, largely unconscious pattern of goals and ways of moving toward them.

Core idea of change (as far as sources show). Movement reveals personality, so a person's habitual way of moving, including how they walk, can be read for their life style. [source: AdlerPedia 15361; NYPL walk film record] The 1981 book's flap says Espenak concentrates on techniques that integrate psychology and dance to produce specific, measurable behavioural changes, harnessing emotions that respond to movement, rhythm, music and improvisation. [source: Internet Archive record, flap description] Treatment works in the body first: constricted or weak areas are loosened, relaxed and strengthened. Emotion is then warmed up and widened through imagery-led movement, and inner states are finally expressed through improvisation and dramatic enactment. [source: Lee 1994 abstract, a secondary summary] The German edition's subtitle frames the aim as personality development through creative self-expression. [source: Koch 2020, reference list] The Adlerian fit rests on Adler's own language: he described the life style as a movement through life (Lebensbewegung) and saw restricted movement in all neurotic symptoms. [source: Heisterkamp 2017, citing Adler 1931] Social interest (Gemeinschaftsgefühl), which Adler introduced in 1908, treats humans as social beings whose aggression can be modulated by fellow feeling; the concept is multidimensional and its English translation is debated. [source: Johnson-Migalski et al. 2020] Exactly how Espenak tied each step to life style, social interest, inferiority feelings or encouragement is not documented in the sources used [uncertain].

2. Framework

Phases. Espenak's own book is organised as an overview (ch. 1), psychomotor therapy (ch. 2), diagnosis and evaluation (ch. 3), then two treatment phases: phase 1, restructuring (ch. 4), and phase 2, integration (ch. 5). Further chapters cover expressive movement in group interaction (ch. 6), specialised aspects of treatment (chs. 7–8) and training for dance therapists (ch. 9). [source: Internet Archive record, table of contents] What each chapter prescribes is not summarised in the sources used [uncertain]. A secondary source groups the East Coast pioneers (Chace, Evan, Espenak) under three shared stages (body action, emotional warm-up, improvisation) and credits Espenak specifically with Movement Diagnostic Tests used to unify mind and body, with a focus on strengthening specific body parts. [source: Lee 1994 abstract] The table below follows Lee's three stages after diagnosis. Reading body action as Espenak's restructuring phase, and emotional warm-up plus improvisation as her integration phase, is the writer's inference from the chapter titles; no source states it. [synthesis] [uncertain]

Session count and format. Espenak's own session count or session template is not documented in the sources used [uncertain]. She worked with both children and adults, including people with physical and intellectual disabilities, in a hospital-linked institute [source: NYPL finding aid; NYPL collection record], and her book gives a chapter to expressive movement in group interaction, so both individual and group formats belong to the method. [source: Internet Archive record, table of contents] A recent Korean study with children with Williams syndrome used Espenak's movement diagnostic tests (seven, by its count [uncertain: single secondary source]) to find each child's problem areas, then gave individually tailored dance movement therapy in 40 weekly 50-minute sessions. [source: KCI record 2157341, abstract] A workable default is weekly 45–60-minute individual or small-group sessions, with diagnosis repeated at intervals to track change. [synthesis] Each session follows warm-up (body action), theme development (emotional warm-up or improvisation) and closure with verbal integration. [synthesis, consistent with Lee 1994]

Indications and contraindications. Koch reports that Espenak's textbook gives the earliest explicit list of indications and contraindications in dance therapy. [source: Koch 2020] Espenak held that dance therapy is contraindicated for exhibitionist and voyeuristic patients, because the physical side could strengthen the neurosis and other non-verbal therapies would work better and faster. [source: Koch 2020, paraphrasing Espenak 1985] She also considered it unsuitable for severely impaired psychotic patients. Koch, a current researcher, disagrees with that view. [source: Koch 2020] Today, decide on suitability case by case with the client's psychiatric team, not by Espenak's 1980s categories alone. [synthesis]

