Made-in-Canada: West Coast Dance/Movement Therapy training spotlight

The West Coast Dance/Movement Therapy (WCDMT) training began in Vancouver, BC in 2013 with the collaboration of professional members Hana Kamea Kemble, Tannis Hugill and Kalila Homann, BC- DMTs. DMTAC is so grateful to Hana Kamea Kemble RCC, BC-DMT, CLMA for sharing this post on the made-in-Canada training they have been developing, with courses now being offered online. Check it out!

With no graduate level programs currently available, we saw a real gap and need for Alternate Route training in Canada, and wanted to share our diverse DMT expertise to further the promotion and availability of DMT (DMTAC currently has educational opportunities listed here). We taught using Kalila Homann's curricula for the first few years, then began to develop our own made-in-Canada courses. We usually begin a new cohort of students every 2.5-3 years and offer mainly weekend based (as well as up to 10-day intensive) courses throughout the year. Since Covid-19 hit, we have moved online using Zoom and Webinar formats.

Our instructors come from a variety of theoretical backgrounds and all have extensive clinical practice and teaching experience. Since 2013, we have added Instructors including Amber Elizabeth Gray (Trauma Healing), Dennis McCarthy (DMT for Children), Janet Kaylo and Donna Redlick (Movement Observation and Analysis) and others. Tannis Hugill and Hana Kamea Kemble continue to teach all other courses, with invited guests.

We feel that having access to instructors with different social, cultural and theoretical backgrounds is important in understanding the depth and reach of DMT for conscious, cross-cultural applications. Of particular importance to WCDMT is trauma-aware, somatic psychology and neuro-biologically informed practice. We now have an administrative coordinator on staff, Melissa Flagg, who is a wonderful help in supporting the management of courses and the needs of our Alternate Route students.

Our training has attracted both Masters level professional working counsellors and social workers as well as students beginning to undertake their Master's degrees in psychology/counselling and expressive arts therapies.

We welcome inquiries from new prospective students! You can browse the full list of upcoming online courses available here.

Hana Kamea Kemble, RCC, BC-DMT, CLMA is the Co-Founder of West Coast Dance/Movement Therapy

and you can contact her via www.themovingchild.com or www.westcoastdmt.com

Want to read more about training to be a DMT? Visit our Education page here.