The Arts in Psychotherapy 60 (2018) 55–62

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

The Arts in Psychotherapy

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/artspsycho

Research Article

The experience of attunement and misattunement in dance movement T

therapy workshops
⁎
Tjaša Jeraka, Alenka Vidriha, Gregor Žvelcb,c,d,
a
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Arts Therapies Program, Primary School Savsko Naselje, Ljubljana, Art+, Institute for Development Through Creativity,
Slovenia
b
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Psychology, Slovenia
c
University of Primorska, UP FAMNIT, Department of Psychology, Slovenia
d
Institute for Integrative Psychotherapy and Counselling, Ljubljana, Slovenia

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Moments of attunement and misattunement were explored in a dance movement therapy workshops. The
Dance movement therapy guiding question was; “how do participants experience moments of attunement and misattunement in dance
Attunement movement therapy workshops?” The study employed a quasi-experimental design, with phenomenological in-
Kinesthetic empathy quiry, including a two part analysis: Laban Movement Analysis and descriptive grounded theory using coding.
Qualitative research
Four students of expressive arts therapies attended four experimental dance movement therapy workshops,
emphasising the process of mutual attunement. All workshops were video recorded. Based on video movement
analysis, key moments of nonverbal attunement and misattunement were selected, and then analyzed within
group interviews with participants. The results of the study show that successful attunement in dance movement
therapy draws the client’s attention to the present moment; it encourages individual spontaneity, playfulness,
and creativity; promotes embodiment, and thus the integration of mind and body. Successful attunement to the
other leads to an intersubjective interchange, where two people co-create an intersubjective experience.
Successful attunement to the group leads to the experience of oneness with the group. Moments of misattune-
ment trigger unpleasant feelings, and result in a lack of spontaneity, feelings of exclusion, and hinder contact.
The limitations of the results should be considered, as the study was done on a small number of participants and
in nonclinical experimental setting. Researchers propose a larger study with clinical populations to further in-
vestigate the phenomenon of attunement and misattunement in dance movement therapy.

Introduction attuned movement patterns (Samaritter and Payne, 2013; Payne et al.,
2016). Dance movement therapy is a therapeutic modality, in which the
Kinesthetic empathy is a core concept in dance movement therapy therapist interprets the clientʼs movement and uses kinesthetic empathy
(Behrends, Müeller & Dziobek, 2016; Fischman, 2009; Tortora, 2006). to form an understanding of the clientʼs inner state. Kinesthetic em-
Broadly speaking kinesthesia can be understood as sensation of move- pathy has played a crucial role in DMT since its beginnings, and is
ment and posture (Reynlods, 2012), and empathy as the ability to un- considered to be one of the most important dance movement therapy
derstand and respond to somebody else's inner experience (Decety and contributions to psychotherapy by some authors (Fischman, 2009;
Jackson, 2006). Kinesthetic empathy is therefore seen as the ability to Behrends, Müeller & Dziobek, 2012).
understand somebody else's inner experience through body movement From a phenomenological perspective on embodied cognition, the
sensing (Lieberman, 2007; Rova, 2017). Dance movement therapy mind is not simply reduced to brain processes in the head, but is dis-
(DMT) is based on kinesthetic intersubjectivity. The therapeutic re- tributed across the brain, body, and environment (Gallagher, 2005;
lationship is formed through movement and dance (Payne, 2006; Payne Gallagher and Payne, 2015). Dance movement therapy focuses on
et al., 2016). The therapist uses his/her own bodily movement “to movement analysis and the idea of changing movement, which directly
meet” the client where he or she is, through his/her movement pat- affects changes in cognition and emotion (Payne et al., 2016; Koch,
terns. In this somatic relationship, the therapist connects with the cli- 2006; Fuchs, 2009). Embodiment supports the idea of unity of body and
entʼs movement patterns and mirrors them back to him/her with mind, and the reciprocal influence of body attitudes and emotional and

⁎
Corresponding author at: University of Ljubljana, Department of Psychology, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Žvelc).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2018.06.001
Received 1 October 2017; Received in revised form 11 May 2018; Accepted 21 June 2018
Available online 22 June 2018
0197-4556/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
T. Jerak et al. The Arts in Psychotherapy 60 (2018) 55–62

