We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erica Hornthal a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Erica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

Years of working with individuals living with dementia taught me that just because someone cannot speak doesn’t mean they do not have anything to say. That lesson has informed the work I do and the book I wrote.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up dancing since the age of 3 and when it came time to choose a career I knew that dance would be central to that. The more I researched careers in dance, the more I felt discouraged because nothing seemed to truly fit my passion. It wasn’t until I was in college that a professor turned me on to the field of dance/movement therapy. It married my passion for dance with my love for helping people. I have been a dance/movement therapist for 12 years; my hope is to mainstream the principles of dance/movement therapy to bring positive mental health through body movement to the world.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

An interesting story that stands out for me is from graduate school when I was pursuing my masters in dance/movement therapy and counseling. I was a model student, liaison to the graduate school, and active in the student body. In my 2nd year I was asked to meet with an administrator in the department who thought that I should reconsider being in the field. While she had no tangible evidence as to why I should reconsider, it taught me several lessons. One, never let anyone deter you from your dreams. Two, while dreams are important it is vital that we are realistic and authentic with our own expectations. And three, people will try to keep you down when you don’t conform to the system. I have always thought out of the box and I do not plan to stop anytime soon.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

There is not a doubt in my mind that this is what I was meant to do. It hasn’t come without its challenges, but I love being a dance therapist.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ericahornthal.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/the.therapist.who.moves.you
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ericahornthal

Image Credits
Mindy Garfinkle Photography