Professional frame. The method is a dance/movement therapy, so deliver it only with dance/movement therapy training. A psychotherapist without that training should not run the diagnostic tests or the body-action and improvisation phases; refer the client or co-work with a qualified dance/movement therapist. [synthesis] In the US the credential is awarded at graduate level. A master's degree from an ADTA-approved programme, or a master's degree plus the Alternate Route (dance/movement therapy training from qualified teachers, movement observation and assessment, psychology coursework, fieldwork, an internship and dance experience), leads to the entry-level R-DMT awarded by the Dance/Movement Therapy Certification Board (DMTCB). The advanced BC-DMT requires the R-DMT plus further requirements and experience and qualifies the holder to train and supervise others and to practise privately. DMTCB also runs recertification with continuing-education requirements. [source: ADTA, Become a dance/movement therapist; ADTA, DMTCB page] Espenak herself held the earlier ADTR credential. [source: NYPL walk film record] In the UK, look for membership of the Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy (ADMP UK); elsewhere, the national dance therapy association. [uncertain: UK and other national rules] Adlerian theory training through Adlerian societies helps with the life-style side, but no current training programme specifically in "Adlerian dance therapy" was found. [uncertain]

3. Guiding principles

• Movement expresses personality. Habitual movement, including the walk, is read as a window on the person's style of living. Practical meaning: observe before you intervene, and write down what you see in plain movement terms before you interpret it. [source: AdlerPedia 15361; NYPL walk film record]
• Diagnosis serves treatment. The 1970 paper ties the tests to the "inherent laws governing their use in treatment", and the 1981 book aims at specific, measurable behavioural change. Practical meaning: every observation should lead to a treatment choice, such as which body area to strengthen or which quality to widen, and to a change you can observe again later. [source: AdlerPedia 15361; Lee 1994; Internet Archive record, flap description]
• Work from the body outward. Start with concrete physical work on constricted or weak areas before asking for emotional expression. Practical meaning: begin each course and each session with body action, not with feeling-laden themes. [source: Lee 1994]
• Widen the repertoire. Change shows as new movement possibilities. Practical meaning: track which movement qualities appear, not only what the client says. [source: Lee 1994]
• Creative self-expression builds personality. Practical meaning: give clients room to make their own movement, not only copy yours. [source: Koch 2020, citing Espenak 1985 title]
• Respect indications. Practical meaning: screen before starting, and do not use display-centred movement work with clients for whom being watched or watching is part of the problem. [source: Koch 2020; synthesis]
• Holism and movement (Adlerian). Adler described the life style as a movement through life (Lebensbewegung), saw restricted movement in neurotic symptoms, and wrote that he saw an advantage in not interrupting a patient's movements. Practical meaning: let movement run its course before commenting, then link what happened to the client's goals and relationships outside the room. [source: Heisterkamp 2017, citing Adler 1931 and 1933; whether Espenak drew on these passages is uncertain]
• Encouragement over correction. This is general Adlerian practice; whether Espenak framed her stance this way is [uncertain]. Practical meaning: reflect strengths in the client's movement before naming limits. [synthesis]
• Consent and safety first. The Espenak sources do not state this principle; current practice requires it. Practical meaning: ask explicitly before any touch, keep the space safe, and let the client stop at any time. [synthesis]

4. Intervention inventory

The sources name these interventions, but none of them describes the steps in detail. Espenak's own test items and exercises are in her 1970 paper and 1981 book and are not documented in the sources used [uncertain]. No published step-by-step protocol was found, so each Steps section below is a workable procedure written by the writer [synthesis] around the purpose the sources give. None of it is Espenak's wording or protocol. Items 4.8 to 4.10 are not in the sources at all; they are safety and integration procedures added for current practice. [synthesis]

