The Lived Body (Leib) in Phenomenological Therapeutic Interventions: A Systematic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59614/acief62026294Keywords:
Dance Movement Therapy, dance therapy, phenomenology, body, experienceAbstract
Phenomenology distinguishes the physical or objectifiable body, Körper, from the lived body, Leib, understood as the condition of perception, action, affectivity, and one’s relationship with the world. This conception has informed therapeutic interventions that place first-person bodily experience at the center of the transformation process. Objective: To analyze recent research trends on phenomenologically oriented therapeutic interventions that incorporate the lived body (Leib), identifying the most frequently studied intervention modalities and the available evidence regarding their therapeutic impact over the last five years. Method: A PRISMA-based systematic review was conducted through searches in Scopus and Web of Science, limited to empirical articles published between 2022 and 2026. Of the 68 records identified, 34 were examined in depth, and 10 met the inclusion criteria. Results: A marked predominance of Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) was observed. The studies reported benefits in bodily awareness, emotional regulation, safety, emotional management, the resignification of trauma-related experiences, belonging, and shared meaning-making. Discussion: The Leib articulates one’s relationship with the world, enables political acts, and allows prereflective experiences to become conscious during therapy, thereby facilitating personal and relational transformation. Conclusions: The Leib constitutes an integrative framework for understanding these interventions, although the available evidence, which is predominantly qualitative and based on small samples, mainly supports their relevance and therapeutic potential, without yet allowing firm conclusions regarding comparative effectiveness.
References
Aleandri, G., & Battista, F. (2021, del 22 al 23 de septiembre). Arts-therapy as innovative educational strategy for embodied narrative, lifelong learning and inclusion [Conferencia]. 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd’21), Valencia, España.
Allegranti (2009): Embodied performances of sexuality and gender: A feminist approach to dance movement psychotherapy and performance practice. Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy: An International Journal for Theory, Research and Practice, 4(1), 17-31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17432970802682340
Arboleda, V., & Arenas, D. H. (2024). Efectos de la danza en los procesos cognitivos. Revista Académica Internacional de Educación Física, 4(5), 33-47. https://doi.org/10.59614/acief42024208
Barrero, L. F. (2019). Dance as therapy: embodiment, kinesthetic empathy and the case of contact improvisation. Adaptive Behavior, 27(1), 91-100. DOI: 10.1177/1059712318794203
Berrol, C. F. (2006). Neuroscience meets dance/movement therapy: Mirror neurons, the therapeutic process and empathy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 33(4), 302-315. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2006.04.001
Bian, Y. T. (2026). The Embodied Approach in Philosophical Therapy: A Perspective from Phenomenology. Philosophia, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-026-00965-7
Blanc, V., Hyche, D., Pierre-Antoine, S., Rivera, N., Sward, A., & Terrio, C. (2025). Dance/Movement Therapy in Virtual Spaces: Building Practices for Connection. Creative Arts in Education & Therapy, 11(1). DOI 10.15212/CAET/2025/11/1
Bustos, O. M., Rojas, J. F., Sáez, M. M., & Marrero, N. M. (2026). Danza Movimiento Terapia: Camino hacia el Bienestar General. Danzaratte: Revista del Conservatorio Superior de Danza de Málaga, (19), 5-6. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=10791341
Caldwell, C., & Koch, S. C. (2018). Working with embodied memory: The moving cycle as a phenomenological body psychotherapy method. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 25(7-8), 242-255. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/imp/jcs/2018/00000025/f0020007/art00012
Copteros, A., Karkou, V., & Palmer, C. G. (2024). Experiencing principles of dance movement therapy practice within transdisciplinary environmental research in South Africa. Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, 19(3), 231-249. https://doi.org/10.1080/17432979.2023.2268143
Descartes, R. (2010). Meditaciones metafísicas. (C. Adam & P. Tanery [AT], Trads.). Léopold Cerf. (Trabajo original publicado en 1641).
Eckhaus, R. (2025). Relationships in Motion: Exploring Partner Dancing as an Embodied Psychotherapeutic Approach for Couples Therapy. American Journal of Dance Therapy, 47(1), 23-42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10465-024-09409-9
Engelhard, E. S. (2021). The mother-adolescent daughter relationship as embodied in joint dancing. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 72, 101728. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2020.101728
Erkkilä, M., & Samaritter, R. (2024). Safe space in dance therapy–a phenomenological inquiry. Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, 19(1), 5-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/17432979.2023.2231992
Fuchs, T. (2012). The phenomenology of body memory. En S. H. Bloswick, T. Fuchs, & M. Seidler (Eds.), Leib, Psyche und Gesellschaft. Phänomenologische Aspekte der Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie (pp. 9-22). Kohlhammer.
Fuchs, T. (2020). The circularity of the embodied mind. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 1707. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01707
Fuchs, T., & Schlimme, J. E. (2009). Embodiment and psychopathology: a phenomenological perspective. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 22(6), 570-575. DOI: 10.1097/YCO.0b013e3283318e5c
Gallagher, S. (2017). Enactivist interventions: Rethinking the mind. Oxford University Press.
Gallagher, S. & Zahavi, D. (2021). The phenomenological mind (2.a ed.). Routledge.
