Everything moves.
The planets spin.
Mountains rise up only to wear down again,
filling valleys as they do.
The winds blow.
Sitting still, we breathe in and then we breathe out,
in again and out.
Everything moves.
All things have a special dance and although sometimes
we don’t quite remember our own dance,
we each have one.

In celebration of our myriad dances and the aliveness they bring to us, I met with Caroline Loupe, a licensed psychotherapist (LCPC) specializing in Dance/Movement Therapy to find out more about her work. We met at her New Gloucester, Maine studio nestled among the trees in a quiet and peaceful feeling place, scarcely visible from the road.

The American Dance Therapy Association defines Dance/Movement Therapy as the psychotherapeutic use of movement to foster integration of the mind, body and spirit of an individual. But how does that unfold?  What changes for us? I asked Caroline to talk a little about what she does.

CL: If I’m on the elevator and someone says,  “What do you do?” I say that I’m a licensed clinical counselor specializing in Dance/ Movement Therapy. That’s about the most dry uninteresting thing in the whole world…but sometimes people say “Oh, Dance/ Movement Therapy, oh that’s interesting, what is that?”  Well, there isn’t time in that elevator speech to talk about more. But that is basically what I do.

My training at Antioch/NE in DMT and early work has been with the most disturbed of populations. My first job as a Dance Movement Therapist was working with violent sexual offenders. I stepped into the deep water and found that it was a modality I could use for working with the boys; it was all boys, to the extent that I was allowed to use it. I think that I was just unusual enough that when I was interviewing for the job, the administration thought “Well this is different, let’s see what she does.” I remember that one of the questions I was asked by the administration at the Maine Youth Center was “If a boy were cowering in the corner, what would you do?”  I said that I didn’t know, but I probably would do something that would attune to what he was doing. I would non-verbally move my body in a way that would give him a signal that would allow us to meet just there, where he was. I would attune as I am attuning to you, with gesture and body. It’s as meeting of hearts.

PF: Like matching breath with someone.

CL: One of the most profound exercises we did in training was just sitting with another person, being present for that person with the palm of our hands on their back, asking them to breathe into that place. For that person it was a profound experience, our presence, without any attempt to fix or do something to them, but instead just sitting with them, establishing presence with them. So to go back to what I do, I try to do in the world what I do in Dance/ Movement Therapy, which is to be present, to the world and to the environment and to myself.

As I go over the notes from our conversation, I am struck with the simplicity, the importance and the difficulty of Being Present. How often am I fully present to myself? Our ordinary reality world rushes along with its plans and obligations, both real and imagined, and does not encourage this way of being, yet it is so powerful. I know when I am keeping company with this Presence either within myself or with others. For me the feel of it has nothing to do with agreement or like thinking. It is deeper. It is about essence. To me there is a suchness to it that touches the soul.

In her present day work, Caroline has chosen a focus on wellness (mental, emotional and spiritual). She describes this change from her earlier practice and training by saying that when you learn to drive through the busiest intersection in the city, you pay attention one way… then when you move down a country lane, it’s quite different. As many others have also done, Caroline has chosen to drive on the country lane and include slower time and beauty with her clients.

When she is with clients, she notices her own kinesthetic responses/empathy to what is being said in word or movement. From this place of intuition and assessment, she suggests structures to clients that will help them use movement to express and clarify their Truth—at whatever level is comfortable and safe for them. Her practice rests on a deep belief that therapy is always a journey of the spirit between the therapist and the client. Also fundamental to her work is the importance of establishing an interested, compassionate and forgiving presence to all living beings, including the self.

Horses as Healers and Teachers

This summer Gena McGrath, who is the founder of Naturally Speaking a process of teaching natural horsemanship, Caroline and her daughter, artist and teacher, Kerry Loupe are offering workshops working with horses as an avenue to greater self-awareness. Horses as Healers and Teachers requires no previous horse experience. Through demonstrations and experiential work with the horses a participant will discover ways to build clearer relationships. Through acceptance, patience and respect, the horses will teach the humans how to recognize habitual behavior patterns, emotional blocks and how to be present in the moment, develop confidence, trust and mindful leadership skills.

