Am J Dance Ther (2011) 33:196208 DOI 10.

1007/s10465-011-9116-4

Holistic Marketing for Dance/Movement Therapy: A Heuristic Study

Kimberly Schmidt

Published online: 21 September 2011 American Dance Therapy Association 2011

Abstract Literature suggests that dance/movement therapy is still relatively unknown in the healthcare profession and that marketing, when used effectively, can increase job opportunities for dance/movement therapists. This heuristic study is based on the assumption that holistic marketing, as described in Andrea Adlers books The Science of Spiritual Marketing and Creating an Abundant Practice, reect the integrity and values of dance/movement therapy. By focusing on the experience of being initiated into the holistic marketing paradigm as a dance/ movement therapist, the following themes were revealed that allow for insight into the relationship between holistic marketing and dance/movement therapy: awareness of core values, connection, and communication. Recommendations are made for future research to expand the presence of dance/movement therapy in healthcare. Keywords Dance/movement therapy Holistic marketing Business

Introduction As a student, I was frustrated with an inability to communicate what dance/ movement therapy is to those in and outside the mental health eld. With this personal experience in mind, I wondered what external factors might contribute to the heavy and burdensome feelings I carried alongside the light, energetic qualities I experienced with dance/movement therapy. I reviewed literature on the mental health system in the United States to get a clearer picture of the structure in which the modality of dance/movement therapy exists. Many articles illustrate mental health care as a struggling system. First of all, in a complex health matrix, the mental health system trails general health care in funding and is broken and
K. Schmidt (&) 109 High Street, Waltham, MA 02453, USA e-mail: schmidt.kimberly.a@gmail.com

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unorganized, resulting in a myriad of social ills from insufcient care for both children and adults with severe mental illness (Frank & Glied, 2006a, b; Grob, 2005; Presidents New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 2003). Todays mental healthcare system is a complex network largely managed by state and federal governments outsourcing valuable decisions to companies with little knowledge of the system but whom adhere to a bottom line, extinguishing consumer voice in the process (Frank & Glied, 2006a, b; Huang & Provan, 2007; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). The holes left from this process are lled to some extent by foundation donations, but these foundations do not list mental health as a top priority in their giving (Brousseau, Langill, & Pechura, 2003). Government commissions and those who research and analyze health care policy and economics suggest studying the current system and the nonprot sector to look for solutions (Brousseau et al.; Frank & Manning, 1992; Huang & Provan; Presidents New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 2003). While these suggestions address the issue of health care at large, literature also exists that addresses health care professionals struggling to bring in clients and revenue on the small business and private practice scale. Sohnen-Moe (1997) and Adler (2003) address this concern by outlining ways in which these health care professionals need to incorporate business tactics into their practice while maintaining their caring values. The stereotype of business people being concerned only with making money and caring people being concerned with people and not the money polarizes the values of business and caring professionals, and results in the health care professions being turned off by the notion of business (Adler, 2007; Sohnen-Moe, 1997). However, such shying away on the part of the caring people is futile to successful health care practice, while becoming educated in business tactics allows one to choose what business strategies to utilize (Adler 2003, 2007; Sohnen-Moe, 1997). Although Adler and Sohnen-Moe speak to small business and private practice, the fundamentals of their business strategies might have some bearing on the dance/movement therapy and mental health world at large. To examine this further, I have investigated the business paradigms of marketing and public relations because I believe they could help inform people about dance/movement therapy. When referring to the term marketing, I am describing any contact with the outside world through disciplines including arts, science, and psychology working in conjunction with sales, sales promotion, merchandising, marketing research, advertising, and public relations in order to inuence behavior to attract and keep clients (Levinson, 2001; Safr, 2007; Sohnen-Moe, 1997). Riggs (1982) described public relations from a healthcare perspective as policies and procedures that the public cares about, weighs in on public opinion, and formulates ways to gain understanding and acceptance from the public; Shankman (2007) described public relations as taking any story, dressing it up, and presenting it in a way to get the media and the public to talk about it. While I found Riggs, Sohnen-Moe, Safr, and Adler the most helpful in my pursuit of understanding the paradigms of healthcare and business, I have only found two professionals who directly address marketing and dance/movement therapy in print.

