Open Floor · Atlas

1. Introduction

Version followed: the Open Floor curriculum as Open Floor International (OFI) publishes it on its own site (Introduction & Overview, 10 Core Movement Resources, Movement Cycle, Four Dimensions of Embodiment, Four Relational Hungers, Ground Floor Lab, Teacher Track and the Therapy in Motion track), as available in October 2026. Teacher-training details come from a Teacher Track page that still announces a 2021 intake, so hours and structure may since have changed [uncertain: not verified for the current cohort].

What it is. Open Floor is a conscious-dance and mindful-movement practice and an open-source curriculum, not a psychotherapy. OFI describes it as a resource-oriented movement practice for personal healing, professional growth and community building, built by a think tank of experienced facilitators drawing on somatic psychology, neuroscience, expressive arts and meditation [source: OFI Introduction & Overview; OFI Ground Floor Lab]. It is a movement practice with its own teacher training, not a single therapeutic technique; this guide gives the practice as published plus the procedures a trained clinician can use, with derived clinical applications marked [synthesis].

Who developed it. OFI names four founders, Kathy Altman, Lori Saltzman, Andrea Juhan and Vic Cooper ("KLAV"), who had trained and worked for decades with Gabrielle Roth, founder of the 5Rhythms practice. After Roth's death they convened an international "Brain Trust" of movement teachers online in 2013. The name "Open Floor" came from a therapeutic movement process Juhan had designed. OFI ran its first five teacher trainings (Europe, New Zealand, USA) in 2015-2019, registered as a US not-for-profit in 2018, gained 501(c)(3) status in 2020 and is governed by Dynamic Governance (sociocracy) [source: OFI Our Origins]. OFI's founder list does not include Annie Brook, whose name appears in some secondary listings [source: OFI Our Origins]. Andrea Juhan is described as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a PhD in dance and movement therapy [source: Esalen podcast page]. A nonprofit listing states OFI was founded in 2013 and has trained more than 300 teachers [source: Idealist listing].

Core idea of change. In OFI's framing, people build resilience and capacity by repeatedly practising embodied "resources" (physical actions and capacities that support self-regulation and a sense of well-being, competence and mastery, a definition OFI attributes to Pat Ogden) inside a repeating cycle of attention, exploration and settling, so that the body learns to recognise and use these resources in daily life [source: OFI resource-based page; OFI Movement Cycle]. OFI says the Settle phase helps the nervous system form new embodied and relational pathways; this is the organisation's model, not an established finding [source: OFI Movement Cycle].

What it is not. Open Floor is not dance/movement therapy (DMT). The American Dance Therapy Association defines DMT as "the psychotherapeutic use of movement" for emotional, social, cognitive and physical integration; it is delivered by credentialed clinicians (R-DMT, then BC-DMT, after a master's degree through an approved programme or the Alternate Route and acceptance by the Dance/Movement Therapy Certification Board), with treatment plans, assessment and clinical records, and state licensure varies [source: ADTA FAQ]. In the UK the equivalent professional body is ADMP UK [uncertain: not verified]. An Open Floor class is an educational movement class led by a teacher, without assessment, treatment plan or clinical record; a client attending one is not in therapy there [synthesis].

Evidence status. OFI states that its practice can improve physical and emotional health, reduce isolation, build "resilient neural pathways", slow cognitive decline and reduce the effects of trauma [source: OFI Ground Floor Lab]. These are the organisation's claims. No independent review or trial of Open Floor specifically is cited here [uncertain: not verified]; present it to clients as a supportive practice, not an evidence-based treatment [synthesis].

2. Framework

Not a phased treatment. Open Floor has no treatment phases or session count. Its structure has three layers [source: OFI Introduction & Overview; OFI Movement Cycle]:

The Movement Cycle (the basic unit of any class). Four phases, inspired by Gestalt Awareness Practice (Chris and Dick Price): Open Attention (track inner and outer experience without direction, including whatever ache, jitter, joy or looping thought is present); Enter (choose an embodied anchor and narrow attention with curiosity); Explore (play with movement resources, guided or self-directed, with the continuums active); Settle (digest and integrate by releasing energy, calming the breath, contact with another mover or the group, naming the experience, slowing or stillness), then back to Open Attention. OFI says one cycle can span a single song or a whole class of two to three hours, and it can be repeated as a "score" through a workshop [source: OFI Movement Cycle].
The 4x4 weave (the content map). The Four Dimensions of Embodiment (Physical Embodiment, Emotional Embodiment, Embodied Mind, Embodied Soul) crossed with the Four Relational Hungers (Solitude, Connection, Belonging, Spirit) [source: OFI Introduction & Overview; Four Dimensions; Four Relational Hungers].
The tools. Ten Core Movement Resources (Ground, Center, Spatial Awareness, Expand & Contract, Release, Towards & Away, Activate & Settle, Dissolve, Vector, Pause); embodied anchors; four continuums (Fixed & Fluid, Habit & Choice, Include & Exclude, Presence & Absence) [source: OFI Introduction & Overview].

Moving between phases of a cycle. OFI describes the teacher's criteria qualitatively: the teacher helps the group know where they are in the cycle, senses when an exploration "has gone as far as it can" and moves the group into Settle, and, if the group drifts, brings them back to the main cycle where they left it so it can complete [source: OFI Movement Cycle]. Practical markers a clinician can use: movement becoming repetitive or effortful, faces and breath tightening, or the group energy dropping suggest moving to Settle; settled breath, softer gaze and slower pace suggest readiness to re-open attention [synthesis].

Formats as published.

Weekly drop-in classes, multi-day workshops and training modules; sessions blend guided movement inquiries with freeform dance, solo, partner and group work, verbal guidance and silence [source: DanceResource wiki].
Ground Floor Lab (GFL): a 30-hour intensive, experiential introduction to the curriculum, in person or online, with a "behind the scenes" professional look at each session's intention and structure; aimed at long-term movers and professionals including mental health professionals; it is the prerequisite for all further OFI training [source: OFI Ground Floor Lab].
Teacher Track (movement teachers): prerequisites of 120 hours of instructed conscious dance (50 of them Open Floor), a GFL and 15 hours of mindfulness or meditation; four phases (Common Ground: Physical Embodiment; Common Sense: Emotional Intelligence; Common Knowledge: Creative Intelligence; Common Good: Soul & Spirit), each with intensive practice, small-group practice days, online learning and assignments (practice classes, music skills, written reflections); a practicum teaching practice classes; electives; individual and group mentoring; assessment on eight competencies (physical, emotional and relational intelligence, mind matters, spiritual capacity, teaching competencies, group dynamics, facilitation). Graduation requires 350 hours of conscious dance (250 Open Floor), 30 hours of mindfulness or meditation, a Libido Fundamentals workshop, all modules and mentor approval [source: OFI Teacher Training].
Therapy in Motion track (clinicians): for licensed therapists and health professionals (psychotherapists, psychologists, movement, music, drama and creative arts therapists, social workers, counsellors, body psychotherapists) with a master's-level qualification and at least three years or 300 hours of supervised practice, 125 hours of Open Floor study including a GFL, a further 200 hours in accepted movement modalities, a Libido Fundamentals workshop, 30 hours of mindfulness and teacher references. Three ten-day residential modules over 18-24 months (Common Ground; Therapy in Motion; Common Good), 12-15 hours of mentoring, six elective days, practice classes and reading. Content includes the Core Movement Resources, anchors, structuring a class from opening to closing the floor, helping clients track bodily sensations and impulses and the meaning of non-verbal experience, tracking cycles of activation and settling, moving clients from talk into movement explorations, and group dynamics such as resistance, power and sexuality; theoretical sources named are attachment theory, relational psychoanalysis, trauma studies, sexuality, gestalt awareness, multiple self-states and transpersonal approaches [source: OFI Therapy in Motion].

Facilitation credential and licence. The published route to teaching is graduation from the OFI Teacher Track as an "Open Floor Teacher"; clinicians use the Therapy in Motion track. The exact title and any renewal or membership requirement are not stated on the cited OFI pages [uncertain: not verified]. OFI releases its curriculum under a Creative Commons licence (the GFL page states CC BY-SA 4.0), so learners may use what they learn in personal and professional work after a GFL [source: OFI Our Origins; OFI Ground Floor Lab]. Using the content with attribution is different from presenting yourself as an Open Floor teacher or running classes as "Open Floor": do that only after completing OFI training, and check OFI's current naming and trademark terms [synthesis; trademark status uncertain: not verified].

