ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to make visible the practice of dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) with people with learning disabilities. It presents dance movement psychotherapists' practical and lived experience of being with people with learning disabilities and/or complex needs. The book explores threads of embodied relationships, giving voice and language to personal and political aspects of the learning disability DMP context. It also presents a vibrant fibre of experience and contributes to the life tapestry that makes psychotherapy practice so rewarding. The book then focuses on how DMP can contribute to the emotional well-being of the community within which it operates. It considers what DMP with people with learning disabilities looks like from the point of referral, through the assessment process, and as an intervention embracing specific methodologies to address the particular needs of the clients and the setting.
