[Adta] Conference empowerment vs workplace ignorance

Thu Oct 4 20:01:01 EDT 2007

Dear Lora,
Reading your email, I am filled with a mix of thoughts and feelings - sympathy for you (I'm sure we've all had some moment of being struck dumb and unable to really speak up for what we do), frustration and anger at how hard it is for our work to be taken seriously...and lots more.

One of the things which greatly helped me at least come to an understanding of what we're actually up against was Bauman's concepts of "society as a factory of meanings" and "ideological hegemony".  Thus Societies construct what is meaningful, what is valued, thus defining what "reality" is.  These understandings have great power because (Cuniffe and Jun) "they form the basis for defining, judging, and valuing others; what is "good" practice; who are "good" performers; and what and who will be included and excluded because they do or do not fit the generally accepted norm of 'rational standard' "

The other concept is about which ideas are the accepted, hegemonic ideas in a society - these are idea which come to dominate and push out any alternative ideas.  As Fleck (1935/1979) points out that the "known" "has always seemed systematic, proven, applicable and evident to the knower.  Every alien system of knowledge likewise seemed constradictory, unproven, inapplicable, fanciful, or mystical".

While the above in some way makes our task of being validated in the eyes of "science", I found this an incredibly liberating concept a) in taking away the mantle of authority and "reality" from the accepted "scientific" view (basically it's just one of many ways to view the world), b) it did show me what I was up against but c) it helped me get some idea of where to put my efforts in terms of establishing dance therapy.  There are of course no easy answers - we're up against a mammoth for sure - but I don't feel intimidated by it now and I don't feel the need to try and conform to its particular standards.

Having said all that, I realise of course the realities of trying to get our work accepted in settings which don't subscribe to our values, the goals we set in our work and even our worldviews.

I am interested in your response about not just dancing but also learning about neuroscience etc. - and please don't take this as a criticism for I'm sure I've said similar things too in the past - Yet why should neuroscience be more worthy or weighty than dance?  In our hearts and among our fellow dance therapists, we know it's not - but when the headlights of society's reality beams on us, as you say, like an animal facing a car's headlights at night, we become disoriented and lose our sense of where we are...and therefore get flattened!

Yes let's learn about neuroscience, as we do about anatomy, but not as a justification to give to our  colleagues.  It is useful to know some of this language, to be realistic, as way to establish some credentials to competency - and a starting point for communication perhaps.  But if we wish to retain the essence of what our work is about, we are going to have to find ways to stand up for our language and our ways of working.  And let's face it, we will never ever - unless we totally transform dance therapy - be sufficient for a scientifical model.  Let's just accept that - and move on.  And do we want to be anyway???

Of course, we each have to negotiate, communicate etc. in our places of work - and find our individual ways of being true to our ways of working and yet be employed.  But my sense is that if one really takes on board the ideas I mentioned above from Bauman etc., I think this can be amazingly strengthening for ourselves.  A strong sense of ourselves and integrity in our work speak volumes, even if it's not couched in "scientific" terms.  One need only look at the complementary therapies etc - basically they just got on with it and while at first the medical profession tried to rubbish them, they eventually were doing so well, that the medicos started to try and co-opt them!

I think we need to go from a solid base and that base has to come from within (sorry about the mixed metaphors)...not to feel apologetic, or lesser.  Remember science is only one of many potential narratives of reality!  

If I have one wish, it is that we cease to equate "good" with "scientific" practice.  Rigour is possible outside a scientific framework.

I think we need to try to carry that strong sense of the power of what we do which is so affirmed at gatherings such as the Conference out into the world.
I think learning and reading widely beyond our field is good because it does give us an ability to community with those we work with, but it also can greatly enrich our perceptions of what we can accomplish with our dance therapy work.  For instance, my studies in dementia led me to person-centred care which has provided a very nourishing and supportive framework for my dance therapy practice.  I also learnt some of the science of dementia - some of which I have to say is decidedly suss!  I am fascinated with the new findings in neuroscience - it enriches the picture for me.
I think we should be exploring a wide range of research methodologies - again we need to stop bending the knee to the scientific method and look at the wide range of methodologies which offer rigourour inquiry.
I think we should perhaps be reading about how ideological hegemony can be undermined and circumvented.  Otherwise we exhaust ourselves trying to provide evidence etc etc. when in fact as Bauman etc demonstrate we are dealing with a value system blind to others He says " 'Mad' are only the unshared meanings.  Madness is no madness when shared".