cognitive states (Koch et al., 2017). The infant and mother’s first Müeller & Dziobek, 2016; McGarry and Russo, 2011). Synchronisation
communication also occurs through movement (mimics, locomotion, may align the person to the rhythm and movement of the other, and
etc.) (Stern, 1985). Kinesthetic attunement therefore imitates an im- also to his/her affective dynamics and intentionality (Rabinowitch
portant psychological developmental process – nonverbal attunement et al., 2012).
in early childhood, through which the infant forms its first perceptions Empirical evidence for the existence of kinesthetic empathy is of-
and is therefore the primary language through which a person learns to fered by research on mirror neurons (Behrends, Müeller & Dziobek,
understand himself and others (Behrends, Müeller & Dziobek, 2016). 2016). Mirror neurons are a type of neurons that respond equally if we
Trevarthen and Fresquez (2015) see attunement as an aspect of kines- perform a certain action, or if we only observe it. They were first dis-
thetic empathy, which “involves matching some qualitative aspects of a covered in a study of the motor cortex of macaque monkeys. It was
movement without reflecting it exactly” (p. 201). Its purpose is to bring around 1990 when Italian neuroscientists stumbled upon the discovery
people into a harmonius, responsive relationship (Trevarthen and that identical neurons were activated in the monkey which handled
Fresquez, 2015). Erskine and Trautmann (1997) describe attunement as with an object (a peanut), as were in the second monkey, which was
a two-part process: “the sense of being fully aware of the other person's only observing the action (Gallese, 2003). It was proposed that mirror
sensations, needs, or feelings and the communication of that awareness neurons may constitute a neural mechanism enabling implicit action
to the other person” (p. 90). Attunement in this way goes beyond em- understanding (Gallese, 2003). The following studies of mirror neurons
pathy – it provides a reciprocal affect and/or resonating response. As with humans found that the activation of mirror neurons creates a
Deveraux (2017) puts it, successful attunement leads us to feel under- neural picture of the mental state of another person. Observing the
stood and safe and thus ready to connect with each other. It is a com- foreseeable actions of another person therefore results in the creation of
plex social phenomenon and “it is the situatedness within the interac- his mental scheme. This implicit, automatic, unconscious process en-
tion that determines whether an action is attuned to another person or ables the observer to “grasp” the world of another pre-reflexively
not.” (Samaritter and Payne, 2017, p. 2). The inability to experience (Gallese, 2005). Choreographer and dance pedagogue Susanna Leigh
relational attunement, a “mismatch” in trying to attune, can be taught Foster (2011), who has studied kinesthesia in relation to empathy and
of as misattunement (Kossak, 2009). Referring to early childhood de- perception, sums up Gallese’s findings when she argues that observation
velopment, Stern (1985) makes a distinction between “purposeful of movement can arouse a so-called psychic resonance, an internal
misattunement” and “true misattunement”. Purposeful attunement is motor image in the observer. This resonance (which could be described
when the mother is intentionally overmatching or undermatching the as an internal simulation of the observed movement) is responsible for
infant's behaviour, in a desire to increase or decrease the baby's level of our ability to predict the actions of others and the consequences of our
activity or affect. In contrast to that, true misattunement occurs when movement. Research on mirror neurons suggests that the brain is able
the mother incorrectly identifies the infant’s feeling state or is unable to to simulate a particular movement, and from this simulation, to select
find it in herself. According to Kossak (2009), misattunement (in a safe the most appropriate response. The prediction of the movement of
environment) may be an important stage of psychological development, others arises from a visual perception that activates the pre-motoric
leading to new awareness and integration of new reactions. While it can areas of the brain, which in effect causes the observer to react as if he/
make a client feel uncared for or unsupported, learning to deal with it in she were in motion. The frequency of observed motion sequences pre-
a constructive way, can help individuals with accepting and coping sent in the sociocultural environment determines the preferred paths of
with misattuned moments in real life (Kossak, 2009). inference/ predicting movement (Gallese, 2005). Embodied simulation
Mirroring is a method with which an individual can move from is modulated by our own personal history, by the quality of our at-
merely attending to and understanding the other’s experience to a point tachment relations, and by our sociocultural background (Gallese,
where he/she can actually experience similar intentionality and emo- 2003).
tions by imitating his/her movement qualities. McGarry and Russo DMT sessions are most usually accompanied by music. Moving to
(2011) describe that “mirroring occurs when two people make similar music can facilitate temporal coordination of two or more people,
body movements that are coordinated or slightly echoed in time” (p. which enhances their chances for succesful mirroring. Areas of the
178). A DMT therapist can mirror exact movements of the client or just brain, involved in beat perception, overlap with movement production
certain movement qualities, especially effort elements, which reflect the brain areas, and people have a propensity to move in coordinated time
movementʼs emotional tones. For example, if a client is moving with a with external rhythm (McGarry and Russo, 2011). Music, which has
fatigued posture, the therapist can imitate the quality of “fatigue.” The been shown to elicit strong emotions, can be used as a tool for induction
DMT therapist, who is trained in movement analysis, selects movement of emotions, especially with emotionally inhibited clients (McGarry and
qualities that reflect the quality of the client’s mood (McGarry and Russo, 2011).
Russo, 2011). Sometimes the client may not even be aware of the fact This qualitative study was designed to investigate the moments of
that the therapist is imitating his/her movements, and the therapist attunement and misattunement in dance movement therapy workshops.
may deliberately begin to exaggerate in certain movements in order to The key research question was how do participants experience moments of
increase the client’s awareness (Berrol, 2006). attunement and misattunement to other participants in dance movement
Mirroring is a dance movement therapy method, used to open the therapy workshops?
possibilities for embodied intersubjective attunement. Succesful mir-
roring leads to increased attunement (Eberhard-Kaechele, 2012), but Background of the study
despite its widespread use in dance movement therapy practice, there is
a lack of research on the effects of it. The results of studies, conducted Four students of Expressive Arts Therapies (including the first au-
mostly in other areas of psychotherapy, are promising and show that thour of the research) conceived the idea of an experimental laboratory
mirroring increases empathy between the therapist and the client, as of dance movement therapy. In the framework of the experimental la-
well as between clients (Berrol, 2006). A recent study by Koch et. al. boratory – entitled “What can a Body Do?” – they arranged for regular
(2017) shows that mirroring in dance movement therapy brings im- meetings in a one-year period (every 14 days) with the intent to try out
provement on intersubjective empathy and supports wellbeing in pa- a number of theoretical starting points in dance movement therapy by
tients with schizophrenia. doing experimental work. In the experimental laboratory, the first au-
In DMT, mirroring takes place in the context of a secure therapeutic thor of the research led four workshops of dance movement therapy,
relationship. Neuroscience research provides the evidence that in- where the greatest focus was on the process of mutual attunement. Each
dividuals in a trusting relationship are more likely to engage in mimicry workshop was structured with an inital warm-up, breathing and body
of each other’s movements to enhance their understanding (Behrends, awareness exercises, followed by a main theme leading to dance-

