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About Us

Vision

  • To create a collaborative network of Dance Movement Therapy Professionals offering ethical supervised services 
  • To create awareness of DMT within the country
  • To put India as a collective on the DMT world map 
  • To create a systemic change in monitoring its member’s practice to create safety for DMT service users

Mission

  • To create an integrative network of professionals with other creative arts therapies and associations
  • To work with the government and create a regulated licensing system of practice
  • To bring together and standardise the quality of training programs that can be affiliated to the association

Values

Professional Practice: We support the development of responsible, professional, and ethical practice of Dance Movement Therapy in India.

Respect: We are committed to upholding the rights, dignity, and choice of all people.

Inclusivity and Diversity: We value diversity in the experiences of communities and individuals; and embody and promote the practice of inclusivity.

Non-Discrimination: We advocate for non-discrimination within the association with regard to but not limited to race, ethnicity, language, national origin, religion, political ideologies, age, sex, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, physical and/or mental disability, and socioeconomic status.

Integrity: We encourage communicating and engaging with our associates in honest ways.

Collective Effort: We believe that meaningful exchanges are created in the collaborative sharing of skills, ideas, knowledge, perspectives, and experiences.

Founding Board Members

Preetha R

Preetha Ramasubramanian

PRESIDENT

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Anshuma Bio Pic (Small)

Anshuma Kshetrapal

VICE PRESIDENT

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Devika Profile shot (Small)

Devika Mehta Kadam

TREASURER

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Rashi (Small)

Rashi Bijlani Tandon

GENERAL SECRETARY

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Ruchi Shah (Small)

Ruchi Shah Jhaveri

JOINT SECRETARY

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Tarana (Small)

Tarana Khatri

EXECUTive COMMITTEE MEMBER

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Akanksha Mishra

Akanksha Mishra

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER

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Rritu Shree (Small)

Ritu Shree

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER

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Neha C (Small)

Neha Christopher

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER

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Lifetime Board Members

For Information regarding Board Members and Committee Members, please visit the Board and Committees page. To apply to be a committee member please click the link mentioned on that page.

Board & Committees

IADMT’s official holidays for 2021-22 are available for your reference below.

Official Holiday Schedule
Sohini

Dr. Sohini Chakraborty

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Neha Christopher

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Preetha Ramasubramanian
President

Preetha Ramasubramanian
President

Preetha Ramasubramanian is a qualified Dance Movement Psychotherapist (DMP) in India, who has an MA in DMP and passed with a distinction from Goldsmiths College, University of London. She also has an M.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Madras and a PG Diploma in Special Education from Vidya Sagar, Chennai.

After working in the UK, she returned to India in 2011 and founded Kinesthetics– Dance Movement Psychotherapy and Counselling Centre (www.kinesthetics.in), where she works with various populations. Apart from her private practice, Preetha supervises peers, junior creative arts therapists and counselling psychologists in various settings. She also serves as a consultant to conduct group and individual sessions and workshops in educational institutions, health care organisations and in the corporate sector.

Since 2011, Preetha has been designing curriculum, teaching and supervising in various DMT courses and Expressive Arts therapy courses across India. She has also been invited as a guest lecturer by several top universities. As an effort to work in conjunction with other ethical creative arts therapists in the field, Preetha co-founded ‘The Arts Therapists Co-Lab’ (TATC) that works to promote mental wellbeing. Preetha is a past Honorary Advisory Board Member for the Creative Movement Therapy Association of India (CMTAI).

Anshuma Kshetrapal
Vice President
Anshuma Kshetrapal
Vice President

Anshuma Kshetrapal is a practicing Drama and Movement Psychotherapist, registered with BADth (British Association of Dramatherapists). She has a Masters in Psychosocial Clinical Studies from Delhi and in Drama and Movement Therapy (Sesame) from London. Currently, she is running her private practice, seeing individuals and groups in Delhi. She is also the Course Director, Supervisor and Faculty member for CMTAI’s Delhi, Bangalore and certificate courses. She is also a past Honorary Advisory Board Member for them. Passionate about ethical work, she is on the eight-member Ethics Committee for Moolchand Medcity, Delhi and on Apollo Spectra Hospital, Delhi’s panel as a psychotherapist.