Lora I hope some of these ideas are helpful.  I know they helped me.  I've written more about ideological hegemony in my doctoral thesis and can provide the online reference for you if you're interested in following it up.

All good wishes,
Heather  

---- Original Message ----- 
  From: Lora Wilson 
  To: adta at adta.org ; writelora at hotmail.com 
  Sent: Friday, October 05, 2007 7:35 AM
  Subject: [Adta] Conference empowerment vs workplace ignorance

  (Forgive me, colleagues, this is long, but I am compelled to communicate it. I can't NOT tell this. I really would welcome feedback - to my anecdote and/or my curriculum proposal. Especially to my curriculum proposal at the end of the message. Let's discuss!)

  Allow me to begin my conference highlights with a recounting of a shocking experience I had yesterday at my workplace.

  I mentioned in passing to a social worker at the hospital I work at that I had purchased the peace charm bracelet adorning my wrist at St. Paul's Cathedral next to Ground Zero. 

   "You were in New York recently?" 

  "Yes," I replied excitedly. "I was there all last week for the Nat'l Dance Therapy Conference!"  (I had already shared my excitement with others at the hospital earlier in the morning.)

  Before I could even finish the sentence she laughed.  Not a laugh that resonated in any way as being benign.  It was a mocking laugh that left her lips before her mind could edit it.  I sat staring at her in shock, mouth agape. Confused.  My co-worker, a recreation therapist, also looked at her incredulously. She asked for me, because I simply couldn't form words yet.
   "Why are you laughing?"  Then my defensiveness started to kick in and I echoed the inquiry. "Yes, why did you laugh?"   She fidgeted for a moment trying to find the words that could explain without offending and finally said "I shouldn't be suprised, they have a conference for everything these days. I guess you said it and I instantly just saw in my mind all these people coming together and dancing everywhere in the hotel and streets."  

  I couldn't articulate what I wanted to say. I wanted to say "yes, we WERE dancing in the hotel and the streets and on the steps of the Burough Hall and what exactly is wrong with that???" and at the same time . . . I wanted to ground her in our truth and science and explain to her everything I learned about how neuroscience is supporting what we have always done in our work and how we weren't just twirling and leaping through ballrooms...and and YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I DO, DO YOU?!?!?

  I really was a doe in the headlights, betrayed by seeing a glimpse of what my colleague must really feel about my work. (Truth be told, she's never seen what I do at the hospital -never observed a group for more than 20 seconds if that.) All I could get out in my stunned shock was "We actually weren't just dancing we were learning about neuroscience and neurobiology and...." To which she replied nervously, " well, of course, that makes sense that you were learning about OTHER things..."  Her emphasis of "other" implying that there was no connection to the dancing...

  The tension was palpable and could have been cut with a knife. My cell phone rang at that moment and honestly, I just turned away from the conversation and indulged in listening to a voicemail. I was too stunned to process speech and I knew that if I spoke I would speak in self-righteous anger and that that wouldn't add to the prestige of my profession. I could hear the social worker in the background say something to the rec therapist about wanting to crawl into a hole. When I got off the cell phone I said nothing and simply left the room to begin my group. I knew she was embarassed but I could also sense that it was an embarassment about being "caught" in her opinion - not that her opinion had changed.

