Analytic-structural dance therapy

1. Introduction

Version followed: Analytisch-Strukturelle Tanztherapie (AST) as developed by Günter Ammon in 1982 (first called "Humanstrukturelle Tanztherapie") within Dynamic Psychiatry, as described by Maria Ammon (2016) and practised and taught by Gertraud Reitz (1932–2024) and Hildegard Fink at the Munich institute of the Deutsche Akademie für Psychoanalyse (DAP) and the DGG. The founder is Günter Ammon; Reitz and Fink are later exponents and teachers, not the originators. [source: Fink 2024 obituary of Reitz; M. Ammon 2016; DAP-M Jahresprogramm 2025]

Sources include: Reitz's dates and biography, the 1982 origin of AST with Günter Ammon, Reitz's first dance therapy group (1986), the staff self-experience group (2007) and the DAP/DGG training history [source: Fink 2024]; the full chapter structure of Reitz 2011 and Rosky's introduction [source: Psychosozial-Verlag reading sample, pp. 5–14]; the editorial summary of Burbiel & Reitz 2016 [source: Thome, editorial, Dynamische Psychiatrie 2016, Heft 1–2, pp. 2–3]; the socialnet review of Reitz et al. 2011 (Margret Dörr, 17 April 2012); Maria Ammon's 2016 article (origin, session elements, indications, the 1987 evaluation, Körper-Ich, Ideal-Ich and Sozialenergie); and the 2025 DAP Munich programme (indication, weekend and Paestum formats). Not documented in openly available sources and therefore [uncertain] or [synthesis] below: the body text of Reitz's chapter (what happens in each of the four phases), the Reitz & Fink and Burbiel & Reitz 2016 articles, how the meditation is run, session length, frequency and group size, the dance-theatre procedure, and training hours.

AST is a psychoanalytic, group-based body psychotherapy, not a free-standing dance method. It is embedded in Ammon's Humanstrukturologie and Identitätstherapie and is delivered alongside verbal group and individual psychotherapy. Its core procedure is simple: the group is opened and closed with a shared meditation; each participant in turn dances spontaneously and alone in the centre of the group, with or without music or with drums; the group then gives verbal feedback; dances are video-recorded and later reviewed so the experience can be put into words and taken into the verbal therapies. [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 96–102]

How change is thought to happen: early (preverbal) injuries are stored in the "Körper-Ich" (body ego), the earliest ego structure, and are hard to reach with words. In the solo dance the person shows nonverbally their current state and their "Ideal-Ich" (ideal self); the group's feedback supplies "Sozialenergie" (interpersonal psychic energy that depends on the surrounding group), with which the "Real-Ich" (actual self) can change. Ammon calls the dance a "Königsweg" (royal road) to the unconscious, comparable to Freud's view of dreams. [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 92–98] The journal editorial introducing Burbiel & Reitz (2016) describes AST as a form of body-oriented group psychotherapy in which the group's many voices form a new resonance space that offers patients with early attachment trauma careful mirroring and regulation, and it names dancing in the centre of the group as a point of particular personal risk for the patient. [source: Thome, editorial, Dynamische Psychiatrie 49 (2016), Heft 1–2, pp. 2–3] A review of Reitz's chapter adds that much of what happens is atmospheric and only partly expressible in words, and that participants can experience and internalise new forms of relationship. [source: socialnet review, Dörr 2012]

Where it is used: Reitz trained in Ammon's training group after 1982, founded her first dance therapy group in 1986 and opened her house for dance weekends and milieu-therapy projects. [source: Fink 2024] The 2025 programme of the Munich DAP institute offers dance self-experience weekends (with an optional dance-theatre self-experience) and daily dance sessions at the yearly Paestum group-dynamic retreat. [source: DAP-M Jahresprogramm 2025] Use at the Dynamisch-Psychiatrische Klinik Menterschwaige is [uncertain]; the obituary names Reitz as a member of the clinic's advisory board. [source: Fink 2024]

