Becoming visible as a profession in a climate of competitiveness: The role of research

Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) risks invisibility due to dominant academic discourses and defensive rejection of science by practitioners. An argument is made for the community of practice to engage with both positivist research on the one hand, and emancipatory / transformational research (privileging the marginalised voice of the individual) which could be seen as at the other end of a paradigmatic spectrum. The position taken here is that these offer equally important but different forms of knowledge and empowerment, though quality is less easily assessed for research of the individual. Ethics of research of the individual are also discussed and a clear set of guidelines are offered. The article concludes with a rallying call to all those who are engaged in training to engage in their own research and lead by example, forging alliances to support students who wish to engage with statistical analysis.