4.1 Movement diagnosis tests (life-style assessment)

• Purpose / when: Use at intake and at review points to identify movement patterns that express the client's life style, and to choose treatment targets, especially body areas to strengthen. [source: AdlerPedia 15361; Lee 1994] The 1981 book gives diagnosis and evaluation its own chapter, placed before the two treatment phases. [source: Internet Archive record, table of contents] A Korean study describes the battery as seven movement diagnostic tests and used it to find each child's specific problem areas before individualised treatment; it does not name the tests, and the count rests on this one source [uncertain]. [source: KCI record 2157341, abstract] David Eckel (DTAA journal, 2003) weighed the Espenak tests for children in special education against Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) and the Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP). He "conservatively" supported using the Espenak tests and LMA, and was more confident about the KMP. [source: DTAA, Eckel 2003 abstract]
• Steps: (1) Get consent for a movement assessment, and explain what will be observed and that it is not a test of skill. (2) Use the test battery from Espenak's 1970 paper or 1981 book (ch. 3) if you have it; the test names and items are not documented in the sources used and are not reproduced or reconstructed here. [uncertain] (3) Without the original items, run a structured observation instead. Ask for simple everyday actions (standing, walking, reaching, sitting down and getting up) and a short free movement. Record body parts used and held, use of space, tempo, force, flow and how the client relates to you while moving. Do not call this Espenak's test. [synthesis] (4) Write descriptive notes first and interpretations second. Form a tentative life-style hypothesis, such as "moves to stay unnoticed" or "pushes to be first", and test it against the client's history and early recollections if you work in an Adlerian way. [synthesis] (5) Turn findings into two or three treatment targets that you can observe again at review. [synthesis]
• Example language (illustrative): "I'm going to ask you to do some ordinary movements, like walking across the room and reaching up. There's no right way. I'm noticing how you move, not grading it, and you can skip anything."
• Watch for: Self-consciousness at being watched; pain or mobility limits (adapt, don't push). No reliability or validity data for the tests are published in the sources used [uncertain]. Eckel's support was explicitly conservative, and the Korean study measured outcomes with Laban Movement Analysis by a certified analyst rather than with the Espenak tests. [source: DTAA, Eckel 2003 abstract; KCI record 2157341] So never use findings as diagnostic evidence of a disorder or of abuse; use them only as a working hypothesis for treatment. [synthesis] Working: Your hypothesis predicts how the client moves in later sessions and helps choose interventions.

4.2 Walk observation

• Purpose / when: The walk is a quick, everyday expression of body image and personality. Espenak taught general principles for analysing walks and demonstrated them on ten individuals. [source: NYPL "The walk as expression of body image" record] Use it at intake, and to show change over time.
• Steps (synthesis; Espenak's own walk principles are not documented in the sources used): (1) Ask the client to walk naturally across the room several times, at their own pace. (2) Note the lead body part, head and gaze, arm swing, stride length, weight (heavy or light), tempo, direction (straight or wandering) and how the walk changes when the client knows you are watching. (3) Optionally invite variations, such as walking faster, slower, or "as on a good day" and "as on a bad day". (4) Share one or two neutral observations and ask what fits.
• Example language (illustrative): "When you walk, your head leads and your shoulders come up a little. Does that feel familiar? What's it like to walk with your weight lower?"
• Watch for: Mobility aids, gait disorders and fall risk (see 4.10); shame about appearance. Working: The client recognises the pattern as theirs and can try an alternative.

4.3 Body action: locate, loosen and relax constricted areas

• Purpose / when: First treatment phase: help the client recognise, loosen and relax constricted body parts, and make initial contact between client and therapist. [source: Lee 1994]
• Steps (synthesis): (1) Short guided body scan while standing or seated, naming areas of holding found in 4.1. (2) Work one area at a time with movement the client can control, such as shaking out the hands, rolling the shoulders, swinging the arms and letting the jaw release. (3) Alternate tension and release so the client feels the difference. (4) Pair the work with breath, and keep the pace slow. (5) Ask what the client notices after each sequence.
• Example language (illustrative): "Squeeze your shoulders up to your ears, hold, and let them drop. Again, this time letting them drop a bit further. What changed?"
• Watch for: Pain, dizziness, dissociation (glazed look, loss of contact) and emotional flooding when long-held tension releases; slow down or ground the client (feet on floor, eyes open, name objects in room). [synthesis] Working: The client can locate and release tension on request, and contact with you becomes easier.