56
T. Jerak et al. The Arts in Psychotherapy 60 (2018) 55–62

movement improvisation and final closure. The main dance movement movement therapy, where the focus was on the process of mutual at-
therapy methods used were: mirroring, synchronised movement and tunement. Workshops lasted from 60 to 90 minutes, and were recorded
contact improvisation. We mainly used group techniques: interaction in with a video camera. The video movement analysis was made, defining
pairs and interaction in groups. Workshops lasted from 60 to 90 min- the moments of attunement/misattunement on the basis of The
utes, and were recorded with a video camera. Attunement/Misattunement Observational Checklist. Each workshop
was followed by a group interview, based on the interpersonal process
Method recall method. Interviews were conducted on average 10 days after the
workshops, and lasted approximately one hour. The videos were viewed
Participants on a 15.6-inch computer screen. In the group interviews, we focused the
attention of the participants on the description of moments of attune-
We used convenience sampling in the study. The participant sample ment and misattunement, which we previously identified with video
of the study covered four research participants, three women (including movement analysis. The video was stopped at the selected excerpts and
the first author of the research), and one male, in the age range of viewed again as many times as needed. Group interviews were audio
29–38 years. All participants were students of Expressive Arts recorded, and transcripts of the interviews were made. Qualitative
Therapies. The average age of participants was 32.3 years. All four analysis was made included coding techniques from the grounded
participants have a university degree, three were unemployed during theory research method (Corbin and Strauss, 2015). We began the
the study, one of them was regularly employed. At the time of the study, analysis after completing and transcribing the first interview. We ana-
they had all been studying in the masters program Expressive Arts lyzed each interview by open coding. In the first phase of open coding,
therapies at the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana, for 1–2 years. Three codes or units of meaning were identified. Open coding resulted in
participants are Slovenians, and one participant is from Argentina. codes of different level of abstraction. Some of the codes we identified
were: »integrity«, »feeling connected with the other«, »withdrawing
Instruments from contact«, »time consistency«, »rhythmic consistency«, »breathing
together«, »contact limitations« etc. All the text segments from the
The Attunement/Misattunement Observational Checklist was developed proceeding interviews that shared the same characteristics were given
to guide the researcher’s observations in a video movement analysis. the same code. After completing with open coding of all four inter-
The checklist is based on the Movement Signature Impressions views, 164 codes were identified. In the second phase of axial coding,
Checklist, by Suzi Tortora (2006). Its goal is to create as exact and we grouped together similar codes into categories that shared basic
accurate a description of movements as possible, and to define moments characteristics. For example, we grouped codes: »to merge together«,
of attunement and misattunement in embodied interactions, using »common energy«, »exchange«, »flow of energy« into the category
movement analysis. Movement is observed according to four categories »intersubjective interchange«. After asigning the categories, relations
derived from using Laban movement analysis: body, shape, effort, and within specific categories were established as well as the relations be-
space (Laban, 2002). By using the Attunement/Misattunement Ob- tween a category and the codes, assigned to the category. Continuing
servational Checklist we were able to determine the moments of attu- with constant comparative analysis, we could determine main cate-
nement, when participants were responsively duplicating movement gories and subcategories, based on their level of importance and the
qualities between themselves and moments of misattunement, when frequency with which the experience was mentioned. The wider the
there was a mismatch in their movement qualities. The identified ca- area they covered, the higher was their level of importance. This pro-
tegories of (mis)attunement refer either to moments of (mis)attunement cess resulted in 6 core categories and 10 subcategories. In the phase of
in time (speed, rhythm, duration), space (pathway), energy (weight, selective coding, the data was unified around core categories, and de-
flow), physical contact to moments of intersubjective emotional reg- scribed within two domains of experience: “experience of attunement”
ulation. and “experience of missattunement”. The data was analyzed using a
The interpersonal process recall interviewing method (IPR) (Kagan, software program for qualitative analysis, ATLAS.ti 7.
1974) is a method of qualitative interviewing intended for a detailed
analysis of interpersonal interactions. It uses video-assisted recall to
access conscious, yet unspoken experiences, as they occurred in the Results and discussion
time of the interpersonal interaction under investigation (Larsen et al.,
2008). A typical IPR application involves video recording an interac- On the basis of the Attunement/Misattunement Observational
tion, which is then viewed by the participants with a research inter- Checklist 16 moments of attunement and 6 moments of misattunement
viewer. During the interview the participants are asked to recall their were selected for further analysis: 3 moments of attunement and 3
thoughts, feelings, and sensations as experienced during the session, moments of misattunement in time, 3 moment of attunement and 2
without encouraging critique or self-confrontation (Larsen et al., 2008). moments of misattunement in space, 6 moments of attunement and 1
IPR interviews usually take place within 48 h after the video recorded moment of misattunement in energy, 3 moments of attunement in
session. In practice, it is not uncommon to investigate the participantʼs physical contact and 2 moments of intersubjective emotional regula-
experience after longer interval periods – a week, a month, and even a tion. Sometimes it was difficult to determine the type of (mis)attune-
year after the session under investigation (Larsen et al., 2008). During ment, because very often (mis)attunement, occurred on several dif-
IPR interviews, participants often become curious explorers of their ferent levels at the same time. For the needs of the study, the moments
experiences. They reflect and comment on the process and work with were attributed the type of (mis)attunement which, in our opinion,
the interviewer to make their implicit experiences explicit through in- prevailed in the movement analysis. Intersubjective emotional regula-
terview conversation (Larsen et al., 2008). One of the key differences tion was thus definitely the least chosen type, since it was difficult to
between IPR and other methods of interviewing is the fact that IPR objectively determine it through movement analysis alone. In group
focuses on process rather than on content. It attempts to access the interviews, we avoided the categorization of (mis)attunement alto-
participantʼs inner thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. The in- gether and we talked only about moments of attunement and mis-
terviewer might ask questions as: How did you feel when…? attunement. We would like to emphasize the fact that different types of
attunement do not exclude each other.
Procedure Table 1 shows results of qualitative analysis of participants’ ex-
perience of attunement and misattunement in dance movement therapy
The first author of the research led four workshops of dance workshops.