Where the psychotherapist fits. A psychotherapist who has completed the GFL and, ideally, the Therapy in Motion track may use the resources and cycle inside individual or small-group therapy (sections 4A-4D). A psychotherapist without that training works alongside an Open Floor teacher: suggesting classes, preparing clients and integrating what happens on the floor (section 4E) [source: OFI Therapy in Motion; synthesis].

3. Guiding principles

Resource first [source: OFI resource-based page]. Build capacity before approaching difficulty: start every session with what supports the client, not with what hurts.
Practice, not performance [source: OFI resource-based page]. Resources are practised mindfully and repeatedly so they are available in daily life; repetition matters more than intensity.
Work in cycles [source: OFI Movement Cycle]. Every exploration needs an opening and a settling; never end a piece of work mid-Explore.
Anchor in sensation [source: OFI Introduction & Overview]. Give attention a concrete body place to start from and return to.
Open and exploratory, not prescribed [source: OFI Movement Cycle]. Offer invitations and inquiries; the mover finds their own form and meaning.
Include what is present [source: OFI Movement Cycle]. Aches, agitation and repetitive thoughts are material for the practice, not obstacles to clear first.
Balance is a moment, not a goal [source: OFI Introduction & Overview]. On each continuum, notice where the client is now rather than pushing toward an ideal point.
Release by enlarging, not discharging [source: OFI resource-based page]. OFI frames Releasing as becoming bigger to hold strong experience; in practice, favour containment and expansion of capacity over cathartic venting.
Choice of direction, including away [source: OFI resource-based page]. Moving away from a feeling, person or place is a legitimate resource, not avoidance to be overcome.
Whole person: body, heart, mind, soul [source: OFI Four Dimensions]. Track all four dimensions; do not privilege emotional expression over sensation, thought or meaning.
Relational hungers are real needs [source: OFI Four Relational Hungers]. Solitude, connection, belonging and spirit are all valid; constant partnering can be a way to avoid oneself, and solitude can become isolation.
Spiritual language belongs to the practice [synthesis]. Terms such as Spirit, Source, soul and oneness are OFI's own framing; offer them to clients as one possible lens, never as fact or as a requirement.
Teacher authority is "fluid" [source: OFI Teacher Training lists "fluid authority" as a training topic; meaning not further specified, uncertain]. Lead clearly but be willing to hand authority back to the mover.
Group dynamics are part of the work [source: OFI Four Relational Hungers; OFI Therapy in Motion]. In-crowd and out-crowd patterns, power and sexuality arise in dance communities and must be named and managed.
Consent before and during all contact; never sexual touch [source: USABP Code of Ethics VIII; EABP Ethics Guidelines; APA Ethics Code]. Contact is always optional, can be stopped at any moment, and is never sexual. OFI's own consent or touch policy is not cited here [uncertain: not verified].
Stay within competence and role [source: UKCP Code items 23-24; BACP Ethical Framework para 13]. Use Open Floor tools in therapy only with training; do not become a client's dance teacher and therapist at once without thinking through the dual relationship.

4. Intervention inventory

OFI publishes the names, definitions and purposes of its tools but not step-by-step scripts. The definitions and purposes below come from OFI pages; the in-session steps are written as practical procedure consistent with those definitions and are marked [synthesis]. All example language is illustrative wording, not OFI's. No pace, intensity or duration is prescribed: let the client set these, and keep everything within what their body and medical situation allow.

4A. Session architecture

The Movement Cycle as session container

Purpose: give every piece of movement work a beginning, an exploration and a settled ending; OFI calls it the basic unit of practice, usable for one song or a whole session [source: OFI Movement Cycle].
Steps [synthesis following OFI's four phases]: (1) Open Attention: invite the client to stand, sit or move gently and simply notice what is here inside and around them, including discomfort and thoughts. (2) Enter: ask them to choose one anchor (see below) and let attention narrow to it. (3) Explore: offer one or two resources or a continuum to play with, or let them follow their own impulses. (4) Settle: slow down, soften breath, stillness, a hand on the body, or naming the experience in a few words. (5) Return to open attention, then decide whether to run another cycle or move to verbal processing.
Example language (illustrative): "Let's just notice what's here before anything else, aches, buzz, thoughts, all of it." "Pick one place in your body to keep coming back to." "Now let that place lead the movement." "Let's start to slow it down and let what happened land."
Watch for: clients who skip Open Attention and go straight into big movement; an Explore that keeps escalating without the client being able to slow down (move to Settle); a Settle that is just collapse or numbness rather than rest. Working: the client can name where they are in the cycle and can come down from activation when invited.