2. Framework

The primary sources describe a session format and a four-phase therapeutic process. The content of the phase model is in Reitz's chapter in Kreative Therapien in der Psychoanalyse (2011). Its table of contents and Rosky's introduction are available as a publisher's sample; the chapter's sections are: the origins of dance therapy (p. 42), the central role of the group (p. 44), diagnosis and indication (p. 45), the therapist's task in dance therapy (p. 46), the therapeutic frame (p. 49), identity between development and resistance (p. 51), the four phases (pp. 51–58), a borderline case (pp. 59–78) and how dance therapy heals (p. 79). [source: Psychosozial-Verlag reading sample, table of contents] A published review confirms that the chapter covers the group's central role, group feedback, the therapist's tasks, the therapeutic frame, and processes of resistance, development and change through case vignettes, with dancing to self-chosen music. [source: socialnet review, Dörr 2012] The chapter's own wording of the phases is not reproduced here, so phase goals and transition criteria below are partly [uncertain] and partly [synthesis], as marked.

Professional frame. AST was developed by Günter Ammon in 1982 as a creative, nonverbal body therapy; Reitz began psychoanalytic training in 1972, the year the Munich DAP institute was founded. Until 2010 dance therapy training was part of the DAP's group concept; afterwards Reitz and colleagues built a dance therapy department (Fachbereich Tanztherapie) in the DGG (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gruppendynamik und Gruppenpsychotherapie) with a curriculum in AST and dance self-experience (Tanzselbsterfahrung). [source: Fink 2024] The 2025 DAP Munich programme describes AST as a group method on psychoanalytic and group-dynamic principles that integrates individual and group therapy. [source: DAP-M Jahresprogramm 2025] That the institute is state-recognised and trains psychotherapists in dance, music and theatre therapy within the World Association for Dynamic Psychiatry (WADP) is [uncertain]. AST-specific training hours, duration, prerequisites and certificate are not published in the sources used [uncertain: ask the DGG Fachbereich Tanztherapie directly]. AST presupposes psychoanalytic and group-analytic training plus personal dance self-experience; it should not be run by a clinician without that training and without an embedding verbal therapy [synthesis, consistent with M. Ammon 2016, p. 100]. "Tanztherapeut" is not a regulated title in Germany [uncertain]; outside Germany use the national dance movement therapy body (e.g. ADTA R-DMT/BC-DMT in the US, ADMP UK) for general DMT standards; they do not certify AST specifically [uncertain].

Context: the Dynamic Psychiatry movement. AST belongs to Günter Ammon's Dynamic Psychiatry movement (DAP, DGG, WADP), and nearly all published sources on it come from that movement's own journal, institutes and members. No independent, reliable report on controversies about the movement is cited here, and no claim about controversies is made either way [uncertain]. A clinician considering this training should consult independent sources (professional-body and chamber statements, press archives, the German psychoanalytic umbrella organisations) before committing. [synthesis]

Session format. Group setting in a protected room; opening group meditation → one participant at a time dances spontaneously alone in the middle of the group (music, silence or drums; the dancer chooses their clothing) → group verbal feedback → closing group meditation; routine video recording. The English summary describes the dance as "initiated and closed" by meditation and "followed by" feedback, so the exact place of the closing meditation relative to feedback is [uncertain]. [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 95–102; Thome editorial 2016 for the centre of the group] Group size, session length, frequency and total number of sessions are not published in the sources used [uncertain]; Reitz's chapter has a section on the therapeutic frame (p. 49) that may cover this. A case sub-heading reads "Die zweite Sitzung – 14 Tage später" (p. 76), suggesting a patient's dances may be spaced about two weeks apart [uncertain: heading only]. [source: Psychosozial-Verlag reading sample] Formats in current use include self-experience weekends (Saturday afternoon to evening, Sunday late morning to evening) with an optional dance-theatre self-experience, and daily dance sessions during a 10-day residential retreat. [source: DAP-M Jahresprogramm 2025]

Phases of the therapeutic process (Reitz). Reitz names four phases: Vorbereitung (preparation), Beginn und Verlauf (beginning and course), Phase des Widerstands (resistance), Phase der Integration (integration). [source: Reitz 2011, table of contents pp. 51–58]