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Marketing and Dance/Movement Therapy While Kirschenmann (2006), dance/movement therapist and certied corporate business coach, presents marketing body/mind for dance/movement therapists, Geer (1990) attempts to demystify marketing in order for dance/movement therapists to be able to craft new positions and increase job opportunities. Both Geer (1990) and Kirschenmann (2006) acknowledge that dance/movement therapists know how to connect to clients in therapy and assess their needs, skills that are the foundation of successful marketing. Geer (1990) also addresses a challenge: Dance/movement therapy as a relatively new and different human service faces some unique marketing barriers. In particular the creative eeting nature of the modality makes hard scientic research methods difcult to employ and its value a challenge to communicate to those who have not experienced it. (p. 47) Kirschenmann (2006) also acknowledges that because dance/movement therapy is based in non-verbal communication, translating it into spoken and written word might be a difcult task. Addressing this challenge in his article, Geer (1990) gives a detailed example of a dance/movement therapy marketing plan. In his conclusion, Geer (1990) provides practical suggestions on how to establish marketing practices as part of the dance/movement therapy profession. In her address The Rhythm of Entrepreneurship at the 2005 American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) national conference, Kirschenmann (Appel & Welsh, 2006) guided those present in six steps to what she calls the Entrepreneurial Exhale for Dance/Movement Therapists as a way to explain dance/movement therapy to others or help ones business. These steps consist of getting in touch with your enthusiasm and importance of what you do, envisioning the action youll take, following through with it, and writing about what you did to complete the commitment. Kirschenmann (2006) presents ve strategies for developing the body/mind marketing: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Become familiar. Focus. Be intentional with thoughts and feelings. Think differently. Use your imagination. Be in conversation. Take action. Move it into the world.

Kirschenmann (2006) brings awareness to obstacles to promoting dance/ movement therapy, and emphasizes the human potential to expose the body/mind to new ideas and ways of being. She suggested that with the intention of learning and developing the fundamental verbal and body communication tactics of marketing, dance/movement therapists can further their success. In so doing, spirituality and creativity become byproducts of supporting a body/mind approach. Levy (2005) includes spirit as an important component of dance/movement therapy: healing individuals to regain a sense of wholeness by experiencing the fundamental unity of body, mind and spirit is the ultimate goal of dance/movement therapy (p. 1).

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Creativity in Business While dance and dance/movement therapy cannot exist without creativity (Levy, 2005), creativity in business is often thought as separate from joy and selfexpression. In Guerrilla Creativity, Levinson (2001) continuously notes that creativity is used with the intent of changing peoples minds to generate prots, taming creativity, and limiting its depths: [creativity] may not inspire thoughts of love, of holiness, of the magnicence of humankind. Those are not its tasks. Its task is to create a desire for your product or service (p. 8). Aburdene (2005), Adler (2003, 2007), Bryan, Cameron, & Allen (1998), and Sohnen-Moe (1997) say instead that business prosperity will result from meaning and purpose being channeled in a creative approach. With the right tools, creativity and success within a business do not have to be compromised. In a concrete example of this point, Bryan et al. (1998) tailored a 12 week program in The Artists Way at Work to business professionals on the premise that spiritual enlightenment and knowledge of self through creative processes lead to expanded sense of intuition, condence and satisfaction heightened awareness of and appreciation for your particular gifts and challenges (p. xxi). Safr (2007) and Shankman (2007) also agree that such spiritual electricity leads to innovation and allows one to enjoy work and life in a productive, successful, authentic manner. Spirituality and the Whole in Business Creativity has an energetic, spiritual component (Bryan et al., 1998; Safr, 2007; Shankman, 2007; Sohnen-Moe, 1997). Denitions of spirituality include a desire for meaningful and purposeful knowledge of ones self coupled with a connection to others, the larger world, and a larger force (Aburdene, 2005; Adler, 2003, 2007; Sohnen-Moe, 1997). This larger force is also identied as God, described as everything from quantum energy, to a collection of energy, a source, or some sense of a helping force (Bryan et al., 1998, pp. 104105). Aburdene (2005, p. 4) breaks spirituality down into the following features: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Meaning or purpose Compassion Consciousness Service Well being