  Why am I sharing this story?  This is not a feel good story/highlight of the conference.  I guess I'm sharing it for two reasons.  One - prior to this unforseen interaction I was on SUCH AN INCREDIBLE HIGH from the conference, excited about so many things, most notably:

   -- The site specific movement choir choreographed by Marylee - D/MT's being IN the public's eye, not hiding but dancing our truth and our name and our profession for any and all to see. (An audience member actually asked me where she could find out more about "doing this" - I invited her to come to the conference and get information! Street PR!! )

   -- Being reminded of the inherent power of simply DANCING in community, as embodied by the hip hop dancers from Colorado. Such an inspirational reminder it was to see these kids who know nothing about therapy, share their subjective experiences of how dancing basically was saving their lives.  Witnessing them was a reminder for me to return again and again to the whole reason I chose this path in the first place - because when I danced  (and when I DANCE) I knew/know healing, joy and ecstatic happiness and groundedness.

  --  The comradery of reuniting with old friends and making new friends - friendship forged on a foundation of shared, unspoken knowledge. Not having to justify a single thing.

  -- Seeing the NYSADTA film and Christine Devereaux's slideshow that will be invaluable tools for all of us to better communicate to outsiders what we do.

  -- And finally, attending so many seminars that incorporated neuroscience findings into our work. Being exposed to the scientific verbage that supports our work, that validates what we have always known experientially to be true.  I left those seminars ON FIRE to practice my knowledge, to learn more about the brain so that I could use that knowledge to articulate my work to those professionals who need science to accept ANY concept of which they are unfamiliar.

  But, when my co-worker so shockingly ridiculed our conference, I couldn't access that which I had just been exposed to. I did not OWN the knowledge, the terminology. It was not a natural part of my vocabulary - I had watched it sail by on the harbor and I knew it was a great ship that I wanted to be on but I had not yet stood at the helm and sailed it myself so ... all I could say ever clumsily was "we were learning about neuroscience and..."

  I was so angry. Livid.  How dare reality set back in so quickly - I had just been where EVERYONE got it. EVERYONE knew. EVERYONE honored what we do.  It was as if an ice cold bucket of water had been thrown at me. Oh, that's right -  back to the world of advocating and educating and educating and educating...  And as I let that interaction sit me with throughout the rest of the day I observed it change from anger and defensiveness to a CALL TO ARMS.  I began to reframe that interaction and be grateful for it, painful as it was in the moment.  I have WORK to do here. Thank you, social worker, for reminding me that the majority of the hospital staff here really have no idea what I do and why it works and how it works. Thank you, social worker, for jolting me out of my complacency... AT A TIME, when I am MOST fueled with new knowledge and connections and networking support. THANK YOU  for inspiring me to review the conference proceedings and journal articles and pitch to my Director of Nursing that I do an inservice for the clinical staff (yes, the psychiatrists and the doctors and the social workers) on Mirror Neurons and D/MT and speak to them on their terms so that they might finally understand. Thank you for stirring such indignation in me that I have no choice but to stand up before my colleagues and insist upon educating them.

  Which brings me to my proposal to the ADTA's Education Committee.  I do not know what each university program has as part of their curriculum and perhaps this is being addressed in some universities. I pursued the alternate route so I simply know what was required of me.  A graduate level course in neuroscience was not required.

  It needs to be.

  We are required to take kinesiology/anatomy. We are required to learn about the bones and the muscles and how they work to create the movement equation of the mindbody connection.  We should be required to have one course on how the BRAIN contributes to the movement equation of the mindbody connection.

  Why don't we do ourselves all a HUGE favor and instead of making neuroscience concepts the property of PhDs and individual D/MTs who are self-motivated to do private learning - why don't we make it core curriculum?

  I don't feel that mandating a neuroscience component diminishes in anyway our roots in the intrinsic healing power of dance - studying anatomy doesn't diminish the "dance" component, nor should having a cursory knowledge of the brain's contributions to that anatomy.

  We are the first ones to say... "don't forget the body part of the mindbody connection." Let's not ignore the brain part too, ESCPECIALLY because ... if all D/MT generations going forth are schooled in that terminology as part of their degree... their frustrations with educating and advocating our work will be far less - because they will have the tools in hand when they graduate, without needing doctoral study or additional courses.

  We've been doing it all along - now that science is catching up to us, we need to have their research be part of our arsenal. (Sorry for the weaponry terminology - guess I'm still a little angry. )    :-)

  What are YOUR thoughts????

  Sincerely and passionately,
  Lora Wilson, MA, DTR

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