Preparation. Goal: indication and readiness. Anxiety expressed in dancing can be so strong that it blocks dancing and must first be talked about (Rosky citing Reitz p. 44); for severely traumatised patients dance therapy may become possible only after a longer course of individual therapy (citing Reitz p. 46). [source: Rosky 2011, introduction, p. 11] Move on when the person can name the fear and chooses to dance [synthesis].
Beginning and course. Goal: first spontaneous dances, experience of being seen by the group, first feedback. [uncertain: Reitz's wording, pp. 52–55, not reproduced] Rosky stresses that dance and music are immediate expression and that the dancer in dance therapy is more vulnerable and more anxious ("verletzbarer, seine Angst größer") than a music-therapy participant. [source: Rosky 2011, introduction, pp. 12–13] Dancing to self-chosen music and surrendering to unconscious expression takes considerable courage. [source: socialnet review, Dörr 2012]
Resistance. Goal: recognise and work through defensive patterns that show in movement, avoidance or in talking instead of dancing; feedback names visible resistances. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 98; Rosky 2011, p. 11; details uncertain]
Integration. Goal: link what was danced to biography, group relationships and the verbal therapy (video review, verbalisation). [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 97; phase content uncertain] Indicators of readiness to end, drawn from Ammon's 1987 evaluation: better relationship to one's own body, more awareness of the group, feelings experienced more deeply and put into words more easily. [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 98–99; use as a criterion = synthesis]

Indications named in the sources: early-traumatised, "unreached" patients in the borderline and schizophrenic spectrum; patients hard to reach because of regression; obsessive-compulsive patients [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 96–97]; early attachment disorders and patients hard to reach verbally [source: DAP-M Jahresprogramm 2025]; people with the earliest preverbal disorders, with use for diagnosis and indication in outpatient and inpatient psychiatry [source: socialnet review, Dörr 2012]. Indication should follow the individual's needs and inclination [source: Rosky 2011, p. 13], and an individual treatment plan is needed; painting, milieu or longer individual therapy may come first [source: socialnet review, Dörr 2012]. The sources list no contraindications. Use caution [synthesis] with acute psychosis without ward containment, acute suicidality, active self-harm, untreated PTSD with dissociation in exposed situations, and physical conditions that make solo dancing unsafe (falls, cardiac limits, late pregnancy).

3. Guiding principles

Embed, never isolate. AST runs inside an identity-focused psychotherapy with verbal group and individual work. Practical meaning: no stand-alone AST; plan where each dance will be talked through. [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 91, 100]
The group is the therapeutic agent. The group's resonance and feedback supply the social energy that allows change. Practical meaning: protect group cohesion and attention for the dancer as carefully as the dance itself. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 96; Reitz & Fink 2016 title; Burbiel & Reitz 2016 editorial]
Spontaneity over technique. No choreography or warm-up script; the dancer moves as they are. Practical meaning: give no movement instructions during the dance. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 101; Rosky 2011, p. 12]
Showing oneself, not performing. What counts is not aesthetics or achievement but showing one's current state. Practical meaning: never praise or criticise skill or beauty. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 98]
Constructive feedback; name only visible resistance. Practical meaning: feedback first picks out what was alive or new; critical remarks are confined to defences that actually showed. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 98]
Anxiety is identity anxiety, to be felt and moved through. Practical meaning: treat stage fright as material, not as failure; talk about it first if it blocks. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 98; Rosky 2011, p. 11]
Nonverbal material is analysed like words. The act, its surroundings, group interaction and atmosphere are analysed and interpreted. Practical meaning: observe and later verbalise the whole field, including the audience's reactions. [source: Rosky 2011, p. 10]
A largely fear-free space opens the unconscious. Practical meaning: build safety (frame, confidentiality, predictable ritual) before expecting depth. [source: Rosky 2011, p. 12]
The patient regulates from the start. The group offers careful reflection and regulation but leaves the patient their own regulation. Practical meaning: the dancer decides whether, when and how long to dance, and with what sound. [source: Burbiel & Reitz 2016 editorial; M. Ammon 2016, p. 101]
Readiness before exposure. Practical meaning: severely traumatised patients may need individual therapy before dancing in the centre. [source: Rosky 2011, p. 11, citing Reitz]
Body-ego work is identity work. Practical meaning: read disturbances of body image, fragmentation or self-injury as identity issues to be held in the overall therapy. [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 92–93]
Touch is an open ethical question. Maria Ammon asks how far touch may go in body therapy generally. Practical meaning: AST as described is a solo, non-contact form; any touch needs the explicit consent steps in section 4. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 92; consent steps = synthesis]