When I speak of spirituality hence forth, I am referring to these ve features. Although I have not found a specic denition of spirituality in the context of dance/movement therapy, in her survey of dance therapists, Levy (2005) found a shift toward the incorporation of spirituality in dance/movement therapy practice. Levys research in dance literature exhibited that every form of dance acknowledges faith or spiritual aspects, and dance has served as a form of prayer and meditation and as a way to reach the collective unconscious (2005, p. 281). Looking at spirituality in business, Aburdene (2005) found a growing trend in alternative [health] care, a category into which dance/movement therapy ts. This

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growing trend not only increases the demand for these services, but also spills over into every day businesses and care, including Western medicine. Aburdene (2005) further states that spirituality in general business, which has been growing for decades, is now a trend and shows no sign of stopping. Many magazines and newspapers report on this trend, universities chart a rise in spiritually and faithbased nonprots, as well as large and small companies incorporating spiritual, selfawareness practices, transforming business and the people involved in it (Adler, 2007; Bryan et al., 1998). By restoring spirit and ethics, values of humanity are brought back into commerce. A study from DePaul University shows that companies with strong ethics outperform the rest of the S&P 500 by ten percentile points (Aburdene, 2005). As ethics and values are inherent to clinical practice, so a spiritual and ethical marketplace is a natural t for dance/movement therapists. Caring and Integrity in Marketing The ve features of spirituality Aburdene (2005) articulated are also prevalent in the literature for caring-based health practitioners, moving them to expand their services while keeping their values and integrity (Sohnen-Moe, 1997). Sohnen-Moe speaks to the person-centered nature of dance/movement therapy when she says that to maintain the integrity of caring while engaging in business, one does not have to subscribe to traditional views of marketing which may seem offensive, such as selling. Value centered marketing, and holistic marketing, are alternative forms that allow health care concerns to align with business and feel distinctly different from more traditional marketing and public relations (Adler, 2007; Sohnen-Moe). It is a current trend in marketing literature to nd personal passion for the work and let it guide the process (Levinson, 2001; Shankman, 2007). In the value-centered and holistic marketing processes, this energy creates the marketing materials and is reected in their marketing messages (Adler, 2007; Levinson, 2001; Shankman, 2007; Sohnen-Moe). After accessing passion and integrity in the value-centered and holistic marketing approaches, the next step is to present the ethical story of the service providers and their profession to educate people who will then be well informed to decide if their service or product is right for them (Adler, 2007; Sohnen-Moe, 1997). The idea of having knowledge of the markets, which is the audience the practitioner wants to attract, has always been a piece of the public relations and marketing puzzle (Riggs, 1982; Watson & Noble, 2005). In new paradigms of marketing, this means knowing ones target audience so one can translate the concepts into a message the target audience will understand (Adler, 2003, Gladwell, 2000; Riggs, 1982; Safr, 2007; Shankman, 2007; Watson & Noble, 2005). Spiritual and Holistic Marketing Dance/movement therapy shares characteristics with value-centered and holistic marketing: striving for authentic expression from oneself, clarifying communication with others, and valuing an integrated, whole person. Value-centered and holistic marketing frames the business world into terms easy to understand: reecting on the purpose and using this purpose to create marketing materials. Adlers (2003) holistic

