Relationships in Motion: Exploring Partner Dancing as an Embodied Psychotherapeutic Approach for Couples Therapy

This qualitative study explored the potential of partner dancing (PD) as a process supporting couples therapy. It examined the experience of PD as a therapeutic experiential medium that reflects upon the dynamics and interactions of couples who are presently engaged in therapy. Additionally, it sought to investigate whether PD supports and enhances these couples’ therapeutic process. A phenomenological design focused on the couples’ experiences of learning PD. Five couples undergoing therapy, in parallel with the research, engaged in four weekly PD sessions incorporating movement and reflection led by the researcher who was a dance/movement therapist and a PD instructor. Data collected involved interviews capturing couples’ experiences regarding PD’s relational impact and its influence on their therapeutic process, alongside pre/post interviews with the couples’ therapists, and video reflection provided by a dance/movement therapist. Qualitative Analysis revealed eight emerging themes: communication, intimacy, synchronization, attunement, negotiating spaces, interpersonal dynamics, shifts, and PD as couples therapy. Findings provided insight into how PD can enhance therapeutic processes for couples, acting as a psychological playground that illuminates couples’ capacities to connect on multifaceted levels. This study contributes to literature on incorporating creative movement-based approaches complementing traditional talk therapy for couples.