4. Intervention inventory

The sources describe a small, fixed set of elements rather than a catalogue of exercises. Everything the sources describe is listed below; step-level detail beyond what they say is marked [synthesis]. Do not add warm-ups, partner work, mirroring games or improvisation tasks and call them AST: the sources describe none. [source: M. Ammon 2016; Rosky 2011; DAP-M Jahresprogramm 2025]

4.1 Indication and preparatory talk (Vorbereitung)

Purpose / when: before a patient's first dance; whenever anxiety blocks dancing. Establishes indication, readiness and the link to the verbal therapy. [source: Rosky 2011, pp. 11, 13; Reitz 2011 headings pp. 45, 51]
Steps: (1) Check indication against the listed groups (early trauma, borderline or psychotic spectrum within a held setting, compulsive patients, verbally hard-to-reach patients) and the person's own interest. (2) Ask about the fear of dancing in the centre and let it be spoken before any dance. (3) For severely traumatised patients, decide with the individual therapist whether more individual work comes first. (4) Explain the frame: meditation, solo dance with free choice of sound, feedback, video. (5) Obtain written consent to video recording and explain who sees it and how long it is kept [synthesis: data-protection steps]. (6) Screen physical limits (falls, joints, cardiac, pregnancy, medication causing dizziness) [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "In this group each person dances alone in the middle while the others watch. Nobody judges how it looks. What frightens you about that?" / "You decide when you are ready. Talking about the fear is already part of the work."
Watch for: fear so intense the person freezes when imagining the situation (stay with talk); idealised expectations of performing; requests to dance only to please the therapist. Working: the person can name the fear and still chooses to step in.

4.2 Opening group meditation

Purpose / when: at the start of every session; gathers the group and, in Ammon's account, strengthens the flow from the non-conscious. [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 97, 101]
Steps: The sources do not say how the meditation is conducted (length, posture, guided or silent, who leads) [uncertain]; Maria Ammon says it strengthens the spontaneous flow of the dance [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 97]. A minimal version consistent with the sources [synthesis]: (1) group sits in a circle, the dance space in the middle; (2) a few minutes of silence with eyes closed or lowered gaze, attention on breath and body contact with the floor or chair; (3) the leader ends it with one short sentence and a pause.
Example language (illustrative): "Let's begin with a few minutes of silence together. Notice your breath and where your body touches the floor. Eyes open or closed, as you prefer."
Watch for: dissociation or rising panic in silence (offer eyes open, feet on the floor, permission to look around); sleepiness or withdrawal. Working: the room settles and attention gathers on the centre.

4.3 Spontaneous solo dance in the centre of the group

Purpose / when: the core intervention; lets the person show nonverbally their current state and their ideal self and receive the group's resonance. [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 96, 101]
Steps: (1) One participant at a time steps into the middle of the group; Rosky notes this happens without any preparation. [source: Rosky 2011, p. 12] (2) The dancer chooses music, silence or drums and their clothing. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 101] (3) The dancer moves spontaneously; no instructions or corrections are given [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 98, 101]. (4) The group watches attentively; the leader holds the frame and the time [synthesis]. (5) The dancer ends when they decide; agree in advance that stopping early or standing still is allowed [synthesis]. (6) The dance is video-recorded (see 4.6).
Example language (illustrative): "The space is yours. Move as you are today; there is nothing to get right. You end when you want to end."
Watch for: movement that is cut off, repetitive or frozen; avoidance of eye contact or of certain parts of the space; sudden shifts in intensity; signs of dissociation or panic (stop and ground, see section 5). Working, per Ammon's evaluation: a better relationship to the body, deeper and more differentiated feelings (fear, grief, anger, joy) and more ability to put them into words. [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 98–99]

4.4 Choice of sound: music, silence or drums

Purpose / when: part of each dance; the dancer's choice is itself material and an exercise of self-regulation. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 101; Burbiel & Reitz 2016 editorial]
Steps: (1) Keep a range of recorded music available and allow the dancer to bring their own [synthesis]. (2) Offer silence and drums as equal options. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 101] (3) Ask the dancer before the dance whether drums are played live and by whom [synthesis]. (4) Set volume before the dancer starts and agree a signal to turn it down [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "Would you like music, drums or silence? You can also change your mind once you start."
Watch for: music chosen to hide in or to perform; drums raising arousal too fast. Keep average sound levels moderate and avoid sudden loud peaks; for live drumming in small rooms keep levels comfortable for conversation nearby and offer ear protection to drummers [synthesis: hearing safety].

