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Work With Denise
Voice Movement Therapy (VMT)
Sometimes the only way in is through the backdoor.
VMT is an expressive art therapy that invites us to explore our patterns and stuck places from the inside out. Because everything that shows up in how we relate to ourselves and others is also showing up in how we use and have access to expressing our voice (both physical and metaphorical).
In this work participants explore their experiences through the lens of voice, movement, breathwork, songwriting and the creative process. Every session is different and may include: stillness or movement, sound or silence, journeys in vocalization, sound and imagery, as well as integration through creative expression, ie. songwriting, storytelling or drawing. I see clients individually and in small groups online and in-person. No experience singing is necessary.
Workshops: explore themes of Voice, Movement, Writing and Mindfulness
3-hr, half-day, daylong, or two day
One of the largest obstacles to loving and accepting the many parts of ourselves is that we are often living inside of someone else's imagination of what and how a body is allowed to be, move, look, express, and just exist. In a culture that praises, as Sonya Renee Taylor names it, a "default body", of straight, white, cis-gendered, thin, able-bodied, this limited understanding of a body and a life can begin to feel like all we've ever known. Reclaiming our imagination requires practice from the inside out.
Participants will explore: What's here? How do we be with what's here? How do we allow it to express? What don't we allow ourselves to express? And what happens when we get curious? Through awareness-based practices that include, but are not limited to, voicework, breathwork, movement, active imagination, songwriting, and drawing, participants will learn skills to 1) develop compassionate and trusting relationships with their parts and patterns and 2) express their needs, longings and desires more fluidly.
Inside Out Storytelling
Is there a story you've been longing to tell? My experience of storytelling is that stories live in layers within our bodies, so when we lean in and listen, with compassion and curiosity, a whole new dimension of the story is often revealed. Inside Out Storytelling is a creative and healing process that invites the storyteller to first listen to the body's longing to express itself and then move and make from what adrienne maree brown calls the "speed of trust". Each session with me includes awareness and creative practices that cultivate deeper listening, curiosity, and compassion and tools for crafting the story, vocal components and movements. When a story comes from this place within us, it provides medicine and healing for the storyteller and the whole collective and lineage. Private and group sessions are available.
Kiran, Student/MGMC
Working with Denise and Muslim Girls Making Change (MGMC) is without a doubt, one of the most transformative experiences in my life. I learned about community, vulnerability, care, voice, breathe, introspection, expression, and love. Denise pushed me out of my comfort zone in the most caring way. The lessons learned with and because of Denise have stuck with me since I was 15.
Juniper, Client
I can't begin to express how wonderful it's been to work with Denise....Her kind and spacious presence shines through, and it has helped me feel safe and courageous in exploring and actually healing the underlying fears blocking my free expression. I so appreciate how we always go at a pace that works for me; Denise has a masterful way of providing options for how to move forward any time I feel stuck or shy...I now actually have fun creating and singing little ditties as I go about my day, and I'm so grateful to no longer be afraid of singing out loud.
Katie Gough, dramaturge and Associate Professor of English & Theatre at UVM
Denise Casey is a master storyteller and gifted performer. Playing the Game gives truth to the claim that the more we mine our own experiences of suffering, of insight, and of grace, the more universal our story becomes. Casey stages a performative autobiography that never forgets that more often than not – we are a mystery even to ourselves.
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