What is an eco-kinetic approach to therapy?

My approach to psychotherapy moves you beyond talk therapy to the intersection of established body-based modalities like dance/movement therapy (my primary area of expertise) and sensorimotor psychotherapy (see Dr Pat Ogden’s work). It also integrates elements and principles from eco-psychotherapy (see Mary-Jayne Rust’s work) and more holistic approaches to spiritual care (see my Indigenous mentors at Soul of the Mother lodge).

The word ‘therapy’ evolved from modern Latin therapia, or Greek therapeia meaning healing and restoring to wholeness. The word ‘eco-kinetic’ comes from scholar Kimerer Lamothe, whose ecologically minded movement-based philosophy and numerous publications have influenced my own approach to working with both groups and individuals. In her own words, an eco-kinetic phenomenology is ‘a perspective on humanity in which dance appears as vital to the ability of humans, individually and collectively, to sustain the health and well-being of the earth matrix of which we are one moment’.

The goal of eco-kinetic therapy is to rekindle a sense of balance and harmony through a process of attunement between our inner and outer, conscious and subconscious landscapes. It explores our associations and dissociations and offers space to investigate how our attachments and patterns make us who we are–but most crucially–how we can evolve and adapt them to better align with who we wish to become. While no two sessions with a mover are the same, they usually follow the 5 stage arch of a dance/movement therapy session which unfolds as opening, release, theme, centering, and closure.

There are four main pillars to this practice:

Exploration
Following Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, every session begins with a physical check-in.
We bring awareness to our embodied experience of self.
Experimentation
We learn through play, experimenting with elements like space, weight, time, and flow.
What thoughts and patterns emerge? What shows up for us emotionally and psychologically?
Expression
We share our experiences through compassionate relational exchanges.
Through kinaesthetic empathy and expression, we can move held trauma and release some of what we have been holding alone.
Evolution
The tripartite process of exploration, experimentation and expression allows us to ‘update our software’ by engaging the autonomic nervous system directly.
We can evolve by rewiring our neural maps through the body-mind-world repatterning work that takes place in a session.

I work with varied populations in a range of clinical, educational, and private settings. I often integrate elements from the natural world and encourage outdoor explorations when it feels safe enough to do so. You can read more about the specific attachment and attunement work I do with children here and further explore my rates and credentials here. My practice is most effective for those wishing to literally move beyond talk therapy, but absolutely no dance experience is required and I adapt sessions to meet diverse ages and abilities.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to request a free clarity call where I can elaborate on my scope of practice and we can jointly assess whether my interventions would be a good fit for you.