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marketing perspective is rooted in the centuries old practice of meditation coupled with her 30 years of business experience. Adler pairs spiritual philosophies with sensible exercises to create steps toward marketing success. The rst exercise in The Science of Spiritual Marketing (Adler, 2007) guides the participant to comfortably and safely envision their most magnicent future in one year, 3, 5 years, and at the end of ones life. Through this process, participants are asked to write down the vision they see and the feelings they experience at each of these stages. The point of the exercise is to connect with the felt sensations, which serve as the guide to make marketing materials and choices that are in line with these desired feelings. Adler (2007) explains, How you feel while you are connected to your future is key. It is only by connecting to these feelings, as often as you can, that you nd the courage to make the necessary leaps that will change your present (p. 32). Adlers books (2003, 2007), with chapters ranging from the importance of s to formulating enthusiasm to giving back to ones community, writing resume press releases, offer clear philosophical and practical advice, with a strong emphasis on emotions and the body, key elements of dance/movement therapy.

Research on Marketing and Dance/Movement Therapy The literature reviewed on marketing showed elements of the very fabric of dance/ movement therapy: mind, body, spirit, and creativity (Aburdene, 2005; Adler, 2003, 2007; Bryan et al., 1998; Kirschenmann, 2006; Levinson, 2001; Levy, 2005; Shankman 2007; Sohnen-Moe, 1997). It also highlighted two gaps: a lack of marketing in dance/movement therapy and a lack of acknowledgement of spirituality in dance/movement therapy and dance/movement therapy marketing literature. Thus, the rst step in my research is to understand and explore my experience of each of these together, guided by the research question, What is the experience of being initiated into the holistic marketing paradigm as a dance/movement therapist? I chose Adlers holistic marketing concept for the reasons she described in The Science of Spiritual Marketing: The initiation revealed in these chapters will not only drive you deeper into your true nature; it will expand your relationship to your own creativity, your business, and the many marketing concepts available to you (2007, p. iii). As dened by Adler, holistic marketing uses the intention and background of a business to tell a comprehensive story of the service or product. This narrative is claried with the envisioning exercise and must carry emotional signicance reecting the business. The emotions are what ignite others to share and spread the story. Holistic marketing requires the person or people involved in the business to journey inside themselves through practices, such as meditation, to gain the most accurate, all-inclusive picture. Adler (2007) describes spirituality as part of a person, and therefore part of this whole story, and refers to spiritual as connecting with a place of truth within ourselves and having conscious, moral awareness of how we conduct business (p. 2).

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The holistic marketing initiation and heuristic methodology pair well together because both require deep self-reection followed by concrete applications to utilize s and the self-reective ndings. Practical applications such as preparing resume creating yers are a given in marketing, but the most transformative and revealing pieces of holistic marketing are the envisioning and meditation. Methods The heuristic methodology is a process of internal search resulting in the researchers self-awareness, self-knowledge, and the discovery of the essence of an experience (Moustakas, 1990). Part of this search includes gaining validation to the investigation by sharing ndings with others connected to the material and eliciting their feedback. Heuristic methodology (Moustakas, 1990) was a natural choice for my research as I was already engaged in its characteristics: I was deeply, personally connected to dance/movement therapy and its relationship to marketing, as well as the paradigm of holistic marketing, and I immersed my whole being into it, while retaining the essence of myself (Douglass & Moustakas, 1985). Subjects/Participants. I was the sole participant in this heuristic process, conducting this research as a 25-year-old Caucasian dance/movement therapy student living in Chicago. Procedure. Throughout the process of reading Adlers books The Science of Spiritual Marketing and Creating an Abundant Practice over a period of 3 months, I collected data through what Moustakas (1990) calls inference, self-dialogue, and selfdisclosure by writing in my daily personal journal as well as my thesis seminar notebook. I also drew images on the pages when I felt moved to illustrate in form and color beyond what words could describe. In my journal, I also reected on the exercises I completed from Adlers books, including the vision quest, brain , three soundbites, wrote a gymnastic drills, creating two biographies, a resume personal mission statement, wrote down the nature of my ideal job, networked with potential job sites and others working in the mental health care eld, made offerings to volunteer my dance/movement therapy skills at a homeless shelter agency, volunteered my expanding marketing skills and enthusiasm by joining the ADTA public relations committee, increased my effort to talk to people about dance/ movement therapy and dance/movement therapy jobs, and created a job-hunting notebook. Finally, I discussed my experience with two other dance/movement therapists. Throughout data collection, I provided myself time to meditate, dance at least once a week, and attend yoga class once or twice a week to allow myself time to self reect in this process, as well to sharpen my body and mental awareness, the tools necessary for self-focus and search (Moustakas, 1990). These practices also allowed me to take care of myself, another component of the holistic marketing paradigm