4.5 Group verbal feedback

Purpose / when: immediately after the dance; feedback is the vehicle of Sozialenergie through which the actual self can change. [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 96, 98, 101]
Steps: (1) The dancer may first say briefly how it was [synthesis]. (2) Group members say what they saw and felt. (3) Feedback emphasises constructive aspects of the dance and the person's development. (4) Critical remarks are limited to resistances that actually became visible. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 98] (5) The leader stops judgements about skill or looks and redirects to experience [synthesis, following p. 98]. (6) The leader links observations to the group's dynamics and atmosphere, which are analysed like words. [source: Rosky 2011, p. 10]
Example language (illustrative): Leader to group: "Tell her what you saw and what it stirred in you, not whether it was good dancing." Leader naming visible resistance: "Each time you came towards us you turned away at the last moment. Do you recognise that from elsewhere?"
Watch for: pile-on criticism, rivalry or envy in the group, flattening praise; the dancer collapsing or dismissing feedback. Working: the dancer can take in feedback and links it to their life; the group reports noticing each other more. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 99]

4.6 Closing group meditation

Purpose / when: at the end of the session, to close the frame. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 101]
Steps: as in 4.2 [synthesis]; end with a short orienting round so that each person is grounded before leaving [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "Let's close with a few minutes of quiet. Then look around the room and at each other before we finish."
Watch for: anyone still flooded or absent; arrange a brief check-in or contact with the individual therapist that day [synthesis].

4.7 Video recording and video review

Purpose / when: every dance is routinely recorded; watching it later, at a distance, lets the person experience themselves and the group's reactions again, and is a key moment for verbalising and for linking the dance to the verbal therapies. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 97]
Steps: (1) Written consent for recording, storage, who may view, and deletion [synthesis]. (2) Fixed camera covering the whole space, not close-ups [synthesis]. (3) Review in the AST group, in the verbal group or in individual therapy (the source names linkage to verbal therapy but not the exact setting) [uncertain]. (4) Let the person watch first without comment, then ask what they notice in themselves and in the watching group [synthesis]. (5) Store recordings as clinical records under data-protection rules [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "Let's watch your dance from last time. What do you see in that person? And what do you notice about the group around her?"
Watch for: shame and harsh self-criticism on seeing one's body on screen; body-image distress in eating-disordered or dysmorphic patients (prepare, keep viewing short, focus on movement quality, not appearance) [synthesis]. Working: the person can describe what they did and felt and connects it to their history or relationships.

4.8 Linking dance to the verbal therapy (integration)

Purpose / when: throughout, and especially in the integration phase; AST is not to be applied in isolation but embedded in identity therapy. [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 97, 100; Reitz 2011 heading p. 58]
Steps: (1) The AST leader and the verbal therapists agree how material moves between settings [synthesis]. (2) Bring themes from feedback and video into the verbal group or individual sessions. (3) Analyse the dance, its context, the group interaction and the atmosphere as one would analyse speech. [source: Rosky 2011, p. 10] (4) Track changes across successive dances (Reitz's case chapter follows a patient's first and later dances) [source: Reitz 2011 headings pp. 70–76].
Example language (illustrative): "In your dance you kept to the edge, and today you said you feel invisible at work. How do those belong together?"
Watch for: splitting (the dance group as the good place, verbal therapy as the bad one, or the reverse); talking used as a defence against moving, which Rosky notes as a resistance in the nonverbal therapies. [source: Rosky 2011, p. 11]

4.9 Observation of body and movement (assessment use)

Purpose / when: ongoing; Maria Ammon describes diagnostic attention to posture, skin and bearing, and Reitz's chapter has a section on diagnosis and indication. [source: M. Ammon 2016 English summary; Reitz 2011 heading p. 45]
Steps: Note use of space, rhythm, tension, contact with the group, eye contact and how the dance begins and ends; compare across dances [synthesis: no published observation scheme found].
Limits: No validated AST movement-assessment instrument is published [uncertain]. The 1987 evaluation used a focused interview, the TAT and video ratings on a five-point scale, after the first dance and again three months later; no control group, sample size or statistics are described, and it reports only tendencies. [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 98–100] Never treat a dance as evidence of abuse, trauma history or a specific disorder; use observations only as hypotheses to explore with the person [synthesis].

