1/28/2026 - Week 3 / Meeting 5: The Therapeutic Encounter / Joining, Reflecting, Attunement & Kinesthetic Empathy

 

 

I

 

Unit: The Therapeutic Encounter

Theme: Joining, Reflecting, Attunement & Kinesthetic Empathy

Introduction

 

Within the context of Dance/Movement Therapy, joining someone is to become linked or connected to that person in movement. On the other hand, attunement is the reactiveness we have to another person. It is the process by which we form relationships. Dr. Dan Siegel, clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and executive director of the Mindsight Institute, explains, "When we attune with others we allow our own internal state to shift, to come to resonate with the inner world of another. Finally, kinesthetic empathy, a key interdisciplinary concept in our understanding of social interaction across creative and cultural practices, describes the ability to experience empathy merely by observing the movements of another human being.

II

Check In

III

 

Learning Objectives 

 

• Understand the meaning of joining and mirroring
• Explain the importance of attunement
• Gain awareness of the use of kinesthetic empathy
• Experience a movement dialogue
  

IV

Main Lesson

1

Review

• According to Anna Halprin, there are two ways of looking at dance.
• Ana Halprin said that "a dance ritual is a dance with an intention."  
• Creating a dance-ritual requires engaging in a process of exploration, discovery and performance.
• Parts of the Dance/Movement Ritual: Beginning (introduce the theme or metaphor; develop it), Middle (create a climax ; a pulsing) and Closing (consolidate the ritual with the achievement of the group-body).

2

Experiential Concepts

Joining

Mirroring/Reflecting 

Attunement

Kinesthetic empathy

 

3

Video

Pulp Fiction

Question 1

What did you noticed about the interaction of the dancers?

4

Attunement

LINK:

Attunement By Sandra Kay Lauffenburger

After reading the following article, answer the following questions:

 Question 2

  What are these affects to which it is important that we attune?

Question 3

  Because we work non-verbally, to what in the body-movement spectrum are we attuning, and how do we do it?

Integration

Integration is putting things back together as a whole (Eldredge, 2025).

Fragmentation  

There is a fragmentation taking place within us and there is a fragmentation that happens outside (tribalism, cancel culture). The healing of fragmented parts takes place via integration. The healing of fragmented (unattended wounded) parts, happens when we dance and become aware of what we feel.(Eldredge, 2025)

Trauma

The way trauma affects the human brain is through fragmentation. (Eldredge, 2025)

 

 Healing

The healing takes place when we move out of the "stuckness" (borrowing from Eldredge, 2025) and begin to integrate. The togetherness and wholeness via dance/movement therapy begins the healing process.  As the person heals, their inner and outer attunement becomes a natural result of the therapy. 

 

Attunement Trauma 

Lack of attunement, lack of presence from our attachment figure or figure of attachment, provokes a sense of being turned away from. This communicates that one is not important, that one does not matter. The other person seem to say, "there is something you ask from me that I cannot bare." So, in movement, this is manifested through a bodily posture which is a "turning away from," which is one of the most debilitating moments in any relational dynamic. So this is a mis-attunement that causes attunement trauma.(Cole and Alender, 2025)

 

 Question 4

In your own words, explain what is attunement trauma? 

 

 V

A Note to Remember

1. Dance Movement Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that relies on the connection between what one is thinking/feeling and one’s body movement.

2. Dance is important for humans because it is a form of communication and expression. 

3. Western dualism and Cartesian separation reflect the common idea that mind and body are separate. 

4. The arts can help people find new ways to express their thoughts and emotions as they view their human experiences as an integrated whole rather than separate parts.

VI

Case Studies

1

 

After watching this video, try this exercise with another person and reflect on the experience by writing a few sentences. (For students who are making up, record it and post it on Discussion Board).

2

Movement Dialogue 

Kinesthetic Empathy

 

 After watching this video, try this exercise with another person and reflect on the experience by writing a few sentences. (For students who are not in class, record it and post it on Discussion Board).

VII

Discussion Questions

 

 

• What are these affects to which it is important that we attune?
•   Because we work non-verbally, to what in the body-movement spectrum are we attuning, and how do we do it?

 VIII

Activity

 

• Introduce yourself to another student
• Eye Contact Exercise
• Mirror Exercise (Attunement)
  
• Movement Dialogue (Kinesthetic Empathy)
  

IX

Journaling

Based on the work you have done today, how would you define the terms attunement and kinesthetic empathy? Compare and contrast.

 

 

X

Sources

1. Eldredge, John (2025). Experience Jesus. Really: Finding Refuge, Strength and Wonder Through Everyday Encounters with God. Harper Collins Publishers

2. Cole, Steve and Dan Alender (2025). The Deep Rooted Marriage: Cultivating Intimacy, Healing and Delight. Harper Collins Publishers

3. What is Attunement? Momentous Institute. https://momentousinstitute.org/blog/what-is-attunement

 

XI

 

Students' Work