[Adta] documenting movement data

Sat Feb 24 19:12:05 EST 2007

Dear Dani,
I just wanted to say how good it was to read your message.  This sounds like an excellent way to accommodate the context we work in and yet to honour still the language (and values, etc.) of dance therapy.  Not only does this maintain the integrity of us as dance therapists in that we do not have to suppress our own ways of knowing and speaking in our work contexts, but it serves as an educational tool to others.  Fantastic!  I think this not only serves to reinforce the value of our work, and but also, over time, gives non-dmt staff an example of other ways of looking at their patients/clients - thus enhancing and enriching their understanding of the people they work with.

Best wishes,
Heather 

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Danielle Fraenkel 
  To: Christine Hopkins 
  Cc: adta at adta.org 
  Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2007 12:02 AM
  Subject: Re: [Adta] documenting movement data

  Dear Lora ,Christine, and list members,
  I view documenting as an opportunity to educate staff. and anyone else who will be reading my notes. To do so, I integrate language that staff are accustomed to, language that dmts use, and include short phrases or even one sentence explanations when necessary. A few weeks ago, I did an assessment of a high functioning autistic, 12 year old. The report went to her parents, members of  her IEP committee, and her primary care physician. The mother called to thank me. She wanted me to know that she, her husband, and the IEP committee members had all commented on the accessibility of the report and the ways in which it deepened their understanding of dance/movement therapy -- so much so that they are looking to see if they can offer dmt to more of the children and adolescents in their school system.

  I have had similar experiences at the partial hospitalization program for eating disorders for which I lead dmt groups for adolescents and adults. ( I have males as well as females in my ed groups.) To help staff understand the process, my notes always start with the session's theme(s). I write them in the language the staff uses and in the language I use to describe dance movement phenomena. As a result of my repetitive use of  dmt language, language that grows out of my approach to dmt, LivingDance, the team is developing a study to examine the relationship between some of the parameters I refer to in my dmt notes and outcome measures.

  I believe that one key to working this way is to have a clear understanding of one's views on the theory and practice of dance/movement therapy. I, for example, am a firm believer in the healing inherent in dance movement itself. I value psychological explanations, but see them as secondary, as ways to support what the dance movement has already told us. My explanations grow out of what I know about dance, from the formal factors delineated in effort/shape and KMP, to phenomena that we, as dancers, know, e.g., tempo, muscle connection and muscle memory, breath, and the sense of the body as a whole. By using language over and over again, and being sure that we believe in the healing inherent in dance, we will educate staff and the public at large. 

  Another key to writing meaniggful documentation is to keep dancing ourselves--to stay in touch with the healing art that we work so hard to share with others. I  Israeli folk dance, swing dance, and improvise, alone and with friends, in my studio. I also write, take yoga classes, and knit, but it is the dancing that keeps my dmt sessions and documentation alive.

  Dani Fraenkel,
  _____________________________________________ 
  Danielle L. Fraenkel, Ph.D., ADTR,  NCC, LCAT, LMHC 
  Director, 
  Kinections 
  at Imagine Square   http://www.kinections.com 
  718 University Avenue 
  Rochester, NY 14607 
  Tel: 585.473.5050 
  TEl & FAX: 585.442.8499 

  Christine Hopkins wrote: 
    Hi Lora--

    I'm responding to your message (pasted below) about documenting movement data in charts. My dmt training (NYU grad school) and experience in work settings indicates that using lay language is best, since charts are read by nurses, doctors, physical therapists, social workers, aides, etc.  I have found that staff are very appreciative of simple and clear descriptive language about body movement data and that it helps them observe movement data better also.

    Hope this helps in your process of building how you want to include movement data in charting at your facility.

    Christine Hopkins

    Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 01:03:59 +0000
    From: "Lora Wilson" <writelora at hotmail.com>
    Subject: [Adta] incorporating DMT parameters into hospital
    documentation
    To: adta at adta.org
    Message-ID: <BAY121-F9F30E5684FBBFB5FA293BA28F0 at phx.gbl>
    Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

    Hello all.

    Wow! There has been so much written in the past few days on research and 
    evidence-based data... I haven' had a chance yet to read everything but I am 
    looking forward to it greatly.

    On a related note, the psych hospital I am working at is in the process of 
    reformatting our "group participation logs."  I am technically part of the 
    Activity Therapy dept, along with a music therapist and two recreational 
    therapists.  We are going to streamline and make one log for AT dept and SS 
    dept to use to chart on groups.  Both depts currently chart on the following 
    data:

    Thought Process/Cognition (e.g., focused,tangential, superficial responses, 
    disorganized, etc)
    Mood/Affect (e.g., agitated, anxious, depressed, congruent, manic etc)
    Participation Level (passive, dependent on prompts, active, resistant, etc)
    Behaviors/Interactions (verbally abusive, oppositional, isolative, 
    cooperative, etc)
    Goals

    ******
    I would very much like to officially incorporate movement based 
    data/observations into the chart.  Of course, currently, I will chart 
    movement observations in the notes, for example, "anxious as evidenced by 
    pacing, psychomotor disturbances of hands, etc" but nothing beyond that.

    Have any of you officially incorporated movement data into your charting?  
    Is it based on Laban, KMP or on more "generic" layman descriptions?  This 
    may be my only shot at incorporating a dmt influenced change into this 
    document (change is not easily accepted here.)

    Do you have any suggestions for me?

    Many thanks,
    Lora Wilson, MA, DTR
    Long Beach, CA

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