57
T. Jerak et al. The Arts in Psychotherapy 60 (2018) 55–62

Table 1 experience shifted from one level of attunement to another.

Experience of attunement and misattunement in Dance Movement Therapy
workshops. Spontaneity of movement. Participants described spontaineity as being
Domain A. Experience of attunement able to listen more closely to their inner impulses and to express them
1 Self-attunement freely in front of the others. One of the participants described in detail
a Being in the present moment how spontaneity of the movement was due to the deep awareness of the
b Spontaneity of movement
internal impulses.
c Embodiment
d Search for contact with self “This feeling when you begin to move unconsciously, that is – it’s
2 Attunement to the other
really freedom for me.” 2:25
a Intersubjective interchange
b Playfulness “I just wanted to give in to dancing, not thinking about what should
c Being in the present moment with somebody I do, what kind of a move. . . Sometimes I felt only my finger and I
3 Being one with the group moved it. Not that I would not want to move my hand, but at a
Domain B. Experience of misattunement certain moment it was this kind of impulse, a move, and then it slid
4 Misattunement to self
5 Misattunement to the other
further.” 2:24
6 Misattunement to the group
When the participants managed to silence the conscious control of
their movement and “gave in to the dance,” they could, in their own
words, express themselves more freely. When they reached a certain
Domain A. Experience of attunement
level of trust and relaxation in movement with another or within the
group, they dared to listen more closely to their inner impulses and
Experience of attunement includes three main categories: self-attu-
expressed them in front of the others. This gave them a feeling of lib-
nement, attunement to the other, and experience of unity with the
eration. One of the participants described how she was focused on the
group.
present moment and on the impulses that her body gave her (embodi-
ment). Kipper, Green, and Prorak (2010) mention this kind of deep
Self-attunement focus as they characterize spontaneity as a source of self-awareness and
Participants connected the experience of self-attunement to the self-reflection. They also connect spontaneity with free experimentation
absence of thought and being in the present moment, with spontaneity and intense concentration on the task. In conjunction with spontaneity,
of movement and embodiment. participants most often described how they allowed themselves to be
free in dance, and explored their movement and movement with other
Being in the present moment. Participants described the present moment participants. Such free experimentation led them to new experiences
as absence of thought and aliveness. In these moments they were not and to contact with others.
burdened with their surroundings, or with their thoughts, and enjoyed
the simplicity of being. The following quotes illustrate how moments of Embodiment. Furthermore, attunement to self was described as an
absence of thought contributed to the feeling of pleasure and experience of embodiment, where participants experienced unity of
wholeness. mind and body. The participant in her spontaneous movement
experienced the absence of perceptible boundaries between the mind
“Empty, empty head, without expectations, it just happened. I ex-
and the body. She expressed it with a metaphor, “that she was no longer
perienced complete joy, with an empty head. It was very nice. I felt
in her head,” but “in her body, with all her being” (1: 12). We can connect
attunement, not only within us, but also with myself. Complete at-
her experience with phenomenologically-oriented views of embodied
tunement. I do not have all the words to describe it. You just are. In
cognition which emphasize the idea that the mind does not only exist in
that moment you are full. And you can exchange, because you are
the mental processes in the head, but is distributed between the brain,
full. “/ … /” I was simply here. I was in the moment.” 2: 9
the body, and the environment (Gallagher and Payne, 2015; Koch,
“I was without thought. . . That’s when you feel that you are whole,
2006). The idea assumes that the mind is always embodied – through
that you’re living. Such a flow of energy, a great feeling, no thought
sensomotor activity – and that it is intertwined with the physical
about what will be your next move, and everything flows out of you.
environment surrounding it. When we listen to what the body tells us,
. . .” 2: 6
we, as the participants described it, are more in contact with ourselves.
Segal, Williams and Teasdale (2002) distinguish two modes of mind: Through embodiment – focusing on the body and on body impulses and
“being” and “doing”. The “doing mode “is focused toward change, physical communication with others – we experience integrity.
while the “being mode “is focused on accepting and allowing what is,
without pressure to change anything. We believe that the participants’ Search for contact with self. In conjunction with self-attunement, the
experience was related to this state of mind. Stern (2004) defines the participants described a process of searching for contact with self,
present moment as a directly lived story of the now – we experience it specifically in situations where their need for self-attunement overtook
as it is happening and the experience is not distanced by language or the need for attunement with others. When the participants withdrew
abstract explanation. In these moments participants were without ex- from contact with others, they closed their eyes and listened to their
pectations and doubts and could completely let themselves free to the inner impulses, and by doing this they deliberately put their needs
dance in relation to the other. These moments were experienced as before the needs of others. A very illustrative example is the example
short lived. Stern (2004) describes moments of the present moment that where the participant who wanted to dance with another, also felt the
last for a few seconds, more precisely between 1 and 10 s, and on need to seek contact with herself, which ultimately prevailed.
average 3–4 s. This is the time needed for us to be able to meaningfully
“When I was leading the movement, I was paying attention to how
distinguish the content we perceptually perceive in the behaviour/ex-
she was following me. Sometimes I even began to move more
pression of other people, to respond to it, and become aware of it
slowly, because I was aware of the fact she couldn’t follow me/ … /
(Stern, 2004).
At the same time, I wanted to avoid this feeling because I wanted to
In our study, the participans’ experience of the present moment was
move freely… So, I closed my eyes in the middle of it, only to free
connected with either self-attunement, attunement to the other or at-
myself from this feeling.” 2: 3
tunement to the group. The participants explained that they could ex-
perience several levels of attunement at the same time, or their The search for contact with self can be connected with the concept

