After training as a movement therapist, you can accompany people in your own practice or in institutions in a process- and conflict-centered way. In process-oriented dance and movement therapy, you have a conflict-centered and process-oriented approach to therapeutic work.

The Higher Professional Examination (HFP) to become an art therapist with a federal diploma can currently be taken in five different specializations, which include music therapy, intermedial therapy, design and painting therapy, drama and speech therapy as well as movement and dance therapy. If you would like to train as a movement therapist, the advanced specialist examination is an interesting and highly regarded further training course at a high level.

As a dance and movement therapist, you work with individuals or groups and can find possible employment in the following places:

• in clinics
• in socio-educational institutions
• at schools
• in the socio-cultural field
• in leisure facilities
• in your own practice

Further training in movement therapy can be differentiated as follows:

• In terms of orientation: resource-oriented or process-oriented
• After completion: school certificate, association certificate, EFZ, CAS, DAS or higher professional examination with federal diploma
• Duration: the duration of training can vary greatly depending on the training and therefore also cost different amounts

As CAS and DAS postgraduate courses, people are trained as sports and exercise therapists. This is used for mental illnesses, internal diseases, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. These therapists motivate, accompany and advise patients to exercise and help them to improve their lifestyle.

The choice of courses and training programs in movement, dance or body therapy is very wide, so the admission requirements and prerequisites for the individual training and further education courses also vary. For some courses you do not need any special prior knowledge, such as for training as a dance and movement therapist, but you do need to have completed a vocational apprenticeship, a school-leaving certificate or a higher degree. These courses therefore enable lateral entry as a movement therapist. However, the requirements for this further training may vary from school to school, so it is essential to clarify the admission requirements directly with the training providers beforehand.

Federally recognized movement therapist training or further training in the field of movement therapy are the apprenticeship training to become a specialist in movement and health promotion with a federal certificate of competence (EFZ), the higher professional examination in art therapy with a federal diploma and the training to become a manager of health tourism and movement with a federal diploma. Nevertheless, you can complete many further training courses to become a movement therapist that are recognized by an association. Please ask the schools directly about the recognition of the individual courses you are interested in.

In a dance and movement therapy course, for example, you learn the following:

• Fundamentals of dance and movement therapy and process psychology
• Expansion and differentiation of your movement repertoire and perception channels
• Consolidation of dance therapy methodology and practice
• Developmental psychology and its relevance for practical work
• Accompanying movement processes
• Verbal and non-verbal communication
• Rhythm and voice
• Conflict-centered dance and movement therapy
• Body-oriented psychotherapeutic methods and concepts
• In-depth study of psychopathology and practice
• Consolidation of process-oriented methods and concepts
• Art and therapy
• Symptom work and psychosomatics
• Live and case supervision
• Working with dreams
• Social processes
• Process-oriented working method: Movement, painting, voice, theater, etc.
• Group process and process theater
• Communication concepts and practice
• Process analysis
• Course of therapy and case documentation

You should have the following personal prerequisites for training as a movement therapist:

• Completed basic training such as an apprenticeship, high school diploma or University of Applied Sciences or university degree
• Personal responsibility
• creative curiosity
• Mental and physical resilience
• Good time and financial planning
• Age limit: e.g. 25 years

Ask the school about the exact requirements.

With a degree in movement therapy, you have the opportunity to work in the leisure sector, in a psychosocial institution or in your own practice. This means that you can find employment in leisure facilities as well as in schools, clinics or socio-educational institutions, where you can support the development or healing of very different people using movement and dance therapy methods.