Embodied anchors

Purpose: a sensate place in the body (breath, hands, chest, feet, front or back body) that holds awareness in the physical body and gives a starting and return point [source: OFI Introduction & Overview].
Steps [synthesis]: offer two or three anchor options; let the client choose; have them notice the sensation without changing it; let movement start from that place; return to the anchor whenever attention scatters or affect rises.
Example language (illustrative): "Would your feet, your hands or your breath be the easiest place to rest attention right now?" "If you lose track, just come back to your hands."
Watch for: breath and chest anchors can heighten anxiety or panic in some clients; offer feet, hands or contact with the floor first for trauma survivors and anxious clients [synthesis]. Working: attention returns to the anchor more quickly over time.

The four continuums

Purpose: notice where the mover is between Fixed and Fluid, Habit and Choice, Include and Exclude, Presence and Absence; balance is treated as a passing moment, with flexibility, resilience and ease as intentions [source: OFI Introduction & Overview; OFI Movement Cycle].
Steps [synthesis]: name one continuum during Explore; invite the client to move toward one end, then the other; then find where they naturally sit today; link briefly to life outside the room in later verbal work.
Example language (illustrative): "Let the movement get more fixed, more held... and now more fluid. Where does your body want to be today?" "Notice whether you're here or drifting off. No need to fix it."
Watch for: Presence and Absence touches dissociation; if a client reports going far away, return to an anchor and Grounding rather than exploring absence further [synthesis]. Working: the client can move along a continuum by choice rather than being stuck at one end.

4B. The ten Core Movement Resources

OFI presents these as an embodied "ABC" vocabulary for use on and off the dance floor [source: OFI resource-based page; OFI Introduction & Overview]. Definitions are paraphrased from OFI; steps are [synthesis].

Grounding

Purpose: settle when out of balance or over-activated and support a sense of safety in the body and the world [source: OFI resource-based page]. Use first with anxious, activated or trauma-affected clients.
Steps: bring attention to weight and contact with the floor (or chair); let the movement drop lower and slower; feel the support of the ground; notice any change in breath or tension.
Example language (illustrative): "Let the floor take a bit more of your weight." "What changes when you feel held up by the ground?"
Watch for: standing grounding can be destabilising for clients with balance problems or dizziness; offer seated versions. Working: visible softening of shoulders and breath, client reports feeling more here.

Centering

Purpose: keep embodied connection to oneself, especially with others present, by moving between being centred and off-centre [source: OFI resource-based page].
Steps: locate a felt centre (belly, spine, chest, as the client prefers); let the movement go off-centre (tilting, reaching, being pulled) and return; repeat, then try it with the therapist or another person moving nearby.
Example language (illustrative): "Let yourself go a little off balance... and find your way back home." "Can you stay with yourself while I move here too?"
Watch for: fall risk with off-centre movement; clients who lose themselves the moment another person is present (a relational theme for therapy). Working: quicker return to centre, especially in company.

Activate & Settle

Purpose: engage impulses and higher arousal, then calm body, breath and pulse to come to rest [source: OFI resource-based page]. Therapy in Motion training lists tracking cycles of activation and settling in sessions [source: OFI Therapy in Motion].
Steps: invite a small increase in energy at a level the client chooses; notice what rises; then actively slow down and settle; compare the before and after. Keep activation small and well inside the client's tolerance; never build arousal for its own sake.
Example language (illustrative): "Let a little more energy in, only as much as feels right." "Now let's bring it back down and see how your body settles."
Watch for: activation that will not come down, panic, dizziness, chest pain or breathlessness (stop and settle; seek medical help if physical symptoms persist); in bipolar or psychosis-prone clients, repeated high activation is a risk [synthesis]. Working: the client can come down from activation by their own choice.

Expand & Contract

Purpose: open and reach out, then return to centre, guided by embodied intuition [source: OFI resource-based page].
Steps: let the body widen and reach into space; then fold or gather inward; follow the client's own rhythm between the two; notice which feels more familiar.
Example language (illustrative): "Take up a bit more space... and now come back in toward yourself." "Which one feels like home, and which one feels new?"
Watch for: contraction that turns into collapse or shame postures; expansion that feels exposing. Working: the client can choose either without distress.