58
T. Jerak et al. The Arts in Psychotherapy 60 (2018) 55–62

of internal contact, which Erskine, Moursund, and Trautmann (2013) Playfulness. Furthermore, attunement to the other was described
define as an individualʼs full awareness of oneʼs own feelings, needs, with feelings of playfulness. Some participants experienced dance
thoughts, sensations, and fantasies. Participants looking for more in- improvisations in diads as a co-creation game, and expressed their
depth contact with themselves wanted to get in touch with their inner feelings of being like a child in play. While watching her movement on
experience and to become more fully aware of it. video, one of the participants began to giggle and said
“I was like a child!” 3:31
Attunement to the other
The sense of playfulness, as expressed by the participants, appeared
Attunement to the other is the second main category of the ex-
after a certain time of attuning and was associated with the possibility
perience of attunement. Attunement to the other consists of the fol-
of actively experimenting with the course of events, for example, in the
lowing subcategories: intersubjective interchange, playfulness and
reciprocal interchange in dance. This exchange took place when both of
being in the present moment with somebody.
the participants had the feeling that they were exchanging in the
leading of the movement, and were therefore alternately leading and
Intersubjective interchange. The subcategory intersubjective exchange following the movement. When the participant became playful, she/he
refers to the process of spontaneous interchange of movement in studied the movement of her/his dance partner or tried new ways of
which the participants exchanged as the initiators of movements. In movement, with lightness and openness toward the new movement.
these moments participants experienced as if they and their dance The sense of playfulness brought pleasure to the participants.
partners were intertwined. In the interviews, they reffered to the Winnicott (1971) argues that a person can be creative and use his
exchange with terms as “energy exchange,” “energy flow,” and “being whole personality only through play. Only by this a person can discover
merged.” his true self. Summing up the participantsʼ citations, we can conclude
that dance movement therapy promotes playfulness, which according
“It happened spontaneously. I was without thought. . . I realize that
to Winnicott is the starting point for any therapeutic work. Associated
for a while I was following her movements, and then she was fol-
with the feeling of care and trust (in a therapist, a friend), the person
lowing mine, but it was as if these movements were going on be-
exits as a whole, and does not respond with his/her defense mechan-
tween us. As if they were not hers, nor mine, but ours.” 2: 17
isms.
“It seemed to me that even though you were leading the movement,
you were also receiving from me. . . Because you began to empha-
Being in the present moment with somebody. The experience of
size certain movements, after I had mirrored them from you. We had
attunement to the other was very often intertwined with the feeling
this echo going on – giving, receiving.” 3: 1
of self- attunement and the feelings of absence of thought and being in
Referring to the “intersubjective interchange,” the participants de- the present moment. In dance improvisation the participants were
scribed that they were no longer completely alone in leading their untroubled (without expectations, doubts) and completely let
movement, but rather felt that they and their dance partners were al- themselves free to the dance in relation to the other.
ternately guiding the movement. In this context, “movement” refers to
“And I was in the moment, with somebody.” 2: 31
two phenomenas – to the movement of each individual and to a joint
“As if I was in another state, unburdened by the surroundings, not
movement in the duet. The process of creating an intersubjective ex-
with what will be my next move, not with how I breathe, and how I
perience is best illustrated by the description of the experience of one of
look. . . So, I was here. I was in the moment.” 2: 18
the participants, who explained that she began to emphasize her
movements more when she saw them on the other participant. She When the participants were relieved from their doubts and ex-
trusted her more, and because of this, she wanted to emphasize certain pectations, they were present in the relationship in the present moment.
segments of her movement more and experiment with them. One of the participants described it even as “being in another state.”
Another participant described the feeling of fulfillment that took over
“/ … / When I saw how the movement looks like, I emphasized it
her and linked it with the spontaneity of movement and the inter-
even more and experimented with it a little more. I dared to cross a
change. She described being in the present moment as a condition to
border, which I would otherwise not have. It seemed to me to like
“exchange” in a relationship. These moments of attunement were per-
we were co-creating, I did not feel like I was the only one leading./
ceived as short and fleeing.
…/” 3: 2
“These moments of attunement came spontaneously. A couple of
In the light of the intersubjective theory, the interchange – as de-
seconds and thatʼs it. And again, there was movement, repetition,
cribed by the participants – can be seen as an intersubjective field, a
and in a moment came the true attunement – this connection.” 3: 14
system in which psychological phenomena are formed between re-
ciprocal mutual influence of subjective worlds (Stolorow, Brandschaft &
Atwood, 1992). An intersubjective field is a dynamic system that cre- Being one with the group
ates both intra and intersubjective experiences, through an embodied The third main category is “being one with the group”. This cate-
emotional experience (Avila, 2014). When two people co-create an gory refers to a sense of attunement to the group, in which participants
intersubjective experience, the experience of one overlaps with the experienced as if the boundaries between experiencing themselves,
experience of the other. The person experiences his/her experience, and their bodies and the bodies of others were erased. In this way they had
at the same time he/she experiences the experience of the other – as he/ the feeling that they were “as one”.
she perceives it through non-verbal observation (Stern, 2004). Stern
“It was not - Iʼm moving, youʼre moving, but - weʼre moving. . . /
(2004) argues that an intersubjective encounter in which a person
Maybe it was transcendence. . . /. . . / I felt connection with the
creates an intersubjective experience can only occur in the present
group, with the other and with myself. Everything was one. And
moment. An individual integrates his/her experience – what he/she is
everything was good.”1: 12
experiencing at the present moment and what he/she perceives is ex-
perienced by others – if both occur simultaneously and become part of The participants felt that the movement was going spontaneously
the same association structure. This structure becomes part of a between them and not that it was being directed by anyone. The par-
common intersubjective experience. Being in the present moment with ticipant, who described the experience of “transcendence,” remarked
somebody is a prerequisite for this “exchange“, as one of the partici- that she experienced connection with each individual, with the entire
pants explained. group and with herself. The participants described the experience of

