RESULTS

Data were gathered through the therapist’s session notes, the patient’s drawings, and movement observation, and they were analyzed with the help of NVivo.

Theme 1. Desire to Move Forward

Minji wanted to escape from her abusive marriage, which was symbolically represented by the space behind her. As a result, she was preoccupied by using only the space in front of her, and was unable to see other space. Minji had a strong negative emotional attachment to the space behind her, which was expressed through comments such as the feeling that “bad energy [was] dragging her down.” The space before her symbolically represented the future, where she longed to go like “a flying bird” (Session 7), even though this was as difficult as “climbing [a] steep mountain alone” (Session 9). Although the room was large enough to create movement sequences, because Minji wanted only to move forward, she regularly encountered situations where she had no space in front of her. Minji’s preoccupation with forward space limited her ability to see any other space, which decreased her options for spaces around her into which she could move. This reflected her difficult}' in getting help, resulting in her social isolation and lack of support. In LMA, the sagittal plane represents intuition and decision making, It is lack of horizontal space representing relationship and resources around self. Here, Minji was able to intuitively use her body to make the decisions that she needed to survive her abusive relationship and environment.

Theme 2. A Boiling Emotional Container

The second theme, a boiling emotional container, symbolically represented Minji’s emotional memories of the abuse she had experienced in her marriage. Min (2009) described haan as a mix of suppressed emotions that does not allow an outlet for the expression of emotions. Minji’s identified haan was expanded to include 14 different emotions after Session 6. These increasing emotions were like bubbles that started to boil more once Minji was allowed to feel and express herself. When self-expression is not possible, this can lead to the suppression of anger, aggression, and other feelings and desires. This temporary increase in the emotions that comprised Minji’s haan could have indicated that Minji’s emotional experiences became deeper and clearer as she embodied and externalized them. While Minji wrote “I am angry and dreary” after Session 10, just being able to express her feelings clearly in writing, was a big step forward, and she reported feeling much more confidence.

Theme 3. Body in Pain and Shame

The third theme, body in pain and shame, encapsulated Minji’s somatic distress relating to her emotions, many of which were linked to being a divorced Korean woman. In working with Minji, I found that the body was an easier place to start, as Minji was so reluctant to open up verbally about her emotional struggles. Minji often complained of physical pain instead of emotional pain. Allowing her to talk about these physical pains and sensations proved to be a good place to start to address emotional issues. Minji recalled being a ‘‘good daughter” before she got married but was now a ‘‘divorced woman,” a shameful status in the Korean community that prevented her from returning to her homeland or talking about her current status to her family there. This fear and shame created social isolation and further prevented Minji from receiving support in either the United States or Korea.

Theme 4. Wisdom From Both the Moving and the Silent Body

The fourth theme speaks to the emergence of new movement, and to the moments of silence and pause. It explained how Minji used her body to understand herself and regain strength. She reflected on meaningful moments from her movements that connected to her life and helped her to find her own potential strength, asserting that “I have two arms” with which to fly. Minji also defined her movement of ‘‘pushing bad energy” from past abusive experiences as her most powerful moment in the scarf dance, while describing the moment of stepping backward. In later sessions, Minji engaged in new behaviors, taking time to pause and be silent. This more relaxed pace allowed her time to think and reflect, enabling her to gain insight and get in touch with her strength. Her new emergent movements, such as pressing, expressed hope that this “tree without roots” would put down roots in her new land, presenting more bodily grounding than at the beginning of therapy.

CONCLUSION

The world is incredibly culturally diverse; while this enriches culture and offers clinicians the chance to meet clients from various backgrounds, it also means that a competent and ethical clinician must learn and develop sensitivity to diversity (Chang, 2016). This study presents the use of traditional dance as a DMT therapeutic intervention, allowing an in-depth exploration of a client’s psychological and emotional difficulties within her unique sociocultural context, thereby providing sensitive and effective treatment. This clinical case also represents, specifically, a cluster of emotions called haan that is unique to a Korean cultural context. Understanding haan gives a good example of how some cultures value containing emotions rather than expressing them. In these cases, it may be easier to approach treatment by talking about physical symptoms than to discuss emotional difficulties directly. It is hoped that this chapter supports dance/movement therapists’ competency when treating clients from different cultural backgrounds, and offers inspiration as to how ethnic dance can be a resource with which to access embodied knowledge and to understand a client’s unique context.

NOTE

The case study featured in this chapter was previously published in Aris in Psychotherapy (Ko, 2017) with the publisher’s permission (#501388770). Modified portions of this article were also taken from a doctoral dissertation (Ko, 2015). Personal details about Minji have been altered to protect her privacy.

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