ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors take a relational feminist stance and foreground some of the personal and existential dilemmas facing dance movement therapists who “do trauma work” within the criminal justice sector. Building on existing social justice perspectives from dance/movement therapy (DMT) and critical trauma discourse the authors offer personal reflections, theories of practice, and recommendations for therapists which reflect emerging principles of unoppressive practice. Drawing on practice and research experiences from within the criminal justice system in both the United States and Australia, this chapter articulates a vision for DMT practice that extends beyond the shadows of the medicalized treatment model toward a more collaborative, contextual, and socially just understanding of trauma.
