About

I am Doctor Jill Bunce and I teach on the MA Dance Movement Psychotherapy course. I led the programme from 2010 until 2019, I now support the teaching team and provide expertise and experience in research and teaching. I provide workshops for the departments of therapeutic arts, counselling, and psychotherapy as well as for conferences and European and International training. I work with clients, carers, and in schools. My doctorate informs my work on assessment and curriculum design. It is important for me to continuously adapt and learn as a teacher.

I support training as a Dance Movement Psychotherapist which is regarded as necessary preparation for the work as a therapist. I do this through supporting students, alumni and supervising professionals. I have experience in supporting students on placement and I am in touch with workplace opportunities and the development of Dance Movement Psychotherapy with adults. I am a supervisor for Dance Movement Psychotherapy and travel to Europe to do workshops and lectures and I have worked in Hong Kong, USA, Europe and Australia.

I support work with the mental health of children in schools and with charities as I am a qualified Educational Psychotherapist who assists with children's mental health and learning. I am a member of HIPC college for UKCP and I am a second assessor for the UKCP. I am Chair of the accreditation committee for ADMP which is the registering body for Dance Movement Psychotherapy, under the auspices of UKCP.

I have worked in the community with Parkinson's Disease and attended World Parkinson's Day in Australia in 2019 and assisted in the performance and group work in Canberra. I am working on extending my knowledge through a piece of research which will assist in developing the understanding of Parkinson's disease for the benefit of patients everywhere.

I now supervise doctoral students at the University of Derby.

Teaching responsibilities

I lead and teach on modules that underpin the understanding of the relationship between body and mind; I teach on The Body Of Work: Independent Study module which involves performance as communication of therapeutic values and the integration of personal process with a research project. As well as this, I lead the professional standards and practice of teaching informed by research.

I am a leading researcher in the field of Parkinson's disease and progressive neurological disease and have published materials on these topics that have provided useful insights in relation to psychotherapy in dance and movement. I also lead on the experiential modules whereby movement and dance are the mediums for exploring emotion and self-expression in a group context for the purposes of training.

I am interested in the unconscious process involved in the making and understanding of the Arts and in particular the role of culture and its relationship to dance. I teach the significance of movement to dance and to the development of self and other and the interconnections of ecosystems and society and well-being.

Professional interests

I am involved in the development of the Association of Dance Movement Psychotherapy and its relationship with the UKCP. I am also the Chair of the Accreditation Committee of ADMP. I work with children in developing and increasing experience and interventions in play and therapeutic experience as an opportunity to provide for children's welfare and mental health needs.

I trained as an Educational Psychotherapist as well as a Dance Movement Psychotherapist which has informed my work in looking at sensory and artistic expression as a container for emotion and support for cognitive development.

Research interests

I am interested in all aspects of research in Dance Movement Psychotherapy. I have continued my research into work with Parkinson's disease and I am interested in using digital and creative means in capturing the psychotherapeutic significance of movement and expressive dance. I was a Visiting Research fellow at Winchester University from 2014-2020, during this time I gave an inaugural lecture on Parkinson's disease. I was a member of the research seminars for the centre of Arts and Well-being during a research week that took place from 27 April to 1 May 2015.

I contributed to the Summer school in Finland for Teachers in Training in June 2015 by giving a lecture on ‘The Squiggle’ and the work of Winnicott. JAMK University of Applied Science Teaching Education Programme.

I have acted as supervisor to an EDD doctoral student from 2011. The student completed her doctorate successfully in September 2016, she received a commendation for her Viva. (A Study of Dyslexia and its Neurological Roots and the Implications for Teaching Training in Higher Education)

I have been an external examiner for a PhD student who studied at Roehampton University, who was a RDMP, (Examination of the Neurological and DMP Interventions in her clinical work). Her work was conducted with parents and children in 2017

Supervisor for Professional Doctorate in Health 2018 onwards.

Membership of professional bodies

• I was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2007 
• I received the TES Prize for a student and staff project with the Red Cross in Derby in 2012, in which I provided arts-based activities and Dance Movement Psychotherapy for refugees
• Awarded certification for courage at the Red Cross in 2013, this award was given for providing Dance  Movement Psychotherapy and supervising students for this project
• Member of Supervisor and Private Practice Register of ADMP
• Registered member of UKCP and on the Supervisors List for UKCP
• Chair of the Accreditation Committee for ADMP

Qualifications

• BA Hons Theology. University of Birmingham
• Cert Ed. Christ Church College (University) Canterbury
• MA Dance Movement Psychotherapy City University
• PG Dip. Educational Psychotherapy Roehampton University
• EDD, University of Derby

Recent conferences

• The use of Transference in the Training of Health Professionals. (2010) HE Academy. Edinburgh
• The use of Dance in the Community and the Role of Attachment and the Ecology of Attachment in Community Arts. (2010) University College Winchester
• The Use of Dance in the Creation of A Mind. (2012) University of Applied Science, Jyvaskyla, Finland, Training for Teachers, International Summer School
• The Use of Creativity Through  Dance in the Development of Learning, (2013) and (2014), University of Applied Science, Jyvaskyla, Finland. Training for Teachers, International Summer School
• Workshops for the East Midlands Parkinson’s UK, July, and September, Northampton and Derby. 2013.
• The Use of Art in the Unconscious Process in Learning. (University of Applied Science, Jyvaskyla, Finland, training for Teacher’s Summer School. 2015
• Presentation and workshops for the Body in Psychotherapy, Bucharest 2016
• The Courage to be Sensitive in Teaching and Learning Jyvaskyla Finland 2016
• Conference on Social Work for Glocal issues Bucharest November 2018: Presentation and Workshops.
• Supervision and Workshops for Institute DMT, Warsaw  March 2019
• Workshop and lecture for the Creative Ageing Research Cluster, Derby University, February 2020
• Proposed Workshop at the  International Conference on  Movement: Brain, Body, Cognition at the Sorbonne, Paris, in September 2020
• Belonged to a Global Educators Group which provided seminars and workshops for 2019-2021 for students on the effects of COVID on training and students' experience
• Online Conference for JAMK University in Finland 2021 Health and Wellbeing: Dance as Therapy and Creativity in the Community