4.4 Strengthening specific body parts

• Purpose / when: After loosening, build strength and support in the body areas the diagnosis shows as weak or under-used. This was Espenak's specific emphasis. [source: Lee 1994]
• Steps (synthesis): (1) Choose a target, such as the legs and grounding, the back and uprightness, or the arms and reaching or pushing. (2) Use simple, graded movement against the floor, a wall or the client's own resistance, such as pressing into the floor, pushing a wall or stamping in rhythm. (3) Repeat in short sets, then let the client turn the movement into their own phrase. (4) Link the felt strength to a life situation in a sentence or two.
• Example language (illustrative): "Press your feet into the floor as if you're making it hold you up. Now take a step with that same weight. What does standing your ground feel like in your body?"
• Watch for: Over-exertion, joint pain, heart or breathing problems; get medical clearance for frail or physically disabled clients. Never treat the work as a fitness target. [synthesis] Working: Steadier posture and stronger movement in the target area, and the client starts using it spontaneously.

4.5 Emotional warm-up (imagery-led movement)

• Purpose / when: Second phase: stimulate imagination, let emotion show in movement, draw out latent movement and widen the movement repertoire. [source: Lee 1994]
• Steps (synthesis): (1) Offer an image or quality, such as walking through deep sand, being pulled by a string, a balloon filling or a heavy stone. (2) Let the client explore it with you moving alongside at first, then alone. (3) Move to contrasting qualities: light and strong, quick and sustained, direct and wandering. (4) Ask which quality felt familiar and which felt new, and what feeling came with each. (5) Repeat the new qualities in later sessions until they feel available.
• Example language (illustrative): "Imagine the air is thick like honey and move through it. Now it turns to light wind. Which one is more you? Which one surprised you?"
• Watch for: Images that trigger trauma memories (water, being trapped, being pulled); let the client choose or veto images. Working: The client's movement range widens and emotions can be named.

4.6 Improvisation and dramatic enactment

• Purpose / when: Third, deeper phase: express inner emotional states physically through dramatic enactment. [source: Lee 1994] Use it only once the client can regulate the arousal raised in 4.3 to 4.5.
• Steps (synthesis): (1) Agree a theme with the client, such as a current conflict, a feeling, or a scene from an early memory if you work in an Adlerian way. (2) Set limits for time, space and touch (see 4.9). (3) Let the client improvise while you witness, mirror or take a role they assign. (4) Stop at a natural end or at the agreed time, and come out of role clearly with a shake-out and a change of place. (5) Talk it through: what happened, what the client wanted in the scene, and how that compares with everyday life.
• Example language (illustrative): "Show me, without words, what happens in you when your boss criticises you. I'll watch. You can stop whenever you want, just step out of the space."
• Watch for: Overwhelm, re-experiencing, aggression that gets out of control, and clients for whom being watched is the problem (see contraindications in section 2). [source: Koch 2020; synthesis] Working: Feelings are shown and then put into words, and the client draws a link to their goals or relationships.

4.7 Alternative body images

• Purpose / when: Within improvisation, let the client try a different way of inhabiting the body, as an alternative to the habitual body image. [source: Lee 1994; NYPL walk film record on walk and body image]
• Steps (synthesis): (1) Name the habitual image from 4.1 or 4.2, such as small, heavy or rushing. (2) Invite the client to choose an alternative they would like to try, such as tall, grounded or unhurried. (3) Let them walk and move as that image for a few minutes. (4) Compare how the two feel, and how other people might respond to each. (5) Choose one small element to practise between sessions.
• Example language (illustrative): "You've shown me the 'make myself small' walk. What's a walk you'd like to try out? Take it for a spin. How do people around you react to this one?"
• Watch for: Body-image distress, eating-disorder triggers, and comparisons with "ideal" bodies; keep the focus on how it feels, not how it looks. [synthesis] Working: The client can switch on request and reports trying the new way outside sessions.

