M.A. in Art Therapies

Head of the program: Dr. Sharon Weisswasser

Compulsory courses

First Year:

Movement Art and Human Development

The course deals with developmental processes through different stages of life and their physical, cognitive, emotional, neurological, and social contexts from a multidisciplinary perspective. Examine the role and meaning of physical movement in developmental theory and in the service of mental development.

As the first course in the program, Movement Art and Human Development also serves as an orientation for learning and professional work in the field of movement therapy and will combine both theoretical and experiential learning. (2 credits)

Introduction to Movement Therapy and Dance A + B

In this course, students learn the basics of movement therapy and its unique contribution to the therapeutic process. The first part of the course focuses on leading schools of thought in the modern field and fundamental principles and concepts.

The second part of the course focuses on experiences that establish the theory behind and methods through which treatment enables a combination of verbal expression and expression through movement and dance. Students learn to connect psychotherapeutic ideas and concepts with movement therapy methods for the treatment of children and adults.

Students discuss and experiment with the use of movement to reveal and understand mental processes, bridging the inner and outer world in an environment where repressed and unconscious emotions can make themselves known and be processed. (4 credits for each part)

Diagnosis and Assessment in Movement Therapy

This course presents unique methods of diagnosis and assessment in movement therapy and their role in understanding one’s capabilities and difficulties, disorders, and pathologies to enable treatment through a corresponding therapeutic system. The course emphasizes Laban and Kestenberg’s diagnostic and evaluation methods. (2 credits)

Psychotherapy – Theories and Approaches in Psychological Treatment

The course presents the main theories in psychological therapy and the fundamental concepts on which they are based. The course reviews the development of the different approaches to psychological treatment and focuses on distinguishing between different stages of treatment, characterizing the therapist’s role in them, and differentiating between the treatment of children and adults. (2 credits)

Psychological Diagnosis and Assessment

This course introduces students to the psychological approach to diagnosis and assessment, where a patient’s capabilities are identified, and their difficulties, disorders, and pathologies are understood to develop a corresponding treatment plan. The course presents the principles of psychiatric classification and provides students with insight into the process of clinical diagnosis and psychological assessment. (2 credits)

Standards and Ethics in Psychological Therapy

In this course, students learn about the historical development of ethics in care professions, understand its philosophical roots, and learn modern theories and principles of professional ethics. Students study ethical codes relevant to therapeutic occupations, such as the ethical codes of the Association of Psychologists, the Social Workers, the Medical Association, and the Psychoanalytic Society.

Students also learn law related to ethical dilemmas, such as the Patient’s Rights Law, the Law for the Treatment of the Mentally Injured, and more. Central dilemmas in ethical discourse are presented during the course. Students will learn the connection between theory and practice and its importance. Students also acquire practical tools for dealing with ethical dilemmas in the field. (2 credits)

Research Methods

The course introduces students to methods used in contemporary academic research, quantitative and qualitative research methods, the different paradigms on which they are based, their characterization, and their advantages and weaknesses. The course provides students with both key groups of research skills, reading, analyzing, and interpreting research, and topic selection and research question formulation. (2 credits)

Introduction to Clinical Experience in Movement A + B – A Field Course Held in Small Groups

Students meet with individual patients in a group setting in an educational and experiential framework. In a clinical setting, students develop their observational abilities within treatment processes and deepen their understanding of clinical skills and the use of movement.

The course progresses from observation, where students become familiar with patients and their characteristics, to experimenting and guiding therapy through movement. (4 credits for each part)

Second Year:

Models and Skills in Group Therapy

Students develop knowledge, theory, tools, and skills in group work, integrating movement into the group process and their roles as supervisors. The course combines theories on how personal processes are integrated into the group process and the interrelationships between individual and group processes according to the models of Yalom, Foulkes, and Bion. Students experiment and process content while integrating movement into the group process. (3 credits)

Theories and Methods in Movement Therapy A + B

The course focuses on advanced methods and theories and on deepening the integration of classical psychotherapeutic language and movement therapy language with the aim of enabling effective therapeutic strategies. Students learn concepts and steps in the therapeutic process and the characteristics of the therapist’s identity through movement.

The course contains both theoretical and experiential studies of a central theory in the field of movement therapy, the Shahar-Levi paradigm, which allows one to characterize and work with physical memories and situations of trauma, loss, and illness in childhood, adulthood, and old age.

The course provides methods for therapeutic intervention through movement and enables the development and expansion of students’ personal toolboxes to prepare them for their roles as therapists for different demographics. (4 credits for each part)

Research Based on Art-Movement

The course focuses on the relationship between research and movement experiences, qualitative research that involves the active involvement of participants. Students will learn to search for and collect the necessary materials and tools to develop a movement experience for individuals, couples, and groups in order to evaluate mental phenomena and document the understanding, analysis, and interpretation. Students will acquire skills in critical reading of academic literature, with an emphasis on understanding current debate in the world of therapy. (3 credits)

Training Seminar in Movement Therapy A + B

This course accompanies the students in the practical training process. The course is taught in the format of case presentations and processing professional issues while linking to theory and experience in the movement. The course is structured parallel to the therapeutic processes that the students face in the field and helps the student integrate into familiar therapeutic frameworks. Students will be engaged in researching a topic of their choice and in writing a seminar case presentation while connecting the theory. (3+3 credits)

This course accompanies students during their practical training. It features case presentations and working through professional issues while drawing connections between theory and movement experience. The course parallels the therapeutic processes students will face in the field, helping them integrate into familiar therapeutic frameworks. Students will research a topic of their choice and develop a seminar case presentation while connecting the theory.

