A heuristic enquiry into resonance within the therapeutic relationship of a client who suffered from abuse and a trainee Dance Movement Psychotherapist

This is a Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) heuristic case-study of 11 sessions with a female client who suffered from abuse. The main approach used with this client was Authentic Movement (AM). The aim of my study was to distinguish resonating material into material I shared with my client through embodied empathy and material I experienced on behalf of my client as somatic countertransference. The term resonance was used to describe both embodied empathy and somatic countertransference. The findings depict the following themes as embodied empathy: 'fear', 'bliss' and 'connection'. 'Fear, 'maternal' and 'waiting' were perceived as somatic countertransference. A video was recorded to underline the descriptions of movement and somatic states. Finally the findings were discussed in relation to the reviewed literature.msc_danunpub1515_ethesesunpu