Over the years, Anshuma has worked with adults and children, in the field of mental health with a range of settings such as hospitals, NGOs, schools and corporates in Delhi, Bangalore and London. She regularly designs and conducts workshops for people so that she can spread awareness about the arts as an introspective and insightful modality. In this endeavor, she founded The Color of Grey Cells and co-founded The Arts Therapists Co-Lab to conduct workshops and masterclasses for students, therapists and clients alike because she is passionate about working with the mind and body nexus, using stories, poetry, movement, role playing and visual arts.

Devika Mehta Kadam is a Dance Movement Psychotherapist (R-DMP) registered with Association of Dance Movement Psychotherapy, UK and Indian Association of Dance Movement Therapy (IADMT). She is the Program Head for the Post Graduate Diploma Program in Expressive Arts Therapy at St.Xavier’s College, Mumbai and faculty for Diploma courses in Dance Movement Therapy. She is the Co-Founder of ‘Synchrony’(www.synchronyindia.com). Ms.Mehta Kadam is the Founding board member of the IADMT. She is the Regional Director of South Asia for the International Association of Creative Arts Somatic Education (www.iacase.org). She is the past Honorary Advisory Board Member of CMTAI, India. She has represented her work in India at International Conferences across USA and Europe. She has contributed to the article on Development of DMT in Asia. Her areas of interest are that of neuro-rehabilitation, embodied indigenous knowledge and adolescents.
Rashi Bijlani Tandon
General Secretary
Rashi Bijlani Tandon
General Secretary

Rashi Bijlani Tandon is the Founder and President of Asha Hai, which is one of its kind projects for inclusive Pre-School education for children with extra needs. She is an accomplished Bharatnatyam dancer. Her experience in the field of movement fosters her belief that dance and movement enhance the smooth interaction of the mind and body.
Rashi holds a double Masters degree in Dance Movement Psychotherapy and Clinical Psychology. Rashi conducts various workshops across schools, colleges, hospitals as well as Rehabilitation centers of Delhi to familiarize people with the concept of Dance Movement Psychotherapy while demonstrating its usefulness in a therapeutic setting. She acquired a scholarship in LMA (Laban Movement Analysis) at Shanghai by the INSPIREES and Laban/Bartenieff Institue of movement studies
She is the head consultant psychologist at the Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research at their Child Development Clinic. She is currently closely associated with Shri Edu-Care limited and works as a consultant psychologist with The Shri-Ram Early years. As a consultant and valued resource person at the Shri Edu care limited she conducts trainings and workshops for their schools all over the country.
Her novel and unique vision of the society enables her to view children through a new lens. She has started “The Dancing Bond” for children from 0-4 years and their parents. Because she believes in attaching and connecting to our little ones early on helps them become empowered teenagers and adults. In her quest to diversify her work, she is also conducting parenting and childcare workshops for parents and caregivers.

Ruchi Shah
Joint Secretary
Ruchi Shah
Joint Secretary

Ruchi Shah, MA, R-DMT is a registered Counsellor and Dance/Movement Therapist. She completed her MA in Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) & Counselling from Columbia College Chicago, USA. Ruchi has over 4 years of clinical experience working with children, adolescents, adults, older adults and individuals with special needs in a variety of settings such as – schools, hospitals, private counselling service centers and day programs. In Chicago Ruchi has worked with children who have experienced severe trauma, adults with developmental disabilities, and individuals in an inpatient psychiatric facility.

In Mumbai, Ruchi currently provides dance/movement therapy and counselling to children with special needs at SPJ Sadhana School. She also provides individual counselling and therapy to adults at Prisim Health Institute – The Healing Temple. Ruchi is the founder of The Rhythm Project – a project aimed at fostering psychological resilience in children who have experienced severe complex trauma using dance/movement therapy and creative artistic expression. At the core of it all Ruchi is driven by hope in the inherent resilience that lives within all human beings.

Tarana Khatri
Executive Member
Tarana Khatri
Executive Member

Tarana Khatri received her Masters in Dance Movement Psychotherapy in the UK and is licensed to practice by ADMP (UK).She also holds a Master’s in Counselling Psychology (India).

She is the Co- founder of Synchrony (www.synchronyindia.com), an organisation that works towards providing mental health services and trainings using DMT and other creative arts with various populations. She founded Horizon Therapy Centre that caters to integrating creative modalities for therapeutic interventions. She has been a trainer on various certificate training programs and Diploma programs across the country. She has been a presenter at International conferences across India. Her areas of interest include children and adults who are differently abled.