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(Adler, 2003, 2007). It was also important for me to immerse myself in the phenomenon through journaling and conversing with different types of people to expose myself to a variety of ways of understanding this process (Moustakas, 1990). Each stage of a heuristic study has to unfold organically, and I found myself having to intermix the incubation and immersion periods by leaving the topic from time to time to let it simmer in my unconscious, which allowed for another level of understanding to take place before I immersed myself in it again (Moustakas, 1990). The entire heuristic process occurred over 6 months time. Data Analysis. At various points of immersing and incubating, illumination naturally began to take place as I wrote in my journal and notebook (Moustakas, 1990). In my data analysis, I went into explication. With the research question, What is the experience of being initiated into the holistic marketing paradigm as a dance/ movement therapist? I highlighted words or phrases in my data that struck me as pertinent to the qualities dance/movement therapy and holistic marketing have in common, so as to capture my emotional experience and then wrote these words and phrases on a separate, clean sheet of paper. To further illuminate the process and analyze it, as well as to understand my emotional experience about the themes extracted (Moustakas, 1990), I underlined the words in colored pencil, assigning one color to each theme. The color codes existed as follows: the words communication or connection were underlined in the pencil color aqua green, I used maroon for a word or topic of personal signicance (because I often associate this color as a representation of myself), I underlined something I became excited about in magenta (because the brightness of the color mirrored my inner energy), and I used light blue for personal spiritual themes.

Results The experience of being initiated into the holistic marketing paradigm provided me with a language to speak about marketing that reects the integrity of dance/ movement therapy as well as a way to spiritually connect back to myself, and then clearly connect with others to share the power of dance/movement therapy. The data analysis revealed three broad themes of personal importance in my journaling and class notes: communication, connection, relationship to my core values and the roots of the paradigms I work in. All three broad themes of personal importance are related. Core values are the desirable qualities and ideals an individual or group hold in high regard, which inform all interactions, communication, actions, and goals (Hitlin, 2003). Particularly for those in a creative and body-based eld, it is important to not only know these core values but also experience a kinesthetic resonance with it. With the feelings and body-felt sense of my core values, one is better able to better communicate information through speech, gestures and writing. Connection is

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about having a relationship in the communication process, joining with another individual or group in shared interests and beliefs relating to the material, which, in this study, was dance/movement therapy and its marketing. To be an effective marketer, one must identify his or her core values; and nd, establish, and strengthen connection with ones market and/or peers to create genuine communication. These three pieces are what allow an individual or a group such as our professional organization, the ADTA, to have a clear voice and send one clear message to prospective students, potential employers, and investors. Communication Following the characteristics of the heuristic methodology (Douglass & Moustakas, 1985), I also shared a list of my themes and experiences via email with two other dance/movement therapists, Donna Newman-Bluestein and Jeanine Kiss, who were also initiated into the holistic marketing paradigm. Each therapist agreed with the themes I articulated as being personally important to them in their experiences. Newman-Bluestein especially agreed with the concept of being in touch with core values and roots, and that as therapists we cannot do our work without selfknowledge of these values. She also pointed out that dancers need to be connected with the core of their bodies as well as their alignment, breath, strength, and exibility to be successful. Kiss articulated that dance/movement therapy and holistic marketing both ask one to search within themselves and promote the authentic, discovered self. Both dance/movement therapy and holistic marketing promote growth, productivity, change, development, and healing. These therapists validated my experience and elaborated on my words, providing me with a deeper understanding of my ndings.