International experience

• Arts therapies, Palliative care, and Neurological illness. (2001) Arts therapies Conference St Petersburg Russia
• Arts therapies and Neurological Illness (2001) Conference on Arts Therapies and Neurological Illness Vittoria Spain
• Dance Movement Therapy Theory and Practice (2003) Arts therapies Conference, North Karelia,  Finland University of Applied Sciences
• Dance Classes and Attachment Patterns (2006) Conference on the Arts and Health and Wellbeing Hamk University of Applied Science. Finland
• Presentation of Doctoral work at Hamk University, Ithaca College NY. And Institute of Geronotology, NYS (2012)
• The Use of Dance in the Creation of A Mind. (2012) University of Applied Science, Jyvaskyla, Finland, Training for Teachers, International Summer School
• The Use of Creativity  Through  Dance in the Development of Learning, (2013) and (2014), University of Applied Science, Jyvaskyla, Finland. Training for Teachers, International Summer School
• The Use of Art in the Unconscious Process in Learning. (University of Applied Science, Jyvaskyla, Finland, training for Teacher’s Summer School. 2015
• Presentation and workshops for the Body in Psychotherapy, Bucharest 2016
• The Courage to be Sensitive in Teaching and Learning Jyvaskyla Finland 2016
• Conference on Social Work for Glocal issues Bucharest November 2018: Presentation and Workshops.
• Supervision and Workshops for Institute DMT, Warsaw  March 2019
• Proposed Workshop at the  International Conference on Movement: Brain, Body, Cognition at the Sorbonne, Paris, in September 2020. cancelled because of COVID

Additional interests and activities

• I am interested in landscape gardening and providing a mindful space and retreat space for meditation
• I am interested in International relations and the use of tolerance in groups
• I enjoy painting landscapes and the colours that may not be seen
• I enjoy using movement and dance expressively for choreography
• I enjoy dancing and thinking about its relation to landscape and ecology

In the media

• I have appeared on Welsh television during my experience of the Laban Guild, Community Dance Leadership course
• I discussed my time as a subject lead of the Undergraduate Programme of Dance and Movement Studies in a segment called "Why men have a reluctance to dance?" on the radio in Derby
• I think that dance has a positive relationship with the digital age and can develop its use in performance and assisting with non-verbal communication

Recent publications

• Bunce, J.(1998) Parkinson’s Disease and Awareness of Space, Laban Guild 
• Bunce, J (2000) Dance Movement Therapy with Parkinson’s, The Parkinson
• Bunce, J. (2000) Clinical Perspectives in MS Case Study. Spanish Arts Therapies Publication. International Conference on Neurology and Arts Therapies
• Bunce, J and Newell-Walker, U. (2002) Dance Movement Therapy and Art Therapy in Palliative Care in the Amber Valley. Derby University
• Bunce, J. (2006 ) Dance movement therapy with the Elderly
• Journal Of Gerontology, No 14 Oxford University Press
• Sarah Grogan, Jill Bunce, Simone Heyland, Talia Padilla, Alison Williams, Sarah Kilgariff, Chloe Woodhouse, Lisa Cowap & Wendy Davies. (2012)
• The impact of a Dance Movement Therapy Intervention on young people’s Body Image and experiences of embodiment: a Qualitative Study. In the Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise, and Health. Taylor and Francis.
• Jill Bunce, Simone Heyland, Sarah Grogan, Talia Padilla, Alison Williams, Sarah Kilgariff, ChloeWoodhouse, Lisa Cowap & Wendy Davies. (2013)  
• The rationale behind a dance movement psychotherapy intervention used in a small research pilot in a Further Education Context to develop awareness about young people’s body image. The International Journal for Body, Movement, and Dance In Psychotherapy. Taylor and Francis. 
• 3 February 2015 email from Taylor and Francis
  “I’m just emailing to let you know that your article, ‘The rationale behind a Dance Movement Psychotherapy intervention used in a small research pilot in a further education context to develop awareness about young people's body image’, published in Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy has been included in an online article collection featuring the most downloaded articles published in Routledge Behavioral Sciences journals in 2014. The collection features the top three most downloaded articles that were published and downloaded in 2014 in each Routledge Behavioral Sciences journal”
• Bunce, J. (2002) ‘Nameless Dread’ ed. by Diane Waller. The chapter contains work over ten years describing the work of Dance Movement Therapy with Parkinson’s Patients and is called the ‘Living Dead’ Routledge
• Bunce, J. (2006)  Research in Theory and Practice ed Helen Payne. Peer reviewed by German Dance Movement Therapy Association. Chapter DMTH with PD patients. Routledge
• Awaiting publication: A chapter on the Research of the Body and Spiritualities and DMP and Parkinsons’s Disease, A Holistic approach. Routledge 2018. Bunce, J. ( 2020) Publication of an article in the Heart's Ease Spirituality in the Music of John Tavener ed by June Boyce Tilman and Anne Marie Forbes meditation and sermon inspired by John Tavener Summer 2018. Peter Lang

Courses

• Dance Movement Psychotherapy MA