The Italian Professional Association of Dance Movement Therapy APID® was founded in 1997 thanks to the initiative of fellow pioneers of DMT in Italy, including Govoni, Bellia, Puxeddu who signed the deed of incorporation.
Since then, Apid® had a history that has kept faith with its principles, renewing itself in relation to the time that was being lived and the issues that have characterized the social, clinical and artistic fields. The association has a structure that includes: the Assembly of Members; the Board of Directors made up of the President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Councillors; The Board of Auditors; a Scientific Committee; the Commissions, currently: Training, Professional Directory, Research, Ethics; the Local Sections.
To become an Apid® member it is necessary to have attended a recognized training school. Currently, in the year 2021, Apid® counts between 260/280 members. Precisely from what is stated in the statute, the APID® Dance Movement Therapy is a professional practice used to promote personal creative resources to encourage personal and social well-being, in support of the harmonization of psychic, somatic and relational manifestations.
In our country, the first experiences, which were also present in the institutional field from the beginning, date back to the seventies. A long way has been covered since that time, thanks to the cooperation with numerous associations and training schools. During these years, following the birth of the various European associations, APID® joined the EADMT since the beginning, in 2010, thanks to already existing relations and collaborations with European colleagues to adhere to a sense of belonging and exchange of common practices and studies. The APID® Dance Movement Therapy, which is ideally linked to ancient traditions in which dance was a fundamental means in the practices for the well-being of the individual, cooperates and dialogues in multidisciplinary contexts and teams, promoting the resources of the creative process, dance and movement, for a psychophysical, relational and spiritual integration, well-being and quality of life of the person. It is frequently combined with other forms of treatment.
An important step was achieved in 2020 thanks to a long persistent work of APID board members: APID® has been included in the list of the Ministry of Economic Development, becoming the first interlocutor with government structures in relation to dance therapy movement in Italy.