59
T. Jerak et al. The Arts in Psychotherapy 60 (2018) 55–62

unity as “being as one” (1:13) and “everything was one.” (1:12) They felt again. That spontaneous one – we are here, we are together, this is
that they were no longer separated and that they “were breathing to- ours. . . .” 3: 4
gether” (1:14) in dance.
The participant described how she was self-censoring the movement
The participants’ experience can be described as the phenomenon of
that emerged because of her own doubts, perhaps fear, and how she
merged intersubjectivity, a relational field in which a group of individuals
began to control and consciously direct it. For this reason, her move-
shares their experience: intent, emotions, and certain cognitive processes.
ment became less flowing, and unaligned with her real inner feelings.
Rabinowitch, Cross, and Burnard (2012) describe it on an example of a
This mismatch brought her dissatisfaction.
group of individuals who co-create music (for example, a music jam ses-
The participant actually described the absence of spontaneity of
sion). Continuous and mutual adjustment to another person’s pace and
movement. Barriers to spontaneity were problems with self-esteem –
rhythm, in a musical jam session, may align affective dynamics and in-
the participant worried about what others think of her, she was
tentionality (Rabinowitch et al., 2012). The various elements that con-
worried that the other participant was “already bored,” and so forth.
stitute a musical jam session are similar to, or even more fully represented
The participant felt that she was not a good dancer – as she re-
in a group movement improvisation. Synchronous movement is a method
peatedly pointed out in the interviews. When these feelings and
with which an individual can move from merely attending to and un-
thoughts overwhelmed her in dance improvisation, she started to
derstanding the other’s experience to a point where he/she can actually
consciously direct her movement. In the example mentioned above,
experience similar intentionality and emotions by imitating his/her
experiencing misattunement to self was connected with experiencing
movement qualities. In addition to all the elements of alignment described
misattunement to the other.
above (movement observation, synchronous movement, creation of a
trusting environment, non-verbal communication), group movement im-
provisations often included touch. When the bodies of the dancers are so Misattunement to the other
profoundly listening to one another, while at the same time being in Participants linked the experience of misattunement to the other
physical contact, each feeling of self is at the same time a response to the with the feelings of doubt and fear that led to disharmony in the body,
feeling of the other. Since in group dance improvisation we are already as well as with the feeling of restricting their own movement expres-
focused on experiencing the experience of others, it is not surprising if the sion. As mentioned earlier, attention to the other sometimes evoked the
boundaries of our experience fuse with the experiencing of group move- feelings of fear, doubt, and insecurity. In these moments, the partici-
ment that takes place in a certain rhythm and pace. Even though the pants no longer felt attunement to the other, nor self-attunement. The
participants’ experienced states of merging with the group, their sense of participant described her conflicting feelings as follows:
individuality remained. As Karkou and Joseph (2017) point out, sharing
“There were two poles in me. The moments I enjoyed when I was
one rhythm can enable individuals to join together as one group, defining
unburdened and the moments when I worried, what if it was already
a clear sense of physical separateness, finding both their identities as in-
boring, and, I need to do something new. Some kind of disharmony
dividuals and within the group.
appeared in me. . . /” 3: 2
“Because of this fear of being boring, and of wanting something
Domain B. Misattunement
different, I felt as if I was not experiencing the movement as it was
happening, the dynamics, as if I was not letting it out, instead I
We classified moments of misattunements into three main cate-
interrupted it and tried something else. . . /” 3 : 3
gories: misattunement to self, misattunement to the other and mis-
attunement to the group. Misattunements took participants out of the The participant in the relationship was no longer in the moment and
present moment, which showed in less spontaineity, self-censorship of as she describes herself, her movement became more consciously con-
movement, negative emotions and experiences of exclusion from the trolled and less relaxed. She described her experience of misattunement
group. Erskine et al. (2013) describe contact as a state of being aware of with the other as “forced movement” and “disharmony.” As she ex-
inner wants, needs, perceptions, emotions, or thoughts of self, and si- plained later, experiencing these moments of misattunement were
multaneously being aware of what and who is in the environment. much more intense than experiencing a spontaneous attuned exchange
Contact is enabled when a person is fully present – attuned to his/her in dancing. When the participant, in the course of subsequent exercises
inner experience. In moments of misattunement participants lost con- of attunement, felt more relaxed and trusted her dance partner more,
tact with self and/or other. Participants described that moments of moments of “disharmony” diminished.
misattunement with self were closely related to misattunements to the When describing their experience of misattunement to the other,
other. Both experiences showed in feelings of costrainment and self- the participants also described feelings of constrainment. They felt
censorship of movements. Movement expression became less sponta- constrained when they themselves searched for more in-depth con-
neous, more consciously controlled and uncoordinated. One participant tact with themselves, and their need for self-attunement overtook the
described misattunement with self as unalignment with her real feel- need to attune to others. Since they wanted to completely let them-
ings. In moments of misattunements participants were preoccupied selves free to the inner impulses in dance, they felt that the attention
with their thoughts about self or others and experienced the loss of to the other in movement improvisation was limiting them in their
being in the ‘now’. free movement expression.
“I could describe this as a kind of tension. . . Because you had to be
Missattunement to self
very careful about the other. . . If I compare it to the previous ex-
Attuning to others often led to a sense of greater self-attunement,
ercise where you were in your own rhythm, and you did not have to
but sometimes it prevented it too. This happened when attention to the
think about what the other would do. . . .” 2: 10
other evoked the feelings of fear, doubt, and insecurity. In these mo-
“I had a feeling I could let myself go even more. I was cautious. . . .”
ments, movement expression became less spontaneous, more con-
3: 7
sciously controlled and uncoordinated.
“Sometimes it happened that I consciously started to move slower so
“I was forcing my movements, something I was not.” 3: 3 she could follow me. I did not want to be unsuccessful in mirroring,
“I felt it in my movements. They were not so relaxed, and I wanted attuning, and at the same time, this feeling was burdening me, because
something more, something different. They were not alligned with I wanted to move freely. So I closed my eyes in order to relieve myself
me. They were more controlled, less spontaneous. And when I of this feeling. I did not know how to do it otherwise. . . .” 3: 8
stopped focusing on these thoughts, the true movement came out
The last quote describes the participant's purposeful misattunement