Towards & Away

Purpose: consciously choose to move toward or away from feelings, places, thoughts, pleasure or people [source: OFI resource-based page].
Steps: pick a neutral target first (a spot in the room, an object); practise moving toward it and away from it; notice preferences; only later, and with consent, apply it to a person (the therapist at a safe distance) or a feeling.
Example language (illustrative): "Move toward the window only as far as feels right, and back away whenever you want." "Moving away is a choice too."
Watch for: freezing or fawning (moving toward when they want to move away), which is common after interpersonal trauma; treat away-movement as a success. Working: clearer, self-chosen distance-taking.

Spatial Awareness

Purpose: know where you are in space and move confidently and safely in any direction [source: OFI resource-based page].
Steps: orient visually to the room and its exits; notice front, back and sides; move in different directions and levels at a safe pace; notice others and objects.
Example language (illustrative): "Let your eyes take in the room. Where's the door? Where's the space behind you?"
Watch for: orienting is also a basic safety step for dissociative or hypervigilant clients [synthesis]; collisions in groups; clear obstacles first. Working: freer use of the room, less tunnel vision.

Releasing

Purpose: in OFI's framing, becoming bigger to hold strong experience rather than discharging it; release of tension, emotion, thought or breath [source: OFI resource-based page].
Steps: notice where something is held; widen breath and posture around it rather than pushing it out; let a small amount of tension, sound or movement go; return to an anchor.
Example language (illustrative): "Instead of getting rid of it, see if you can make a bit more room around it." "Let just a little of that go, then come back to your feet."
Watch for: pressure toward catharsis (shouting, crying on demand) can overwhelm trauma survivors and destabilise clients at risk of mania or psychosis; keep release small and contained [synthesis]. Working: strong feeling is felt and held without flooding.

Dissolving

Purpose: soften one's sense of shape and form and align with spaciousness rather than mass [source: OFI resource-based page].
Steps: after a settled phase, invite softer edges, slower and more fluid movement; keep an anchor available; end by re-establishing shape and weight (Grounding).
Example language (illustrative): "Let the edges soften, while your feet still know the floor." "Now let's find your shape again."
Watch for: in clients with dissociation, depersonalisation or psychosis, loosening the sense of form may be destabilising; skip or keep very brief and always close with Grounding [synthesis]. Working: the client experiences spaciousness and returns to clear orientation.

Vector

Purpose: turn movement in a specific, intentional direction [source: OFI resource-based page].
Steps: choose a direction or goal in the room; move clearly toward it; notice what intention feels like in the body; link to a real-life intention in verbal work.
Example language (illustrative): "Pick one direction and really mean it." "What does it feel like to know where you're going?"
Watch for: sharp directional movement in a crowded room; clients for whom decisiveness triggers anxiety. Working: steadier, more purposeful movement and language.

Pause

Purpose: an alive, receptive state for noticing and witnessing before or after acting [source: OFI resource-based page].
Steps: at any point, invite a stop; notice sensation, feeling and impulse without acting; then choose the next move.
Example language (illustrative): "Pause. What's happening right now? What wants to happen next?"
Watch for: pause can become freeze; if the client looks frozen or blank, add a small movement or an anchor. Working: the client uses pause on their own to choose rather than react.

4C. Map-based inquiries (the 4x4 weave)

Four Dimensions check-in and inquiry

Purpose: track experience across Physical Embodiment (sensation, breath, weight, impulses, activation and settling), Emotional Embodiment (a physical language for emotion; choosing to express, feel or calm a feeling), Embodied Mind (thought, imagination, memory, intention) and Embodied Soul (meaning, purpose, belonging to something larger, as OFI frames it) [source: OFI Four Dimensions].
Steps [synthesis]: during Open Attention, ask about one dimension at a time; in Explore, let one dimension lead (for example, move the feeling, or move the image); afterwards, ask which dimension was most and least available. Offer the soul dimension only if the client finds such language meaningful.
Example language (illustrative): "What are you noticing physically? Is there a feeling with it? Any thoughts or images? Anything that feels meaningful?" "Let the feeling, not the thought, choose the next movement."
Watch for: clients who stay in the mind dimension and narrate rather than sense; spiritual language that a client experiences as alien or, conversely, uses to bypass painful feeling. Working: the client can move between dimensions and name what each offers.