Discussion The elements I most value in dance/movement therapy and marketing are communication, connection, and being in touch with my core values. Adlers books (2003, 2007) gave me specic tools to integrate the spiritual vehicles of meditation and body awareness into my personal life for professional growth, such s and applying for particular jobs in alignment with my desired as crafting resume future. Integrating these practices revitalized my spiritual life, and it reverberated into my dance/movement therapy practice by providing me with the newfound consciousness, compassion, well-being, and a sense of purpose, as well as condence in my marketing materials. By being connected not just to my own body/ mind, but also to the heartfelt spiritual elements of holistic marketing, I discovered that informing, educating, and increasing peoples awareness of this eld is a large part of my identity as a dance/movement therapist. The holistic marketing principles guided me through exercises such as the vision quest to create the concrete tools to act on my goals. The connection between holistic marketing and dance/movement therapy was further explained by Jeanine Kiss:

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Honoring body/mind/spirit, both holistic marketing and dance/movement therapy support transition, change, healing, growth, development and productivity. Both access the inner self-meditation, focusing, authentic movement, etc. Both share the goal of communication with the self what is my truth; what is my body felt experience; what are my desires; what is my next step. With the ability to communicate more clearly and tune into myself, I found it easier to reach out and connect with others. During the time I reviewed my notes in data analysis, I noticed that every time I wrote about feeling connected to other people my emotional state was more optimistic and happy. My notes and journals also showed that a lack of connection with others and myself resulted in feelings of loss, loneliness, being overwhelmed, and mildly depressed. I craved connection with my co-workers, the dance/movement therapy community, clients, friends, and family. Being validated by other dance/movement therapists who have experienced holistic marketing had a great impact on my emotional state as well. Knowing that others in the dance/movement therapy profession shared my sentiments and could add details I was unable to articulate myself, let me know that I am not alone in my quest to communicate dance/movement therapy principles to others. I very strongly wanted to communicate the power of the body and my passion for dance/movement therapy, movement and body awareness. This improved my mood and revitalized my energy, so that even in my personal life, I attempted to communicate more efciently in order to strengthen personal connections. Upon self-reection and inner search, I was better prepared to create the marketing materials necessary for job hunting. By clearly knowing how I wanted to , biography, feel in my job and in my life, I used Adlers guidelines for a resume mission statement, and soundbites. I also networked with other creative art therapist professionals who shared my enthusiasm and optimistic vision, which led me to meet more like-minded people and uplifted my spirit. I connected with agencies that reected my values and feelings. Although these activities did not secure me a job right away, they helped me to further clarify my goals and feelings, gave me practice on how to articulate dance/movement therapy principles and my unique qualities, as well as showed me that there are more people and agencies aligning with my values than I had thought. This process also required me to make change in my life, confront fear, and experience loss. In my envisioning exercises, I felt a strong urge to be closer to my family in the Northeast, as well as be employed as a dance/movement therapist in a supportive environment where I worked with a diverse population and had a exible schedule. The feelings associated with these visions included: strong love, balance, challenge, grace, abundance, hope, family orientation, giving, space, and possibility. While I ultimately accepted a job in a setting I believe will make my vision come true, I had to leave a life in Chicago with a supportive community, friendships, and great personal satisfaction. To act on my vision and feelings, I had to face the fears of confronting family dynamics that are much easier to handle from a distance. Ive had to trust in my vision, instead of the comforts of my immediate surroundings.

