The Moving and Movement Identities of Adolescents

Adolescence is a stage in one’s development where the self can be experienced as being in flux. Changes in one’s physical self is inevitably linked with changes in the way young people may see themselves and the way others see them. As a consequence, the identity of adolescents can be perceived as “moving” in a number of ways, matching both musical preferences as well as internal movements and changes. Similar to musical identities, movement identities will be defined in this chapter as external, physical manifestations of movement associated with self-definition. Using ideas from Erikson and post-Erikson thinkers as well as developmental theorists, such as Kestenberg, we will explore the role dance movement psychotherapy can play in supporting the formation of new movement identities. It will be suggested that when people are not sufficiently supported in their revisiting of the past and their reorganization of inner perceptions, moving forward and towards adulthood can become problematic. We will therefore, argue that changes in internal and externally-externally manifested movement can be enabled through dance movement psychotherapy, a movement-based intervention that allows for movement and musical explorations within a safe environment. A clinical vignette from work within a secondary school context will be used as a way of illustrating relevant points, whilst parallels with musical identities will be drawn throughout the text.