60
T. Jerak et al. The Arts in Psychotherapy 60 (2018) 55–62

to her dance partner – she closed her eyes to relieve herself of the ne- References
gative feeling.
Avila, A. (2014). The intersubjective: A core concept for psychoanalysis. International
Misattunement to the group Forum of Psychoanalysis, 25(3), 186–190. https://doi.org/10.1080/0803706X.2014.
967813 Retrieved from.
Participants experienced misattunement with the whole group as Behrends, A., Müller, S., & Dziobek, I. (2012). Moving in and out of synchrony:A concept
well, which evoked negative feelings and feelings of exclusion. One of for a new intervention fostering empathy through interactional movement and dance.
the participant reported feeling excluded because she could not connect The Arts in Psychotherapy, 39, 107–116.
Behrends, A., Müller, S., & Dziobek, I. (2016). Dancing supports empathy: The potential of
with the group: interactional movement and dance for psychotherapy. European Psychotherapy 2016/
2017: Embodiment in Psychotherapy, 13, 99–131.
“I pulled back here. It was hard for me. I stayed in myself and I was Berrol, C. (2006). Neuroscience meets dance/movement therapy: Mirror neurons, the
no longer connected with the group. . . .” 4: 8 therapeutic process and empathy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 33(4), 302–315.
Corbin, J. M., & Strauss, A. L. (2015). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and pro-
Empirical psychological research shows the connection between cedures for developing grounded theory. Los Angeles: Sage.
synchronous movement of the group and the feeling of belonging and Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2006). A social-neuroscience perspective on empathy.
Association for Psychological Science, 15(2), 54–58.
cooperation (Behrends et al., 2012; Valdesolo et al., 2010). Just like the
Deveraux, C. (2017). Neuroception and attunement in Dance/Movement therapy with
phenomenon of imitation, which refers to a person’s inclination to in- autism. American Journal of Dance Therapy, 39(1), 36–38.
teract with another unconsciously by imitating the gestures, the pose Eberhard-Kaechele, M. (2012). Memory, metaphor and mirroring in movement therapy
and the speech of another person, synchronized movement serves a with trauma patients. In S. C. Koch, T. Fuchs, M. Summa, & C. Müller (Eds.). Memory,
metaphor and movement. Philapelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
very important communication task, that is social integration (Behrends Erskine, R., & Trautmann, R. L. (1997). The process of integrative psychotherapy. 1993 In
et al., 2012). When experiencing misattunement to the group, the R. Erskine (Ed.). Theories and methods of an integrative transactional analysis (pp. 79–
participant felt the exact opposite, which is the feelings of exclusion. 95). San Francisco: TA Press.
Erskine, R. G., Moursund, J. P., & Trautmann, R. L. (2013). Beyond empathy. A therapy of
contact in relationship. Philadelphia: Brunner/Mazel.
Conclusion Fischman, D. (2009). Therapeutic relationships and kinesthetic empathy. In S. Chaiklin, &
H. Wengrower (Eds.). Life is dance: The art and science of dance movement therapy (pp.
33–54). New York: Routledge.
In dance movement therapy, kinesthetic empathy is viewed as a Foster, S. (2011). Choreographing empathy: Kinesthesia in performance. New York:
catalyst for positive change in the client, but in practice it is still a very Routledge.
poorly understood phenomenon. Results of this study indicate the rich Fuchs, T. (2009). Embodied cognitive neuroscience and its consequences for psychiatry.
Poiesis and Praxis, 6(3–4), 219–233.
possibilities for achieving a deeper understanding of moments of attu- Gallagher, S. (2005). How the body shapes the mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
nement and misattunement in dance movement therapy. Non-verbal Gallagher, S., & Payne, H. (2015). The role of embodiment and intersubjectivity in clinical
attunement in dance movement therapy allows the client to express reasoning. Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, 10(1), 68–78.
Gallese, V. (2003). The roots of empathy: The shared manifold hypothesis and the neural
himself, and enables him to have new responses, leading to the devel-
basis of intersubjectivity. Psychopathology, 36(4), 171–180.
opment of richer, deeper interpersonal interactions. The results of this Gallese, V. (2005). Embodied simulation: From neurons to phenomenal experience.
study show that successful attunement in dance supports being in the Phenomenology and Cognitive Sciences, 4, 23–48.
present moment. It promotes individualʼs spontaneity, playfulness, and Kagan, N. (1974). Interpersonal process recall: Inquirer role and function (video). Retrieved
fromMichigan: Michigan State University. https://archive.org/details/
creativity, it stimulates embodiment and thus the integration of the interpersonalprocessrecallinquirerroleandfunction.
mind and body. It can also lead to the experience of an intersubjective Karkou, V., & Joseph, J. (2017). The moving and movement identities of adolescents:
exchange where two people co-create an intersubjective experience. Lessons from dance movement psychotherapy in a mainstream secondary school. In
R. Macdonald, D. J. Hargreaves, & D. Miell (Eds.). Handbook of musical identities (pp.
Successful attunement to the group leads to the experience of being one 232–244). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
with the group. Moments of misattunement trigger unpleasant feelings, Kipper, D. A., Green, D. J., & Prorak, A. (2010). The relationship among spontaneity,