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Both the spiritual and practical steps of this process were necessary for me to move toward manifesting my vision. The envisioning, meditating, and staying connected to my feelings gave me the heart to stick with the process, while the concrete marketing materials and marketing strategies carried me into my new life. Limitations and Future Research The experience I have just described is a singular, rst attempt to connect the points highlighted by the literature: in a struggling, disorganized, and broken mental health care system, creative, emotional and person-centered people such as dance/ movement therapists can use their qualities for a successful marketing approach (Adler, 2003, 2007; Frank & Glied, 2006a; Frank & Manning, 1992; Huang & Provan, 2007; Presidents New Freedom Commission On Mental Health, 2003; Shankman, 2007; Sohnen-Moe, 1997). Holistic marketing contains the elements of creativity, self-awareness, and business sensibility (Adler, 2003, 2007). A limitation of this research is that my successful experience does not mean that Adlers approach necessarily works for other dance/movement therapists or the entire eld. This thesis research is only the beginning of an investigation into the holistic marketing and dance/movement therapy relationship. Being a heuristic study, it only concentrates on my subjective experience and is therefore limited in its scope and depth. It only focuses on my goals and feelings, which do not necessarily reect those of any other dance/movement therapist or the ADTA. The literature review and my personal experience have highlighted that dance/ movement therapists seem to have limited experience and knowledge of marketing. If dance/movement therapists enhance their knowledge and build their marketing skills, such education can yield great benets for the whole eld of dance/movement therapy as well as dance/movement therapists individual careers. Integration of the holistic marketing approach should occur in our dance/movement therapy masters programs, alternative route programs, local ADTA chapters and their conferences, and the annual ADTA conference. The curriculum of this education can include reconnecting with personal reasons and intentions for becoming a dance/movement therapist, practical means to implement this message to communicate ones professional worth (to obtain a job, for example), and become familiar with the ADTAs marketing efforts.

Conclusion Through my experience of being initiated into the holistic marketing paradigm, I have understood the value in reconnecting with my core self as a way to communicate about and connect to my dance/movement therapy practice. In my search for a job as a dance/movement therapist, holistic marketing meditation guidelines and practical marketing tools have enhanced my preparation, condence, and job applicant materials. Holistic marketing practices increased my ability to gain employment as a dance/movement therapist in a setting that ts my professional goals, and to have done so with an agency where I will be the rst

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dance/movement therapist. This paradigm has done so much for me in a short span of months, I believe that other students outtted with these tools and personal commitment to the process can gain as much as I did. Currently practicing professionals can also ne tune their dance/movement therapy careers using holistic marketing, and the ADTA can enhance its public relations efforts, as well as stimulate new energy into its membership with this same approach. The literature presented within this article shows that body/mind awareness, creativity, and spiritual/holistic concepts are more prevalent in our Western society than ever before (Aburdene, 2005; Adler, 2003, 2007; Levinson, 2001; Shankman, 2007; Sohnen-Moe, 1997). To take advantage of this trend, dance/movement therapists need to gain knowledge of value-centered marketing ideas and learn to use our dance/movement therapy skills for marketing aimed at increasing our presence in local and global markets (Appel & Welsh, 2006; Geer, 1990; Kirschenmann, 2006). It is my hope that further research will explore all the possibilities of marketing from a holistic perspective, and expand our dance/ movement therapy profession.

References
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Author Biography
Kimberly Schmidt, LMHC, R-DMT A registered dance/movement therapist and licensed mental health counselor, with a Masters from Columbia College Chicago, Ms. Schmidt works in a substance abuse facility in Boston, MA, where she and a colleague are currently developing the facilitys rst movement therapy groups. Ms. Schmidt has served on the New England American Dance Therapy Association (NEADTA) board and is one of the founders of a monthly gathering for Boston area dance/movement therapists.

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