Relational hungers and solo, partner and group work

Purpose: explore the four relational hungers OFI names: Solitude (being with oneself), Connection (safe and meaningful connection with another), Belonging (being recognised and finding one's place in a group) and Spirit (a felt sense of oneness, in OFI's language) [source: OFI Four Relational Hungers]. Classes use one-to-one, group and witnessing formats [source: DanceResource wiki].
Steps [synthesis]: (1) start solo; (2) if partner work is offered, describe it in advance, invite rather than assign, and make "I'll stay solo" an equally valued option; (3) begin partner work at a distance (mirroring, moving near each other) with no contact; (4) in witnessing, one moves while the other watches with kind attention, then they swap, with any spoken feedback limited to what the witness noticed in themselves; (5) close with a solo settle and brief reflection on which hunger was most alive.
Example language (illustrative): "You can stay on your own the whole time, and that counts as practice." "If you'd like a partner, find someone and agree how close you want to be." "As a witness, just watch with kindness; afterwards share only what you noticed in yourself."
Watch for: OFI itself notes that constant partnering can avoid being with oneself, solitude can become isolation, and long-term groups develop in-crowd and out-crowd dynamics [source: OFI Four Relational Hungers]. Also watch for people-pleasing in partner choice and for feeling exposed when witnessed [synthesis]. Working: the client can choose between solitude and connection rather than defaulting to one.

4D. Use inside psychotherapy (for clinicians trained in Open Floor, e.g. the Therapy in Motion track)

Tracking sensations, impulses and micro-movements

Purpose: help clients track bodily sensations and impulses and find possible meanings of non-verbal experience; track activation, settling, pulsation and micro-movements during sessions [source: OFI Therapy in Motion].
Steps [synthesis]: notice a gesture, shift or change in breath while the client talks; name it neutrally; ask permission to explore it; invite the client to let the movement continue or grow a little; then pause and ask what it might be saying; return to talk.
Example language (illustrative): "I notice your hand keeps closing as you talk about him. Would you be willing to let it do that a bit more slowly and see what it knows?"
Watch for: interpretations imposed by the therapist; clients who feel watched or judged. Working: the client starts noticing their own impulses and offering meanings themselves.

Moving from talk into a movement exploration

Purpose: shift from talk therapy into therapeutic movement explorations, integrating top-down and bottom-up work and resourcing the body around attachment wounds [source: OFI Therapy in Motion].
Steps [synthesis]: agree in the contract that movement may be offered and can always be declined; when a theme is live, offer a short movement cycle (Open Attention, Enter with an anchor, Explore with one resource, Settle); keep it within the client's window of tolerance; return to seated talk to integrate; note in the record what was done and the client's consent.
Example language (illustrative): "Would you like to try exploring this with movement for a little while, or would you prefer to keep talking?" "Let's take what you found back to the chairs and make sense of it together."
Watch for: abrupt shifts that feel like a performance demand; activation rising faster than settling; shame about the body. Working: insights from movement show up in later talk and in daily life.

Structuring a class or group from opening to closing the floor

Purpose: hold a group session with a clear opening, development and closing; OFI trains clinicians and teachers to structure classes "from opening to closing the floor", design movement scores around the Core Movement Resources, use physical anchors, instructions and questions, choose music, teach all ages and abilities and work with group dynamics [source: OFI Therapy in Motion; OFI Teacher Training].
Steps [synthesis]: (1) before the session, screen participants (see 4E) and agree group norms: confidentiality, right to opt out, no contact without asking, no sexual contact, how to signal for help; (2) open the floor with orientation, Open Attention and a Grounding resource; (3) build one or more movement cycles around a theme from the 4x4 weave, alternating instructions with open questions; (4) use music to support, not drive, intensity; (5) close the floor with a long settle and a brief sharing round where passing is allowed; (6) remain available afterwards for anyone unsettled.
Example language (illustrative): "Everything tonight is an invitation; you can sit out, stay solo or slow down at any time." "Before we close, take a moment to notice what you're taking home."
Watch for: participants pushing past pain or exhaustion to keep up with the group; overheating; one participant becoming the emotional focus of the room. Working: people leave calmer and oriented, and can say what they practised.