4.8 Verbal integration and life-style linking (synthesis)

• Purpose / when: At the end of each session, connect what happened in movement to the client's goals and relationships. Espenak's second treatment phase is titled integration [source: Internet Archive record, table of contents]; its content is not documented in the sources used, so the procedure below is the writer's. [synthesis] [uncertain] This linking step is what makes the work Adlerian rather than movement alone. [synthesis]
• Steps: (1) Ask what the client noticed in their body. (2) Offer one tentative observation linking the movement to their way of dealing with life. (3) Ask whether it fits. (4) Agree one small experiment for the week.
• Example language (illustrative): "I wonder if keeping your arms close is a way of staying safe from being judged. Does that fit anything in your week?"
• Watch for: Interpretations offered too early or as fact. Working: The client corrects or extends your hypothesis in their own words.

4.9 Touch consent protocol (synthesis)

• Purpose / when: Before any physical contact, including partner work, hands-on support for balance, and mirroring at close range. The sources give no touch protocol, so this is required current practice. [synthesis]
• Steps: (1) At intake, ask about touch preferences, trauma history, cultural and religious norms, and body areas that are off limits. (2) Before each touch, name the purpose and the exact contact ("palm to palm", "my hand on your shoulder blade"), ask, and wait for a clear yes. (3) Offer a no-touch alternative every time, such as using a wall, a ball or a scarf, or mirroring at a distance. (4) Agree a stop signal (word or gesture) that works even mid-movement. (5) Re-check consent when the activity changes, and debrief afterwards. (6) Never touch genitals, breasts or buttocks, and never use sexual or sensual touch. With children, use only touch that is necessary for safety or support, in the open, and in line with your service's policy.
• Example language (illustrative): "For this one I could put my hand flat on your back so you can push into it. Or you can push against the wall instead. Either is fine, and you can say 'stop' anytime."
• Watch for: Freezing, compliance without real agreement, holding the breath, looking away. Treat these as a no. Working: The client uses the stop signal or opt-out freely and without apologising.

4.10 Space and fall safety (synthesis)

• Purpose / when: Every session, especially with clients who have physical disabilities, balance problems, dizziness, or medication or alcohol effects, and in groups. Espenak worked with physically disabled children and adults. [source: NYPL finding aid] The sources give no safety procedure. [synthesis]
• Steps: (1) Before the session, clear the floor, check it is non-slip and dry, remove sharp-edged furniture or pad it, and check ventilation and that exits are free. (2) Ask about health, mobility, pain, pregnancy, recent injury and medication that affects balance; get medical clearance where needed. (3) Agree footwear: bare feet or non-slip socks, no socks alone on smooth floors. (4) Offer chair-based versions of every exercise. (5) Spin, closed-eye and fast work only for clients who are steady, at slow build-up, with a spotter or wall nearby. (6) In groups, set the space per person and the direction of travel, and stop everyone with an agreed signal. (7) Have a first-aid plan and record any incident.
• Example language (illustrative): "If you get dizzy, just sit down or touch the wall. You don't need to ask."
• Watch for: Pallor, breathlessness, unsteadiness, pain. Working: No incidents, and the client moves with more confidence.

