A Client’s Perspective – Rainbow Reflection

Expressive therapy can help clients explore and transform difficult emotional and medical conditions. In my practice, that often involves working in the creative process, which is hard to explain because it happens organically. It usually arises out of what the client brings to the session, so when I’m asked to talk about my work I’m not always sure where to start. Dance Movement Psychotherapy is not easy to summarise – every session is different, every body has it’s own unique story.

I use a combination of directive and non-directive prompts when working with clients. Directive prompts help steer the session and intentionally support the client’s individual process. Some directive interventions might be a guided body scan, breathing exercises, or mindful movement. These are powerful methods that promote calmness and insightful reflection for my clients in both mind and body.

A client sent me this beautiful reflection on our recent session together – with permission to share. They had come weighed down with difficult emotions, some for themself and others not. After gently checking in, their body led us through a session rich in symbolism and metaphor. At times I moved with them and at others witnessed them moving. We explored and inquired – sometimes in words, sometimes in movement. Immersed in the moment. This was their experience in their own words.

RAINBOW CAVE
I find myself standing with my hands over what feel like two pebbles. Their surface feels slightly
pimply and they fit my palms perfectly. When I look, they are the palest grey and there is a space
between them that goes a long way down. The grey darkens as it goes down.
I step into the space between the pebbles and find myself at the start of a dark tunnel. As I leave
daylight behind, a small electric lightbulb appears above my head. It sheds a warm, gold light and I
can see water trickling down what look like slate walls. There is a slight iridescence where the walls
are wet. I walk deeper into the tunnel down a gentle slope. I notice vivid green patches appearing
on the walls. When I look closer, I see that they are clumps of moss, so bright they glow in the light
of the bulb above my head. They are covered in tiny stems capped by tiny seed pods – almost like
little cushions.

The tunnel broadens into what I think is a large cave. Rainbows appear on the floor. I am walking on
rainbows. More appear on the walls, lighting the moss patches even more brightly. Delight fills me
and I laugh. I play with the rainbows, jumping from one to another, trying not to touch the floor in
between. I am a child again. I run towards the walls to touch as many red colours as I can, then
yellows, then violets. The rainbows are so beautiful.

I play with the rainbows until it’s time to leave. Happy and immensely grateful, I say thank you to
the universe for this joyous experience. And I know that I will be able to return to my rainbow cave
whenever I need to.

Creativity leads to more creativity and how wonderful that my client was able to express our embodied experience in words.