4.10 Dance theatre (Tanztheater)

Purpose / when: AST has developed further into dance theatre, and "Tanztheater-Selbsterfahrung" is offered as a group option in the Munich weekend programme. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 98; DAP-M Jahresprogramm 2025]
Steps: No published procedure is available [uncertain]. The 2025 institute programme offers dance-theatre self-experience as an option on its self-experience weekends [source: DAP-M Jahresprogramm 2025]. Do not improvise a procedure under this name without training from the institute.

4.11 Dance self-experience for trainees and staff

Purpose / when: training route; in 2007 Reitz co-founded, with colleagues, a dance self-experience group for staff and took part in it until shortly before her death; with colleagues she developed a DGG curriculum in AST and dance self-experience. [source: Fink 2024] Daily dance sessions are part of the Paestum group retreat. [source: DAP-M Jahresprogramm 2025]
Steps: Take part as a participant in AST groups before leading [synthesis]; AST-specific curriculum hours, supervision and certificate are not published in the sources used, and the 2025 programme lists no AST-specific hours [uncertain].

4.12 Safety procedures for touch, space and falls [synthesis]

The sources describe AST as solo dance watched by the group and do not give a touch protocol, a space protocol or a fall protocol; Maria Ammon raises touch as an open ethical question for body therapy in general. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 92] The following is the writer's guidance [synthesis].

Touch: consent and opt-out steps. (1) Default: no physical contact between dancer, group and leader. (2) If contact arises or is wanted (a dancer reaches towards the group, a leader wants to steady someone), ask first in words and wait for a clear yes; silence or a nod under pressure is not consent. (3) Name the place and kind of touch (e.g. "a hand on your upper back"), the duration and how to stop it. (4) Agree a simple stop word or gesture, which anyone can use at any time without explanation. (5) Re-ask each time; consent given last session does not carry over. (6) Never touch genital areas, breasts or buttocks, and never in a sexual or seductive way; no touch at all with a patient whose history or current state makes it ambiguous (e.g. sexual trauma, erotised transference, psychosis with boundary confusion). (7) Respect cultural and religious rules on cross-gender contact and on dress; the dancer's free choice of clothing should not be restricted, but revealing clothing is never requested. (8) Document any touch and discuss it in supervision.
Space. Room large enough for full-arm and travelling movement in the centre with the seated circle well back; clear floor of bags, cables, cups and furniture edges; non-slip floor; agree whether dancers go barefoot, in socks (slippery) or in soft shoes; cover mirrors or windows if being seen from outside is a concern; ensure privacy from passers-by and visible exits.
Falls and physical safety. Screen for balance problems, joint or heart conditions, pregnancy, intoxication and sedating medication; allow dancing seated or standing in place; tell dancers that closing eyes while turning or travelling increases fall risk; stop spinning or flinging movements if the dancer becomes dizzy or dissociated; know first-aid arrangements. Do not use group members to catch falling dancers.
Children and young people. The sources describe AST for adults; Reitz's kindergarten work is not described as AST. If adapting for minors: parental consent plus the young person's assent, separate consent for video, safeguarding and mandatory-reporting duties under local law, a second adult present, no touch beyond what is needed for safety, and age-appropriate shorter, more structured sessions. [synthesis]

5. Handling problems

Reitz's chapter has sections on the resistance phase and a detailed borderline case (resistance, breakthrough, "the reward of fear"), and a review confirms it shows processes of resistance, development and change [source: socialnet review, Dörr 2012]; its text is not reproduced here [uncertain]. Guidance below is source-based only where cited, otherwise [synthesis].

