Therapeutic alliance in dance/movement therapy with patients with intellectual disability. Case study

Abstract

This is a qualitative descriptive case study. The participant was a woman of 39 years with Intellectual Disability, specifically Down syndrome, who performed an individual intervention in Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT). The objectives of this study were: (1) to know the relevant elements of the Therapeutic Alliance (TA) which was established during the therapeutic process for 19 sessions DMT and (2) to observe if these elements of the TA contributed to the success of the objectives of the intervention. The objectives of the intervention were: to increase knowledge of her own body, to increase impulse control and frustration tolerance, to improve communication and relationship with the others and encourage initiative, creativity, security and autonomy. The therapist got field notes to collect the most important elements of the case in relation to the construction of the AT and objectives of the intervention. Later, it was performed a content analysis. The results showed that a healthy AT was constructed, which allowed achieving the objectives of the therapy. Additionally, this case study becomes contribution to the field of DMT and it allows us to better understand the work developed in these interventions.