LAUSR

This study employed a transcendental phenomenological methodology to understand how clients’ lived experiences of disenfranchised grief are present within the clinical therapeutic relationship in dance/movement therapy. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews from four dance/movement therapists who have worked with clients experiencing disenfranchised grief. Moustakas’ adaptation of the Stevick–Colaizzi–Keen method of data analysis was used concurrently with data collection. Data analysis resulted in four textural themes: (a) Disenfranchised grief can be described as disconnecting, overwhelming, complex, unrecognized, and pervasive; (b) It is distinguished by exacerbated grief; (c) It is recognized as a distinct form of grief; and (d) It involved consistencies in biopsychosocial and movement goals and focus. Structural themes describe how disenfranchisement was experienced: (a) social/cultural factors, (b) dance/movement therapy approach and interventions, (c) heightened kinesthetic empathy and somatic countertransference, and (d) the therapeutic movement relationship. These themes support the current literature and suggest that the experience of disenfranchised grief includes embodied effects. Furthermore, dance/movement therapy may assist with addressing these effects, restoring individuals’ right to grieve, and supporting them in their grieving process.