García, E., Di Paolo, E. A., & De Jaegher, H. (2022). Embodiment in online psychotherapy: A qualitative study. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 95(1), 191-211. DOI:10.1111/papt.12359
Gendlin, E. T. (1969). Focusing. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 6(1), 4–15. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0088716
Hartmann, C., Silva, J. F. de F. e, & Lopes, G. C. D. (2026). Corporeidade e movimento humano: um estudo fenomenológico nas práticas pedagógicas e terapêuticas. Aposta: Revista De Ciencias Sociales, 24(110), e783. https://doi.org/10.23900/ra.v24i110.783
Hervey, L., & Stuart, L. (2012). Cultural competency education in approved dance/movement therapy graduate programs. American journal of dance therapy, 34(2), 85-98. DOI 10.1007/s10465-012-9135-9
Husserl, E. (1949). Ideas relativas a una fenomenología pura y una filosofía fenomenológica. Libro primero: Introducción general a la fenomenología pura (J. Gaos, Trad.). Fondo de Cultura Económica. (Trabajo original publicado en 1913).
Husserl, E. (1989). Ideas pertaining to a pure phenomenology and to a phenomenological philosophy. Second Book: Phenomenological investigations in constitution (R. Rojcewicz & A. Schuwer, Trads.). Kluwer Academic Publishers. (Trabajo original publicado en 1952).
Husserl, E. (2011). La idea de la fenomenología (M. G. Baró, Trad.). Herder. (Trabajo original publicado en 1907).
Jerak, T., Vidrih, A., & Žvelc, G. (2018). The experience of attunement and misattunement in dance movement therapy workshops. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 60, 55-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2018.06.001
Kawano, T. (2018). Transmission of the professional identity through an embodied artistic ritual: An investigation of a dance/movement therapy welcoming ceremony. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 57, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2017.09.001
Kielhofner, G. (2014). A meditation on the use of hands. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2(3-4), 153-166. DOI: 10.3109/11038128.2014.952901
Koch, S. C., & Fischman, D. (2011). Embodied enactive dance/movement therapy. American Journal of Dance Therapy, 33(1), 57-72. DOI 10.1007/s10465-011-9108-4
Koch, S. C., & Fuchs, T. (2011). Embodied arts therapies. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 38(4), 276-280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2011.08.007
Kronsted, C. (2020). The self and dance movement therapy–a narrative approach. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 19(1), 47-58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11097-018-9602-y
Melo, G., & Fandiño, D. (2025). Beneficios de la Danza Movimiento Terapia (DMT) en la Psicoterapia: Una Revisión Sistemática. Revista Académica Internacional de Educación Física, 5(5), 35-53. https://doi.org/10.59614/acief52025247
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1993). Fenomenología de la Percepción (J. Cabanes, Trad.). Planeta-Agostini. (Trabajo original publicado en 1945).
Mills, L. J., & Daniluk, J. C. (2002). Her body speaks: The experience of dance therapy for women survivors of child sexual abuse. Journal of counseling & development, 80(1), 77-85. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2002.tb00169.x
Pierce, L. (2014). The integrative power of dance/movement therapy: Implications for the treatment of dissociation and developmental trauma. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 41(1), 7-15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2013.10.002
Price, C. J., & Hooven, C. (2018). Interoceptive awareness skills for emotion regulation: Theory and approach of mindful awareness in body-oriented therapy (MABT). Frontiers in psychology, 9, 335233. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00798
Robinson, D. (2023). In touch and between: a tactile toolkit for creative practitioners to navigate touch within their creative practice. Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 14(2), 248-265. https://doi.org/10.1080/19443927.2023.2191985
Rodríguez, S. (2009). Danza movimiento terapia: cuerpo, psique y terapia. Avances en Salud Mental Relacional, 8(2), 4. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=3055329
Rodríguez, M. N., & Wilkinson, B. (2026). Teaching the body‐as‐lived: Integrating embodied self‐awareness into counselor education through phenomenology and practice. Counselor Education and Supervision. Advance online publication, 65, 44-54. https://doi.org/10.1002/ceas.70017
Rosendahl, S., Sattel, H., & Lahmann, C. (2021). Effectiveness of body psychotherapy. A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in psychiatry, 12, 709798. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.709798
Ruzickova, L. T., Andrashko, V., & Prochazka, R. (2026). From Perception to Transformation: The Contribution of Dance Movement Therapy through Phenomenological and Neurobiological Lenses. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 102405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2025.102405
Sahai, S., & Demkhosei, S. (2026). Somatic and embodied psychotherapy with survivors of gender-based violence in India: embodied resistance. Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, 21(1), 8-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/17432979.2025.2601106
Sollmann, U. (2024). A Bioenergetic-Analytical and Phenomenological Approach to Pain Posture, Experience, Expressive Behavior. International Journal of Body, Mind & Culture (2345-5802), 11(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.22122/ijbmc.v11i4.662
Stewart, C. (2024). Anti-oppressive pedagogy in dance/movement therapy education: Embodied experiences of black, indigenous, and students of color. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 89, 102151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2024.102151
Torgersen, A. (2026). My Dance Is My Prayer. American Journal of Dance Therapy, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10465-025-09426-2
Urrutia, G., & Bonfill, X. (2010). Declaración PRISMA: una propuesta para mejorar la publicación de revisiones sistemáticas y metaanálisis. Medicina Clínica, 135(11), 507-511. DOI: 10.1016/j.medcli.2010.01.015
van Alphen, F. (2014). Tango and enactivism: First steps in exploring the dynamics and experience of interaction. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 48(3), 322-331. DOI 10.1007/s12124-014-9267-1
Wu, J. (2025). Generating Sociality through the Senses in Movement and Music Therapy among People with Recurrent Psychosis. Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford, 17, 116-138. https://doi.org/10.82256/jaso.v17i1.409
Xin, L. (2025). An Embodied Exploration of Authentic Movement from an Eastern Perspective Nourished by the Great Harmony to Embodying the Great Dao. Creative Arts in Education and Therapy, 11(2), 289-300. DOI 10.15212/CAET/2025/11/18
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Viviana Andrea Arboleda Sánchez
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
International Academic Journal of Physical Education, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source is credited.
