The Embodied Education Institute of Chicago provides a range of in-person and online courses that expand clinical perspectives by incorporating dance and movement, providing opportunities for both individual and collective healing. Drawing upon the expertise of leading dance/movement therapists, our courses equip clinicians through an Alternate Route training option for dance/movement therapy certification and continuing education for mental health practitioners. EEIC also provides education in the realm of Therapeutic Dance education so that dance practitioners can learn tools and techniques to best support their students/clients through the power of movement.
Our Story
The Embodied Education Institute of Chicago [EEIC] was founded in 2019 by five former faculty members of Columbia College Chicago’s graduate dance/movement therapy [DMT] program. When the decision was made to close the Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling program at Columbia, we recognized a need for dance/movement therapy education and its community outreach to continue in the Chicagoland area. The DMT faculty calculated the impact that the end of DMT education in the Chicagoland area would have and estimated that, over the years, approximately 40,000 individuals had been served by DMT student interns. The loss of those services to the community was too great to imagine. Additionally, our love of teaching DMT locally would have been lost if we didn’t do something. In response, our team of passionate, seasoned educators and dance/movement therapy practitioners came together to create a DMT Alternate Route program through what is now known as EEIC.
EEIC was founded on the principle that the body is an important tool for understanding ourselves and the world. While our goal is to train mindful and intuitive dance/movement therapists, we also want to model a style of education that engages both the mind and body. With classes both online and in-person, we draw students from all over the world, while simultaneously cultivating a community with Chicago and Midwest-based students. The Embodied Education Institute is the only Alternate Route program in the Midwest that offers all the sequential courses and credits needed to fulfill the requirements for your R-DMT credentialing. We are one of the few U.S.-based Alternate Route programs that offers internship assistance and supervision in addition to coursework. And we are the only program in the U.S. where the core faculty has taught together in a master’s degree program. As a faculty, our life experiences, backgrounds, and teaching styles are diverse, but one thing we all share is a love for offering our passion through teaching. Whether you are a young professional, experienced clinician, or something in between, we cannot wait to explore the world of embodiment and dance/movement therapy with you.
Mission
The Embodied Education Institute of Chicago believes connecting to the wisdom of the body deepens the understanding and compassion we hold towards ourselves, communities and the world. We cultivate an environment of empathy and authenticity and provide opportunity to engage in creative perspectives of dance and movement to inspire critical thought and navigation of how personal cultural identities are situated within the intersubjective realm of human connection.
Instructors
All of the faculty of the Embodied Institute are professionally credentialed and experienced university teachers. They constitute Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors, Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapists, Certified Laban Movement Analysts, Movement Pattern Analysts, and more.