Akanksha Mishra
Executive Member
Akanksha Mishra
Executive Member

Akanksha Mishra is a dancer/choreographer and a Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist with the American Dance Therapy Association. As a mover, Akanksha has trained, performed, choreographed and taught various dance forms in New Delhi and Chicago.

Along with pursuing her choreographic interests, Akanksha completed her Bachelor’s in Psychology from Lady Shri Ram College in 2013. Discovering dance/movement therapy helped her find a way to deepen her understanding of the healing powers of movement. In 2014, Akanksha started her journey of pursuing a Master’s in Dance/Movement Therapy at Columbia College Chicago.

After completing her Master’s in Dance/Movement Therapy & Counseling in May 2016, Akanksha has been working in India primarily with children and adolescents coping with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder & other emotional and/or behavioral challenges.
With an aim to raise mental health awareness, Akanksha also trains students, teachers and professionals on topics such as developing emotional intelligence and empathy building. To educate communities about the clinical benefits of Dance/Movement Therapy, she also facilitates awareness workshops and trainings with various schools, colleges, universities and hospitals.

She hopes that through movement, she is able to touch the lives of others like movement has touched hers.

Ritu Shree
Executive Member
Ritu Shree
Executive Member

Ritu Shree is a Dance/movement therapist (R-DMT) and a Child Psychologist at Children First- child and adolescent mental health clinic, New Delhi. She is also a past Honorary Advisory Board Member of the Creative Movement Therapy Association of India. She works extensively with children on the autism spectrum, ADHD, developmental delay and other childhood concerns. She is also the coordinator of the Developmental therapies at Children First (New Delhi) managing programs, supervising cases, and mentoring the team. Her past experience includes working with organizations such as Boston Children’s Foundation (Boston, USA), Monadnock Family Services (New Hampshire, USA), Cheshire Medical Center (New Hampshire, USA), Antioch University and Delhi Psychiatry Centre – Adult Counselling Unit.

She is invested in using multimodal therapeutic approaches with children with special needs and their families. She holds a Masters in Dance/Movement Therapy & Counseling (2009-12) from Antioch University (USA) and a Masters in Clinical Psychology (2007-09) from Delhi University. She has a fellowship in psychoanalytical psychotherapies (2011) and is pursuing a certificate course in Narrative therapies (2019-20). Currently, she is working on her PhD (2015-ongoing) in Expressive Therapies at Lesley University, Boston, USA. Her research focuses on understanding attunement within families of children with autism through dance/movement therapy.

Neha Christopher
Executive Member
Neha Christopher
Executive Member

Neha Christopher, MS, LCAT, BC-DMT holds a Master of Science degree in Dance Movement Therapy from Pratt Institute (distinction), is a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist by The State of New York (#002128) and a Board Certified Dance Movement Therapist with the American Dance Therapy Association (#1313). She is also on The Standards and Ethics committee of the American Dance Therapy Association.

Neha has 5 years of clinical experience in The United States, Nepal, Dominican Republic and India; she currently works full time as a school counsellor at a leading school in Gurgaon along with running an online private practice (seeing clients and providing clinical supervision). Her passion lies in using technology to make DMT more accessible and in identifying the benefits of DMT in treating medically unexplained symptoms. Neha will soon begin a Phd in Creative Arts Therapy (July 2020) to investigate the latter.

Dr Sohini Chakraborty
Lifetime Board Member
Dr Sohini Chakraborty
Lifetime Board Member

Dr Sohini Chakraborty, Ashoka fellow, sociologist, dance activist, and dance movement therapist is the founder/director of Kolkata Sanved. She is a pioneer of Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) in India and South Asia. She introduced DMT as a tool for psycho-social rehabilitation to provide a fresh approach both in DMT and social development sector. For more than 23 years, Sohini has experimented with DMT as a tool for empowerment, psychosocial rehabilitation and reintegration for vulnerable/marginalized children, young people and adults. Creating a pool of DMT practitioners from the grassroot level and from survivors is her significant contribution in global DMT approach. The unique and innovative Sampoornata approach was developed by Kolkata Sanved under her leadership. Honed over the past two decades, Kolkata Sanved’s Sampoornata model is a globally recognized approach today. Sohini was instrumental in launching one of the country’s first Diploma DMT programme in 2012 with Center for Lifelong Learning, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She is the International Working Committee Member Rise Learning Network- work for recovery reintegration for child sexual exploitation and Chair-Status and Development, World Dance Alliance, Asia Pacific. She has received multiple national and international awards for her innovation, leadership, outstanding achievement and inspiration.