and result in lack of spontaneity, feelings of exclusion, and hinder the impulsivity and creativity. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 5, 39–53.
Koch, S. C. (2006). Interdisciplinary embodiment approaches: Implications for creative
contact. arts therapies. In S. C. Koch, & I. Brauninger (Eds.). Advances in dance/movement
Some limitations of the present study can be pointed out. therapy: Theoretical perspectives and empirical findings (pp. 17–28). Berlin: Logos.
Attunement/Misattunement Observational Checklist was used to de- Koch, S. C., Kelbel, J., Kolter, A., Sattel, H., & Fuchs, T. (2017). Dis-)embodiment in
schizophrenia: Effects of mirroring on self-experience, empathy and wellbeing. In V.
termine the moments of (mis)attunement. The checklist is in pre-
Karkou, S. Oliver, & S. Lycouris (Eds.). The Oxford handbook of dance and wellbeing
liminary phase of development and there is no data on its reliability and (pp. 863–881). New York: Oxford University Press.
validity. The workshops were run as experimental workshops focused Kossak, M. S. (2009). Therapeutic attunement: A transpersonal view of expressive art
therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 36, 13–18.
on the process of mutual attunement. Participants were students of
Laban, R. (2002). Mojstrstvo gibanja. [The mastery of movement.]. Ljubljana: Mestno
expressive arts therapy and the main researcher was leading the gledališče ljubljansko.
workshops. This context could have had an impact on the dynamics of Larsen, D., Flesaker, K., & Stege, R. (2008). Qualitative interviewing using interpersonal
the group and research results. With this approach we gathered in- process recall: Investigating internal experiences during professional-client con-
versations. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 7(1), 18–37. Retrieved from
formation regarding participants’ experience of attunement and mis- http://www.gilis-place.com/html5/web/10286/15294ImageFile3.pdf.
attunement in the group, however results cannot be generalised to Lieberman, M. D. (2007). Social cognitive neuroscience: A review of core processes.
dance movement therapy sessions with clients. There is a need to look Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 259–289.
McGarry, L. M., & Russo, F. A. (2011). Mirroring in Dance/Movement therapy: Potential
at actual dance movement therapy sessions in the future and explore mechanisms behind empathy enhancement. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 38, 178–184.
whether the findings remain relevant in a clinical context. So the pre- Payne, H. (2006). Dance movement therapy: Theory, research and practice. London:
sent study should be considered as a developmental study that could be Routledge.
Payne, H., Warnecke, T., Karkou, V., & Westland, G. (2016). A comparative analysis of
repeated within clinical context with a larger sample of participants. body psychotherapy and dance movement psychotherapy from a European per-
spective. Body, Mind and Dance in Psychotherapy, 11(2–3), 144–166.
Funding Rabinowitch, T., Cross, I., & Burnard, P. (2012). Musical group interaction, inter-
subjectivity and merged subjectivity. In D. Reynolds, & M. Reason (Eds.). Kinesthetic
empathy in creative and cultural practices (pp. 109–120). United Kingdom: Intellect Ltd.
This research did not receive any grant from funding agencies in the Reynlods, D. (2012). Mirroring movements: Empathy and social interactions. In D.
public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Reynolds, & M. Reason (Eds.). Kinesthetic empathy in creative and cultural practices (pp.
29–32). United Kingdom: Intellect Ltd.
Rova, M. (2017). Embodying kinaesthetic empathy through interdisciplinary practice-
Declaration of conflicting interest based research. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 55, 164–173.
Samaritter, R., & Payne, H. (2013). Kinesthetic intersubjectivity: A dance informed con-
We declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the re- tribution to self-other relatedness and shared experience in non-verbal psychotherapy
with an example from autism. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 40, 143–150.
search, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

61
T. Jerak et al. The Arts in Psychotherapy 60 (2018) 55–62

Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., & Teasdale, J. D. (2002). Mindfulness-based cognitive Analytic Press.
therapy for depression: A new approach to preventing relapse. New York, NY: Guilford Tortora, S. (2006). The dancing dialogue. Maryland: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
Press. Trevarthen, C., & Fresquez, C. (2015). Sharing human movement for well-being: Research
Stern, D. (1985). The interpersonal world of the infant: A view from psychoanalysis and de- on communication in infancy and applications in dance movement psychotherapy.
velopmental psychology: With a new introduction by the author. New York: Basic Books. Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, 10(4), 194–210.
Stern, D. (2004). The present moment in psychotherapy and everyday life. New York: W. W. Valdesolo, P., Ouyang, J., & DeSteno, D. (2010). The rhythm of joint action: Synchrony
Norton and Company Ltd. promotes cooperative ability. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 693–695.
Stolorow, R., Brandchaft, B., & Atwood, G. (1992). Contexts of being. Hillsdale, New York: Winnicott, D. W. (1971). Playing and reality. London; New York: Routledge.

62