Learn to lead dance with veterans and families affected by PTSD and brain injury.
Dance with individuals with PTSD and brain injury requires sensitivity and specialized training. Based on seven years of hands-on experience leading dance with this population, Dancing Well Leadership Training offers practical skills and advice to help you develop and implement a dance program for afflicted veterans in your own community.
Two online modules focus on PTSD, brain injuries, military culture, and the business aspects of running a nonprofit similar to Dancing Well. Experts in each area, including veterans and loved ones affected by PTSD, brain injury, or both, have helped develop this training. Each module includes testing to support learning and real-time group chats for questions and discussion among participants.
A third module is held face-to-face with participants traveling to Louisville for training and participating in our local dance series for veterans and loved ones under the supervision of Dancing Well Director, Deborah Denenfeld. This module focuses on selection of appropriate dances, programming an evening of dance, skills for interaction with this specialized population, modification of dances in real time to meet participant needs, and program evaluation.
In our third module, you’ll meet some of our incredible veterans, loved ones, and volunteers, many of whom have danced with us for years, and you’ll find that they have much wisdom to share. Experts will also be present and available to answer your questions and help you expand your learning as you prepare to lead dancing in your home community.
Dancing Well Participants report a greater sense of connectedness, hope, and optimism—all of which help them cope with the isolation, depression, and many other debilitating symptoms that are a part of life for veterans and families coping with PTSD.
“Leading dancing with veterans and families with PTSD or brain injury is the most satisfying work I’ve ever done. I use every skill I’ve got and keep learning new ones. The payoff is tremendous – the smiles on their faces, the stories they tell me about what Dancing Well is doing for them, their successes in the wider world – it’s not often you can find work that truly matters!”
Make a difference in YOUR community. Contact Deborah at 502.889.6584 or Deborah@DancingWell.org to learn more.
Leadership Training made possible by:
Jacob and Nancy Bloom
and
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, supports Dancing Well Leadership Training with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.