Transforming Lives Through Dance Movement Therapy

Abstract

newline This research examines the transformation pathways of dance movement therapy (DMT) and how DMT newline empowers the lives of survivors of violence and trafficking in Kolkata, West Bengal. The setting is in newline Kolkata Sanved, an NGO using DMT for psycho-social rehabilitation and empowerment. It is a newline qualitative study of the individual journeys of seven survivors of trafficking and violence. This research newline documents shows four phases of their lives: pre-violence, in-violence, post-violence, during DMT process newline and post-DMT process. The aim of this research is to better understand how violence and trafficking newline impacts the lives of survivors and how DMT helps research participants recover from trauma newline physically, emotionally, cognitively, and socially. newline The scholar facilitated this process with seven survivors for nine years and has continued to work with newline them even after forming Kolkata Sanved. These survivors were specifically chosen for the research as newline they went through every stage of DMT at Kolkata Sanved. These young women largely spent their lives newline in institutionalized care (NGO run shelter homes and NGO run drop-in centers) before entering DMT newline process. This research is grounded in 12 months of data collection. The study follows a qualitative newline research methodology using the case study approach. These case studies show each stage of their lives, newline before, during and after DMT process. The major objective of the research is to explore the effects of the newline Sampoornata approach to DMT on survivors of violence and trafficking based on survivors experiences. newline This thesis makes three major contributions: 1) Serves to understand the key factors affecting the life newline journeys of seven survivors in their pre-violence, in-violence and post-violence phases; 2) Maps the newline impact of the Sampoornata process on the survivors lives; 3) Outlines the model of Sampoornata, newline demonstrating how it uses DMT for holistic development, psycho-social rehabilitation and empowerment. newline This research does not include the applicability of this model to other groups, such as males, those who newline want to exit prostitution, those in crime and the wider population. This study also does not include a study newline of how DMT can be used as a preventative method.