CL: Horses as healers and teachers, what an amazing adventure, something others might be interested in learning to do… being with and seeing yourself in the mirror of the horse. We all know how to do this. We think we don’t and are fearful. The horses are huge and it’s interesting to experience ourselves in their presence. The three of us, Kerry, Gena and I are moving with this work in a way that feels organic. We are getting used to working together. As we proceed, we are paying attention to ways we can attune with and complement one another. I had a horse as a child so that is helping me be more responsive to the horse. And there is fear! All the time I think they are going to kick me! So there is a teeter-totter between my fear and the centered part of me!

PF: How might this work be applied to increasing health and potential?

CL: My clinical understanding is always present, but the application of that varies, sometimes working with horses or not, with drums, with art work or simply the body moving, all of which is a way of mentally, spiritually, physically stretching ourselves.

There are many ways of improving ourselves but the movements we do to prepare ourselves are not the ”dance”. They are part of the dance, but I notice over and over again that “where you put your foot” or “how far you go” or “this is the muscle you use”… that is not sufficient in the work that I do which is to invite the inner and outer dance.

When there is dance there is joy and aliveness, creativity and spontaneity.

Coming Out

CL: We have are so many qualifiers about seeking aliveness; I have responsibilities, I don’t have time…
That is sad because there is so much waiting for people, whenever they wish to step into the circle. But they are “busy tending to things’ and, indeed, people are under such pressure these days. However, when we choose a narrow focus, keep making the same movement all day without relief, something is going to go wrong with our bodies and surely our spirits, and we are going to end up feeling awful.

One of the forerunners of dance movement therapy was engaged to go into the mills and factories in England to figure out why there was such high absenteeism. This was in the 30’s. People were performing assembly line work, so the workers were repeating the same motions over and over again. What he determined was that after a certain amount of time, the workers needed to change stations so they would then be engaging in a different, somewhat opposite kind of motion in order to remain healthy.

We all need some variety.
It’s important to climb out of the box!

Come to an Authentic Movement session, Healing with Horses or to drumming! There are so many wonderful activities being offered all over that people can engage in. Yet some of us have a story within ourselves that says we need to protect ourselves, and we scarcely dare venture outside the boxes of daily business. There is a part of ourselves that needs to connect with something that can allow variety. I am only talking about myself of course, but I know what I experience is pretty typical. For me it is such a relief to… be in a place of discovery. Can I allow myself to navigate for 30 seconds or a minute in the Present?

As a part of our conversation, Caroline stood up and moved to the center of the room while I observed. Our conversation then continued in another way, still expressive, with occasional words, yet another form of communication with body and environment.

What a perfect example of things that can hold me back! If I had been a bit quicker and a bit more adventurous, I could have put thinking about the time allotted to our conversation and my pre-conceived ideas of what this article would encompass aside. I could have responded in kind. I thought about it and I relinquished the idea as impractical. I allowed my head with its particular way of thinking to dictate what I did. Rats! Words can be wonderful tools for expression, but they cannot do everything. As Caroline points out, our bodies are always speaking to us. What they say is true and their wisdom needs to be listened to.

If you are willing, as an experiment, just imagine engaging with a friend, or perhaps several friends, checking in with each other without speaking! What would you do? How might that feel? As I myself contemplate this, I become engaged in the process with definite pleasure. Still, I am thinking, not yet moving! Actually engaging my body in this process expands me grounds me and offers me new understandings of my surroundings and myself. For me it is exciting, expansive!

If you would like to find out more about how these movement processes might enhance your own life, Caroline Loupe may be reached at 207-926-5983

FMI about Horses as Healers and Teachers: Gena 207-926-5789; Kerry 207-756-9520 or Caroline 207-926-5983

Pony Girl the banner artwork is courtsey of SandySandy. More of her work can be seen at www.sandysandy.com and www.dreamstime.com.

© Pat Foley 2009

Pat Foley attempts to live a green/sustainable life just outside of Cornish, Maine. She is the owner of Earthrest, a place of retreat for groups and individuals. The underlying focus of Earthrest is following Gandhi’s advice to be the change we wish to see in the world. You may contact Pat at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (207) 625-4179.