4E. The psychotherapist alongside an Open Floor teacher

Screening and physical safety before suggesting a class

Purpose: decide whether a class is suitable now and what preparation is needed. The cited OFI pages give no published contraindication or screening list [uncertain: not verified]; the cautions below are general [synthesis].
Steps [synthesis]: ask about heart or lung conditions, high or low blood pressure, fainting, epilepsy, pregnancy, recent injury, joint, back or balance problems, and medication affecting heat tolerance or balance; advise checking with the client's doctor where any apply and before starting vigorous dance; advise the client to tell the teacher about relevant conditions, work at their own level, drink water, rest when they need to and stop with pain, dizziness or chest symptoms; assess psychological readiness (current suicidality, active psychosis or mania, recent bereavement or trauma, severe dissociation, eating disorder or compulsive exercise, substance use) and defer or adapt where present.
Example language (illustrative): "Before you try a class, let's check a few health things and whether now is a good time." "You're allowed to sit down, slow down or leave; that's good practice, not failure."
Watch for: clients who use intense exercise to manage weight, emotion or mood; clients who will not stop when told to listen to their body. Working: the client attends at a level that leaves them steadier, not depleted.

Preparing a client for a class

Purpose: reduce the chance of overwhelm, shame or boundary violation on the floor [synthesis].
Steps [synthesis]: describe the typical format (guided movement, freeform dance, music, possible solo, partner and group work, sharing); rehearse opt-out phrases; agree personal signals for leaving or sitting out; plan a grounding routine (Grounding, Spatial Awareness, an anchor) to use if overwhelmed; for body-image or eating-disorder concerns, discuss mirrors, clothing and comparison; agree what the client will bring back to therapy.
Example language (illustrative): "If someone invites you to partner and you don't want to, you could say 'I'm staying solo today, thanks.'" "If it gets too much, feet on the floor, look around the room, find the door."
Watch for: idealisation of the teacher or the group; expectation that one class will release trauma. Working: the client uses their plan at least once without shame.

Partner work, touch and consent

Purpose: keep any contact safe and consensual. OFI's own touch or consent policy is not cited here [uncertain: not verified]; professional codes supply the standard.
Steps: contact is always optional; ask before any touch, check during it, and stop at once when asked; respect a "no" without explanation; never sexual or genital touch [source: USABP Code VIII; EABP Principle 7 and 5.b.1]. The USABP code requires assessing whether touch suits each client, informed consent (written recommended) and periodic renewal, with the right to refuse or end touch at any time [source: USABP Code VIII]. Mainstream codes (APA, BACP, UKCP) prohibit sexual contact with clients but have no explicit touch clause [source: APA Ethics Code 10.05-10.08; BACP Ethical Framework; UKCP Code]. A psychotherapist should not add hands-on contact to their own practice unless their code and training allow it [source: UKCP Code items 23-24; synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "In any class you can say no to touch, at any moment, without giving a reason." "Would it be OK if I ... ? You can change your mind at any point."
Watch for: freeze or compliance that looks like consent; erotic or romantic charge in partner dances (OFI's training lists sexuality among group dynamics and requires a Libido Fundamentals workshop, content not verified [source: OFI Teacher Training; OFI Therapy in Motion]). Working: the client can decline contact and feel respected.

Integrating floor experiences into psychotherapy

Purpose: turn class experiences into therapeutic material [synthesis].
Steps [synthesis]: ask what happened in body, feeling, mind and meaning (the four dimensions); explore which resources helped; link relational experiences (partnering, belonging, being witnessed) to attachment and relationship themes; translate a resource into daily life (for example, Pause before replying to a partner); track sleep, mood and any after-effects in the days after intense classes.
Example language (illustrative): "Which resource from the class would be useful on Monday morning?" "When you moved away from that partner, what did that remind you of?"
Watch for: delayed after-effects such as nightmares, intrusive memories or agitation; spiritual experiences that unsettle reality testing. Working: the client brings the practice into ordinary life.

Recognising and passing on harms

Purpose: respond to pressure, exploitation or misconduct in any dance community [synthesis].
Steps [synthesis]: ask openly about the group experience; red flags include pressure to keep attending or pay for more, pressure to touch, sexual approaches from a teacher, teachers acting as therapists without a clinical frame, group secrecy, and discouraging outside help. Help the client document and report concerns to the teacher's organisation (OFI's complaints procedure is not cited here [uncertain: not verified]) and, where a crime is involved, to police; follow your own safeguarding duties. No documented misconduct reports concerning Open Floor are cited from reliable sources [uncertain: not verified].
Example language (illustrative): "Has anything in the group felt pressuring or uncomfortable?" "You don't need to keep going to anything that doesn't feel right."
Watch for: dual relationships if you also dance in the same community as your client; avoid attending the client's class or teaching them yourself without careful supervision [source: BACP Ethical Framework para 33(b); UKCP Code item 8]. Working: the client feels free to leave or speak up.

