Therapeutic Dance Program

A young female client with severe depression was referred by her case manager into the therapeutic dance program. Her depression had been triggered by some traumatic family events she experienced as a young child. Before referral to the program, she suffered from a complete lack of social skills, total disregard for personal hygiene and very low self-esteem.

During the first few days of dance class, the client was very apprehensive. She did not want to participate in the physical dance routines and was quick to excuse herself from any sort of social interaction. However, with the gentle encouragement of STBHS clinicians and personal attention from the dance instructors, she quickly became fully-engaged. In just a few short months, the client developed a close-knit circle of friends, both male and female, and completely changed her personal hygiene practices. The client is now on the competition dance team and has garnered a myriad of awards related to both personal and team dance achievements.

The client’s family has also become fully engaged in all things dance-related. The client’s family, which is large by any measure, regularly attends all dance competitions, makes large signs in support of the client for each competition and attends the dance practices on a regular basis. Similar to many other clients here at STBHS, in this particular case the therapeutic dance program has been beneficial to the entire family, not just the client.