Fear blocks the person from dancing. Sources: anxiety may be so strong it prevents movement and must first be talked about; it is understood as identity anxiety to be felt and overcome; severely traumatised patients may first need longer individual therapy. [source: Rosky 2011, p. 11; M. Ammon 2016, p. 98] Response: no pressure to dance; let the person stay in the circle and speak about the fear; offer a later turn; agree small steps such as standing in the centre for a moment, or dancing seated [small steps = synthesis].
Stuck or repetitive dances. Use video review to let the person see the pattern; ask the group what they notice recurring; link the pattern to the person's relational themes in the verbal therapy. [source for video and verbal linkage: M. Ammon 2016, p. 97; application = synthesis]
Resistance. Name only resistance that is visible in the dance or the group, as part of constructive feedback. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 98] Talking instead of moving can itself be a resistance. [source: Rosky 2011, p. 11] Response: describe the behaviour without judgement and invite curiosity ("You told us a lot about the music and then had little time left to move. What might that protect you from?" (illustrative)).
Overwhelm, panic, dissociation or fragmentation during a dance. Maria Ammon notes that the body may feel fragmented or alien and that this can cause panic, and that some patients self-injure to feel their body. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 93] Response [synthesis]: stop the music, speak the person's name, invite eyes open, feet on the floor, looking around the room and naming objects; offer a seat at the edge; do not touch without asking; pause the round; arrange follow-up with the individual therapist the same day; review risk of self-harm before the person leaves.
Shame after the dance or after video viewing. Feedback must stress what was alive and authentic, not skill; viewing can be shortened or postponed; the person decides who sees the recording. [source for constructive feedback: M. Ammon 2016, p. 98; rest synthesis]
Harsh or rivalrous feedback from the group. Re-state the rule of constructive feedback; stop judgements of looks or skill; treat the attack as group-dynamic material for the group's verbal work. [source: M. Ammon 2016, p. 98; Rosky 2011, p. 10; handling = synthesis]
Exhibitionistic, seductive or performative dancing. Do not reward performance; reflect what the dance seemed to ask of the audience; explore in the verbal therapy. Keep the no-touch default firm and do not respond to erotised invitations. [synthesis, consistent with M. Ammon 2016, p. 98]
Non-attendance or repeated refusal. Explore in the verbal therapy what the dance group represents; review the indication; allow the person to return without penalty. [synthesis; individual indication: Rosky 2011, p. 13]
Rupture with the leader (the dancer feels exposed, misread or humiliated). Acknowledge the experience, take responsibility for your share, and work it through in the group and the verbal therapy; review consent and frame. [synthesis]
Splitting between dance and verbal therapists. Regular team exchange; one shared formulation; avoid letting the dance group become the only "real" therapy, even though many patients in the 1987 evaluation valued it most. [source for patients' preference: M. Ammon 2016, p. 99; response = synthesis]
Psychotic or borderline patients in crisis. Sources name these groups as core indications, but within a held dynamic-psychiatric setting. [source: M. Ammon 2016, pp. 96–97] In outpatient settings without that containment, defer dancing during acute crises [synthesis].
Physical incidents (slip, fall, dizziness). Stop, assess, first aid if needed, document; check floor, footwear and space before continuing. [synthesis]
Hearing discomfort from drums or loud music. Turn down immediately; offer ear protection; agree lower default levels. [synthesis]

Sources

Web pages:

Further pages consulted, with no AST content: Spektrum Lexikon der Psychologie: Tanztherapie; Thieme article page with the Trautmann-Voigt correspondence address; Burbiel & Barrera 2013, IJPCM abstract; Burbiel 2010, European Psychiatry abstract; Berlin memorial plaque text, Günter Ammon.

Books and articles cited (content cited only through the parts named):

Reitz, G., Schmidts, R., Urspruch, I. & Rosky, T. (2011). Kreative Therapien in der Psychoanalyse: Tanz, Musik, Theater. Gießen: Psychosozial-Verlag (first published 2005 as Heilsame Bewegungen). Reitz, G., "Tanztherapie – Bewegte Geschichten", pp. 37–81: table of contents and Rosky's introduction (pp. 9–14) used; chapter content [uncertain] beyond the socialnet review.
Ammon, M. (2016). Körpertherapie im Verständnis der Dynamischen Psychiatrie. Dynamische Psychiatrie, 49, 91–104.
Reitz, G. & Fink, H. (2016). Die Bedeutung der Gruppe in der Analytisch-Strukturellen Tanztherapie. Dynamische Psychiatrie, 49, 133 ff. [content uncertain]
Burbiel, I. & Reitz, G. (2016). Emotionale Resonanz und Körperlichkeit in der Analytisch-Strukturellen Tanztherapie (AST). Dynamische Psychiatrie, 49, 59–68. [content known only from the editorial summary, which gives the variant title "Theoretische Konzipierung der Analytisch-Strukturellen Tanztherapie"]

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