4.11 Expressive movement in group interaction

• Purpose / when: Espenak's book gives a whole chapter to expressive movement in group interaction [source: Internet Archive record, table of contents]; its content is not documented in the sources used [uncertain]. Use group work once members can regulate themselves in individual or small-group body action, to practise cooperating, leading and following. Linking it to Adlerian social interest is the writer's reading, not a confirmed Espenak claim. [synthesis]
• Steps (synthesis; Espenak's own procedure is not documented in the sources used): (1) Screen members individually (see section 2 contraindications and 4.10). (2) Open in a circle with a simple shared warm-up; one member leads a movement, the group follows, and leadership passes round. (3) Pair work at a distance: one partner moves, the other mirrors, then swap. Use touch only under 4.9. (4) Build a short group improvisation on an agreed theme, such as building a shared rhythm or moving from separate to joined. (5) Close in the circle: each member names one moment when they contributed to the group and one when they received from it.
• Example language (illustrative): "Let's pass the lead round the circle. When it's your turn, give us any movement and we'll follow. You can also pass."
• Watch for: One member dominating, someone left out, comments on other people's bodies, collisions. Members who freeze when watched can work side by side rather than in the centre. [synthesis] Working: Members adapt to each other, take and give the lead, and can name how they connected with the group.

Children and people with intellectual disability (synthesis)

Espenak's institutional work was largely with this group. [source: NYPL collection record; NYPL finding aid] When you adapt the methods above: get carers' consent and the child's own assent, and keep checking assent through behaviour. Use shorter tasks, concrete images and visual cues, and involve carers in agreeing goals. Follow safeguarding and mandatory-reporting duties. A child's movement or play is never evidence of abuse on its own. Report what is disclosed or observed through your service's safeguarding procedure. [synthesis]

5. Handling problems

The sources address only suitability, through Espenak's contraindications as reported by Koch. Everything else in this section is the writer's synthesis. [synthesis unless tagged]

• Wrong client for the method. Espenak judged dance therapy contraindicated for exhibitionist and voyeuristic patients, and unsuitable for severely impaired psychotic patients. [source: Koch 2020] Response: For clients whose problem involves display or watching, choose a non-movement or less display-centred modality, as Espenak advised. For psychosis, follow current evidence and the treating team; current researchers do not exclude it as a blanket rule. [source: Koch 2020; synthesis] The practitioners surveyed by Koch flagged method-level rather than diagnosis-level cautions: free improvisation for psychoses, dementia and autism (structured forms can be adapted); inner focus for eating disorders and schizophrenia, and prolonged eyes-closed relaxation in eating disorders; performance pressure, and both under- and over-structuring; and direct work with unconscious material in psychosis, dementia, trauma, forensic and neurologically injured clients. Apply these to the improvisation (4.6) and imagery (4.5) work in particular. [source: Koch 2020]
• Self-consciousness and refusal to move. Response: Start seated with small movements, move alongside rather than watching, lower the lights or turn sideways, and skip the walk observation until trust grows. Treat the refusal itself as information about the life style and explore it gently in words. [synthesis]
• Stuck in the habitual pattern. The client repeats the same small range whatever the image. Response: Make the contrast bigger and more concrete: use props such as an elastic band, a ball or a wall, give rhythm with a drum or music, mirror the pattern back and then exaggerate it, and ask what the pattern protects. [synthesis]
• Resistance as a life-style move. Lateness, joking or "doing it wrong" can serve a goal such as avoiding failure or keeping control. Response: Name it with curiosity, not as a fault, and offer choice so control is shared. [synthesis; Adlerian reading, uncertain as to Espenak's own view]
• Overwhelm, flooding or dissociation in body action or improvisation. Response: Stop the exercise, ground the client (feet on floor, eyes open, name five things they can see, slow exhale), reduce intensity next time, and return to phase 1 work. Do not push catharsis. If trauma is central, combine with or refer to trauma-focused treatment. [synthesis]
• Rupture over touch or feeling exposed. Response: Stop at once, acknowledge it without defending yourself, ask what happened, re-agree touch rules (or drop touch entirely), and record it. Repair openly in the next session. [synthesis]
• Over-interpretation. The therapist reads too much into movement. Response: Keep notes descriptive. Offer hypotheses tentatively and let the client accept or reject them. Never state a diagnosis, or a conclusion about abuse, from movement tests whose reliability and validity are not established in the sources. [synthesis; DTAA study's cautious conclusion]
• Non-adherence to between-session practice. Response: Shrink the task to one tiny movement in a daily routine, such as walking to the bus with weight in the heels. Check it at the start of the next session and treat what got in the way as material. [synthesis]
• Physical incidents and medical limits. The client gets dizzy, falls, has pain, or is physically disabled. Response: Follow 4.10, stop and assess, give first aid, record it and, where needed, get medical review before continuing. Offer chair-based versions. [synthesis]
• Group problems. One member dominates, collisions happen, or someone is watched uncomfortably. Response: Structure the space and turns, use circle formats, give everyone the right to sit out, and set a rule that no one comments on another person's body. [synthesis]
• Lack of primary material. Espenak's test items and exercises are not documented in the sources used [uncertain]. Response: Do not present improvised tests as "Espenak's". Read the 1970 paper and the 1981 book before claiming fidelity to the method. The book is held in libraries and as a restricted lending copy at the Internet Archive, Eckel's 2003 comparison is listed on the DTAA site, and her trainee readings are held at the New York Public Library. [source: Internet Archive record; DTAA Eckel listing; NYPL collection record; synthesis]