Advanced Studio Courses

First Year:

Movement and Body Performances

This studio course is aimed at teaching students through personal experience the ways in which movement creates a body in its various manifestations. Accordingly, it is built as a graded movement whose purpose is to reveal the basics of the construction and encryption of the body through movement and the ways in which these construction methods are embedded in the body as layers of meaning.

The starting point is phenomenological and strives to develop an awareness of movement as a constitutive element of the “lived body” embodied in the work of the senses as actions of attention, exploration, and learning while interacting with the environment. From the movement-sensory body manifestations of the living experience within the “phenomenological order,” we will move to the body manifestations within the “human order” first through discoveries of the “social body” and studying the principles of movement as social communication and finally through the examination of the expressive movement of the “cultural body” and its symbolic meanings. (3 credits)

Second Year:

Listening and Communication in the Body and Movement – Body Mind Gestalt

This studio course includes practical and experiential learning on the perfection of personal-sensual, interpersonal, and group movement ability and listening to the natural qualities of the moving body towards focusing energy and achieving clear movement and communication.

The course focuses on basic experiences in the body, such as breathing, sound, and movement, along with principles and methods of Body Mind Gestalt Therapy. Gestalt Therapy emphasizes the sensory field as a space of connection to self and others.

Students will practice high levels of resolution in listening to the feelings of themselves and others, will learn basic concepts in Body Mind Gestalt Therapy, and will undergo guided therapeutic practice based on the concepts learned and a variety of movement experiences for individuals, couples, and groups. The course provides tools to apply different types of therapeutic interventions to various demographics. (3 credits) 

Body-Anchored Therapeutic Session – The Bioenergetic Analysis

In this practical and experiential studio course, students will come to understand bioenergetic analysis and the uniqueness of that method within the field of movement therapy. Bioenergetic analysis is a therapeutic approach that treats the body itself as the fundamental essence of the treatment process, focusing on the observation and investigation of developmental psychosomatic processes based on the assumption that body and mind are functionally identical.

Incorporating this perspective into movement therapy provides students with a deeper understanding of body-anchored encounters, the meaning of attachment, and its effects on the physical-emotional organization and aspects involved in trauma.

Emphasis will be placed on the physical-mental connection between the therapist and the patient and on the physical-energetic importance of the therapist’s presence. Students will develop tools to deepen their observations of personal physical and mental history. The course features self-investigation and a group laboratory combining both theory and experience. (3 credits)

Third-Year Courses (As Part of Practical Training)

Parent Training (Year 3)

This course focuses on building a fruitful dialogue between the various theoretical approaches dealing with the guidance and treatment of parents and clinical experience in movement therapy. It includes fundamental aspects of the parenting experience based on a developmental sequence that starts at the beginning and parenting and runs to the experience of parenting teenage children.

Students learn about pathological situations in parenting and the different ways that these situations are approached, both in working with patients and meeting with their parents. The course brings together different therapeutic perspectives while referring to questions and issues that students encounter in their work in the field. (4 credits)

Combining Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in Movement Therapy (Year 3)

This course introduces fundamental elements of the cognitive-behavioral approach based on therapeutic research. Students learn to recognize ineffective thought and behavior patterns and how to help patients change them. This approach provides an additional layer for a comprehensive treatment system and can be a significant part of integrative treatment that combines multiple techniques.

Active learning in the course, accompanied by movement experience, will enable the internalization of these components and their practical application in the daily life of the student and in their ways of observing, questioning, understanding, and working with patients.

Students should come to the course with an open mind and try to personally practice the taught material. The application of the approach and its expression in physical activity will be presented through work with different patients. (2 credits)

Mind-Body-Mind in the Field of Treatment (year 3)

The course provides an introduction to key issues in brain research and their contribution to understanding the human soul and the therapeutic process. Students will become familiar with modern insights into the structure and function of the brain with reference to the embodiment of mental states and processes and the meaning of movement in an intrapersonal and interpersonal context.

The effects of movement and physical activity on the brain throughout different stages of life will be studied and discussed. The course will deal with issues related to development, self-formation, relationships with others, and mind-body-environment relationships. Students will also learn the significance of this perspective with respect to stress and trauma situations, depression, self-disorders, and neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism.

The course will promote integrative therapeutic thinking through a connection between what is learned about brain function and topics that are at the center of clinical work in movement therapy. (2 credits)

To view the complete study program, click here

To view a list of course lecturers, click here