Literature Review - 'Injury, Imagery & Self-esteem in Dance'

Injury, Imagery & Self-esteem in Dance
Healthy minds in injured bodies?

Sanna M. Nordin-Bates, Ph.D., C.Psychol., Imogen J. Walker, M.Sc, Jo Baker, M.Sc, Jocelyn Garner, Ph.D., Cinzia Hardy, M.Sc, Sarah Irvine, M.Sc, Corinne Jola, Ph.D., Helen Laws, B.A., and Peta Blevins, M.Sc.

Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, 06/2011, Volume 15, Issue 2

I found this journal using Middlesex University's Summon. From previous research I had heard about Imagery and is benefits for injured dancers. I typed 'Imagery in Dance' into Summon to find out more.

This particular journal has many contributing authors and many of them I have heard of through other research, such as Helen Laws who wrote 'Fit to Dance 2', and Peta Blevins who is a freelance dance teacher, lecturer and researcher specialising in Dance Psychology and Safe Dance Practice. I first came across Peta Blevins research through Trinity Laban.

The Journal of Dance Medicine and Science focuses on the current results of clinical and experimental research. The aim of the Journal of Dance Medicine & Science is to provide one source for up-to-date information. Featured articles are drawn from the fields of:

• Anatomy and Physiology
• Biomechanics
• General Medicine
• Sports Medicine and Surgery
• Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
• Physical Therapy
• Dance Education
• Kinesiology
• Psychology
• Nutrition and Diet

The journal has been a significant contributor to my research and knowledge throughout my inquiry.
Published by The International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) that was formed in 1990 by an international group of dance medicine practitioners, dance educators, dance scientists, and dancers.  "IADMS enhances the health, well-being, training, and performance of dancers by cultivating educational, medical, and scientific excellence." (IADMS mission statement)

Under legal notice, "IADMS presents the information on this website as an educational service to the public and to our members. While the information on this site is about health care issues and dance medicine, it is not medical advice. Persons seeking specific dance medicine advice or assistance should consult a health care practitioner."

A limitation to this journal is that the information is considered educational towards health care issues and dance medicine rather than medical advice. Despite this the information is sill relatively current and up to date having been published in 2013. IADMS also has support from high profile people working in the Arts industry, Paola Cantalupo, Peter Boal, Christopher Wheeldon, Bill Evans, Li Cunxin and Darcey Bussell.

Introduction
My inquiry will be looking into the physical and psychological support available for injured dancers in professional dance training. To understand the need for support and why dancers can be affected  both physically and mentally by injury provides huge scope for research including opinions from psychologists, professional teachers, dancers themselves, health specialists and therapists. This journal looks into Injury, Imagery and Self-esteem in Dance. I have particularly drawn insight from the findings surrounding injury and also the concept of imagery as a supportive and rehabilitative procedure.

I found this journal having used Summon on the MDX Unihub and researching 'Dance Injury'. This will be part of a selection of literature that will aim to inform and support my inquiry. It is essential for me to look into the cause of dance related injury to understand how to prevent injury as well as define what support is appropriate and most effective post injury.


Analysis of Literature
The literature suggests that dance has a "culture of tolerance" and "dancers are often resistant to altering their training frequency" when injured (Lai & Associates). It is stated that in a survey a large number of dancers continued to dance when injured suggesting that "psychological issues such as pressure, fear, motivation, or low self-esteem may be implicated."

Reports show high percentages of dancers carry on as normal when injured. It suggests that this may be due to fear of losing work, lack of reasonably priced treatments or negative perceptions of health professionals. "Air established that when dance specific health care is free, access is higher".

The journal uses the 'Anderson & Williams injury model' to discuss injury, imagery and self-esteem.



Noh and Colleagues comment on  the 'psychological aspects of dance injury' and the literature illustrates the relationship between negative stress and injury duration.  In short, the more stress = longer injury duration. Next the journal discusses how to decrease the time spent injured and suggests training in the effects of imagery, self-talk and autogenic training (type of relaxation) will significantly improve dancers coping skills and ultimately decrease time spent injured. This highlights the relevance of psychological skills in helping dancers to prevent and cope with injury.

As research shows, in terms of dance rehabilitation for injury, offering imagery training can increase "self confidence and lower anxiety". It also enhances "coping skills" for dancers. Imagery training focuses on facilitative and debilitative thoughts.

"An example of a facilitative image may be seeing and feeling oneself dancing well, while a debilitative one may be imagining oneself falling over while performing. Comparing facilitative and debilitative imagery is of interest because, although dancers experience both types, there is a lack of quantitative data to indicate how often this occurs. As injury is related to a host of negative psychological experiences and mind states, the present study also examined whether those dancers currently suffering from an injury experience debilitative imagery more frequently than those unaffected by injury."

Imagery can encourage dancers to see "injury rehabilitation as a time to work on their dance skills through observation, mental practice and similar supplementary work...dancers prove to struggle with what they may perceive to be a period of non-constructive passivity." Healing imagery for pain management and recovery has therefore been depicted as "a facilitative tool in both sports and dance rehabilitation."


Conclusion
This journal is consequently relevant to my inquiry in support of the need for greater understanding of the psychological status of dancers suffering with injury and the improvement of treatment and training. The journal also offers insight into the power of imagery as a rehabilitative and preventative technique for injury. I will add 'Imagery' to my list of support available.

'Injury, Imagery and Self-esteem in Dance' also mentions the prevalence of dance science and psychology based training in vocational schools. With advances in medical science and wider acknowledgement of the importance of this type of training, more and more vocational dance schools are taking action to provide physical and psychological support for their students. I hope that my inquiry will evoke action for schools which do not offer this support.

I will need to do further research into types of physical and psychological support and review each one to ensure they are beneficial, applicable and achievable.