Sources

Web pages:

• AdlerPedia: Espenak (1966), The role of dance therapy in Adlerian psychology, catalogue record only
• AdlerPedia: Espenak (1970), Movement diagnosis tests and the inherent laws governing their use in treatment: an aid in detecting the life style, catalogue record only
• Texas A&M library catalogue: Espenak, Dance therapy: theory and application (1981)
• NYPL Archives: Liljan Espenak papers, scope and arrangement
• NYPL Research Catalog: Liljan Espenak dance therapy collection
• NYPL Digital Collections: The walk as expression of body image (Espenak, c. 1986, video), catalogue record
• Koch SC (2020), Indications and contraindications in dance movement therapy: learning from practitioners' experience, GMS Journal of Arts Therapies 2:Doc02
• Lee Si-eun (1994), The theoretical study methodology of dance movement therapy, MA thesis, Ewha Womans University, abstract only
• DTAA: Movement Assessment for Children with Special Needs, David Eckel, DTAA journal 2(4), 2003, pp. 17–22, abstract (author confirmed on the DTAA David Eckel listing)
• Bender S (2020), Grundlagen der Tanztherapie, Psychosozial-Verlag, reading sample, table of contents only

Further web pages (October 2026 verification):

• Internet Archive: Espenak, Dance therapy: theory and application (1981), record, table of contents and flap description (restricted lending copy)
• KCI record 2157341: dance movement therapy for children with Williams syndrome using Espenak's movement diagnostic tests, abstract only; authors and year not shown on the page [uncertain]
• ADTA: Become a dance/movement therapist
• ADTA: Dance/Movement Therapy Certification Board (DMTCB)
• ADTA: What is dance/movement therapy (PDF)
• Heisterkamp G (2017), Von der Kooperation zur Mit-Bewegung, Zeitschrift für freie psychoanalytische Forschung und Individualpsychologie 4(2)
• Johnson-Migalski L, Huo D, Sesso-Osburn F (2020), Social interest, in Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, Springer

Books and papers cited (their content is cited only through the pages above [uncertain]):

• Espenak L (1966). The role of dance therapy in Adlerian psychology. Individual Psychologist 4(1), 8–9.
• Espenak L (1970). Movement diagnosis tests and the inherent laws governing their use in treatment: an aid in detecting the life style. Individual Psychologist 7(1), 8–13.
• Espenak L (1981). Dance Therapy: Theory and Application. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
• Espenak L (1985). Tanztherapie – durch kreativen Selbstausdruck zur Persönlichkeitsentwicklung. Dortmund: Sanduhr (as cited by Koch 2020).
• Bender S (2020). Grundlagen der Tanztherapie: Geschichte, Menschenbild, Methoden. Gießen: Psychosozial-Verlag, section 3.4 on Espenak.