[Adta] Comments & Question Re: Liljan Espenak

[Barbara A Busse]

Dear Dani,
      Thanks for your letter summarizing  the approach to dance therapy
used by Liljan Espenak.  It was most helpful to be reminded.  I went to
Nana Koch's intensive on Espenak in Minnesota and it was a wonderful
experience.  Nana is a wonderful teacher and brings materail that is useful
and fresh (to many of us ) .  I urge all who can to take advantage of the
opportunity and attend the workshop at KINECTIONS.
Take Care!  Barbara Busse


                                                                           
             Danielle Fraenkel                                             
             <daniellefraenkel                                             
             @kinections.com>                                           To 
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                                                                   Subject 
                                       [Adta] Comments & Question Re:      
             12/14/2006 04:51          Liljan Espenak                      
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Whenever I think about dance/movement therapy theory and practice, I turn
to Liljan Espenak’s seminal text, Dance Therapy: Theory and Application
(1985). Espenak was prescient. She had the foresight to develop a coherent
approach, not only to treatment, but to assessment as well. She could also
explain how dance/movement therapy was different from both verbal and other
movement oriented approaches. She understood, for example, why technique,
was a critical component of healing and building the "intact sense of self.
As a follower of Alfred Adler and Alexander Lowen, Espenak was especially
interested in the biological and physiological influences on psychological
development and in the significance of social feeling. She focused on these
long before dance therapists turned to other theorists and researchers such
as van der Kolk and Schore for support. With these concepts in mind,
Espenak combined her interests in culture, science, and psychology, with
her commitment to the healing power of dance. The result was a cogent,
realistic, and unique three-part treatment approach that included
evaluation and diagnosis, restructuring, and integration.


Each chapter in Espenak’s book has important information for those of us
who think about dance/movement therapy theory and practice. Yet, with the
exception of a few articles in the journal on her life and Levy’s chapter
on Espenak, as a field, we seem to have forgotten about her. That was
certainly true at the October conference. There was no one to represent
Espenak at the Friday evening event honoring the pioneers. This was
especially surprising to me because Espenak's work, and her book, in
particular,  presents topics that are especially relevant today (e.g. body
image, music, assessment, cultural influences, group processes,
contraindications, etc.). She also created a dance therapy program at New
York Medical College, Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospitals' Mental Retardation
Institute and Developmental Disabilities Clinic, and was one of our first
educators to run a structured training program in dance therapy.


The forewords in Espenak's book speak to the impact her work had on
distinguished clinicians such as Alexandra Adler and Alexander Lowen. They
understood the value of Espenak’s dance therapy program and respected her
treatment approach. It was applicable to all, yet carefully modified to
meet individual needs. The clarity of Espenak's decision making processes
as she balances the needs for both empathy and adaptation is especially
impressive. Why, then, I ask, do we as a profession forget to honor or
learn from Espenak?


I raise this question for two reasons: (1) Espenak was not included in the
ADTA conference event honoring the pioneers and (2) people have not been
registering for the Espenak course we are offering this January. Kinections
is offering the January series as a labor of love, out of commitment to a
field that, all too often, tends to absorb new information from others and
ignores the power of what dance therapists have already offered. Espenak's
work should not be forgotten by seasoned, practicing, or student
dance/movement therapists. Fortunately, Dr. Nana Koch, one of Espenak’s
students, can share Espenak’s work with us.


<>Who is Dr. Koch?
Dr. Nana S. Koch, Ed.D., ADTR, LCAT, NCC, LPC, CMA, was a student of
Espenak’s in the training program at the Mental Retardation Clinic of
Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospitals. She continued to have a close
professional and personal relationship with Espenak until her mentor's
death in 1988. An Associate Professor in the Department of Health, Physical
Education and Movement Science at Long Island University in New York and
evaluator for arts education programs in New York State, Dr. Koch was the
Coordinator of the Hunter College Dance/Movement Therapy Masters Program
before it closed in 1996. She has also been the Chair of the American Dance
Therapy Association (ADTA) Credentials Committee and is a long-standing
member of the ADTA Approval Committee. The author of several articles on
dance/movement therapy that have appeared in ADTA journals, she teaches the
work of Liljan Espenak in the United States, Japan and Costa Rica.
<>

<>Course Description

Psychomotor Therapy: The Liljan Espenak Approach to Dance/Movement Therapy
Wednesday, January 10-Friday, January 12 (24 hours)
Other information on our website:  www.kinections.com


This experiential and didactic course introduces students to Espenak's
system of psychomotor therapy. Attention is paid to the ways in which she
used expressive dance and diagnostic movement tools to facilitate
integration, the ideal body, and feelings of well-being. Adler and Lowen's
influence on Espenak's work is discussed, along with concepts inherent in
psychomotor therapy and its areas of application. By acquainting students
with Espenak's concepts of diagnosis, evaluation, restructuring, and
integration, students will learn how she used particular exercises to help
patients express the four emotions, develop muscle-memory, and experience
catharsis, all leading to behavioral change.




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