As an amateur DanceSport (ballroom/Latin dance) athlete and competitor as well as a medical massage therapist, I often felt a deep but unspoken connection between the two. During my university studies, I had the opportunity to further explore this connection. Thus began my search for somatic therapy. 


At first, I thought that what dance and massage had in common was Dance Movement Therapy (DMT), a recognized form of psychological therapy. But being Japanese, I wanted something that was less language dependent and more body-based. I ultimately wanted to share what I discovered not only with English-speaking people, but Japanese speakers as well. It was this unique combination of wants that led me slowly away from DMT towards somatic therapy with the emphasis on the somatic or body rather than traditional psychological talk therapy. 


I never thought of myself as an author; however, I found myself writing everything down, and eventually decided to organize and record it all in the form of a master’s thesis. That quickly led to my wanting to share what I’d discovered with a broader audience. I was so pleased when Savant Books and Publications agreed to publish my work. 


In the future, I hope to travel, sharing what I’ve learned IN SEARCH OF SOMATIC THERAPY (Savant 2017). 

Setsuko Tsuchiya