5. Handling problems

OFI's published pages address only a few of these difficulties directly (drifting groups, over-partnering, isolation, in-group dynamics). Everything else below is clinical guidance written for this guide and is marked [synthesis].

Group drifts or an exploration stalls. OFI's guidance: sense when an exploration has gone as far as it can, move to Settle, or bring the group back to the main cycle where it was left and let it complete [source: OFI Movement Cycle]. In individual work, name the stall and offer Pause or a new anchor [synthesis].
Stuck or self-conscious client ("I can't dance"). Lower the bar: seated or very small movements, eyes open, one body part, a familiar everyday movement as the starting point; stress that Open Floor is practice of resources, not dance skill [synthesis; resource framing from OFI resource-based page].
Resistance to movement in therapy. Treat refusal as a valid Towards & Away choice; explore it verbally; offer to try later or not at all. Never make movement a condition of therapy [synthesis].
Overwhelm, flooding or panic. Stop the exploration; move to Grounding, Spatial Awareness (orient to the room and the exit) and a hands or feet anchor; slow the voice; sit if needed; do not process content until the client is settled; afterwards, review what tipped the balance and reduce intensity next time [synthesis using OFI resources].
Dissociation (blankness, going far away, losing time). Avoid Dissolving and Presence & Absence explorations; use orienting, naming objects in the room, pressing feet into the floor, small rhythmic movement; stay longer in Settle [synthesis].
Catharsis pressure. If a class or the client expects big emotional release, return to OFI's framing of Releasing as enlarging to hold experience rather than discharging it [source: OFI resource-based page]; keep release small and contained, especially with trauma histories, bipolar disorder or psychosis risk [synthesis].
Signs of mania or psychotic experience after classes (reduced sleep, grandiosity, spiritual revelations with loss of reality testing). Advise pausing classes, assess, involve the client's psychiatric care as needed [synthesis].
Eating disorder, body image or compulsive exercise. Watch for using classes to burn calories or punish the body, mirror checking and comparison; agree limits with the treating team and focus on sensation and resource rather than effort [synthesis].
Physical problems (pain, dizziness, chest symptoms, overheating, falls). Stop, rest, drink water, seek medical help where symptoms persist or are serious; review medical clearance before returning [synthesis; OFI safety guidance is not cited here, uncertain: not verified].
Non-adherence to home practice or classes. Shrink the practice to one resource in daily life (for example, a Pause before replying, Grounding on the bus); explore what got in the way; classes are optional, not homework [synthesis].
Over-partnering or isolating. OFI notes that constant partnering can avoid being with oneself and that solitude can become isolation [source: OFI Four Relational Hungers]; invite the opposite experience gently and explore the pattern in therapy [synthesis].
Feeling left out of the group. OFI notes in-crowd and out-crowd dynamics in long-term dance communities [source: OFI Four Relational Hungers]; validate, explore belonging and past group experiences, and help the client decide whether this group serves them [synthesis].
Unwanted touch or sexual approach in a class. Support the client to decline, leave, document and report to the teacher's organisation and, if criminal, to police; reassure that freezing is normal; check your own safeguarding duties [synthesis; consent standards from USABP Code VIII and EABP guidelines].
Rupture with the therapist after a movement exploration (feeling exposed, watched or pushed). Name it, take responsibility for your part, return control of pace and form to the client, and offer to stop movement work for a while [synthesis].
Spiritual language clashes with the client's beliefs. Present Spirit, Source and soul as Open Floor's own terms; translate into secular language (meaning, connection, values) or leave them out [synthesis].
Client wants you to join their class, or you already dance in the same community. Consider the dual relationship in supervision; usually decline to attend their classes; agree how to handle chance meetings [source: BACP Ethical Framework para 33(b); UKCP Code item 8; synthesis].
You want to teach Open Floor yourself. Complete the Ground Floor Lab and the Therapy in Motion track or Teacher Track; until then use only general resource-based movement within your existing competence, without the Open Floor name [source: OFI Ground Floor Lab; OFI Therapy in Motion; synthesis].

Sources

Open Floor International pages:

Other sources:

Professional codes (touch, consent, boundaries, competence):

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