Dr Neha Christopher ~ Dance/Movement Therapist, Registered Creative Arts Therapist, and educator ~
Dr Neha Christopher, BC-DMT, AThR (PhD, MSc) is a Board-Certified Dance/Movement Therapist, Registered Creative Arts Therapist, and educator whose work bridges clinical practice, research, and social engagement through the creative arts. Over the past decade, she has cultivated a global practice grounded in embodied therapeutic processes and a deep commitment to accessibility, ethics, and cultural sensitivity.
Her clinical experience spans diverse contexts; supporting older adults with severe and persistent mental illness and incarcerated adults in New York, children from low-income backgrounds in the Dominican Republic, Tibetan refugees in Nepal, and adolescents experiencing affluent neglect in India. She previously held a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist credential with the State of New York (reactivatable when onshore in the USA).Neha has published widely in leading journals, including The Arts in Psychotherapy, The American Journal of Dance Therapy, and Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy.
A passionate advocate for unlearning and knowledge sharing, Neha continues to explore the intersection of neuroscience and dance therapy. She is a core faculty member in the Master of Creative Arts Therapy program at the University of Melbourne, teaches with mental health organisations across India, and contributes to the field as co-founder and vice-president of the Indian Association of Dance/Movement Therapy (IADMT). She has also served on the Standards and Ethics Committee of the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA).
She currently works as a core faculty member at the Master's in Creative Arts Therapy course at the University of Melbourne and is in private practice,
In her practice, she works with people who feel like, "they grew up too soon" and works with people who often have a diagnoses of depression, anxiety, complex trauma and treatment-resistant depression (when you have tried other treatments that may not have yielded positive results).
What I care about:
I care deeply about supporting clients unlearn unhelpful internalised narratives through embodied healing and creative clarity.
The lived experience I work with:
I often refer to my clients as “first generation unlearnersTM” as they are often the first in family or immediate circles to try therapy.
While I work with clients who have active diagnoses, over the last decade, I have identified the lived experience I am working with to be "people who feel like they grew up too soon." This often manifests as:
-struggling with familial relationships
-rumination
-somatic dysregulation
-anxiety and restlessness
-inability to stay in "healthy" relationships
-overthinking
-deep sadness
The Diagnoses I often work with:
I work with people who are often given diagnoses like
-depression
-anxiety
-complex trauma and
-treatment-resistant depression (when they have tried other treatments but may not have yielded positive results).
My PhD research was rooted in the clinical population of treatment-resistant depression. The data i obtained indicated that participants experienced:
- An increased capacity for emotional regulation, increased confidence in navigating somatic cues, and a more positive association with one’s body after group-dance movement therapy (DMT) sessions.
- DMT can expand self-regulation capacity through practicing antecedent-focused strategies.
- DMT prompted a change in study participants’ negative somatic associations.
Common goals clients come to me with:
Clients often come to me when their internal narrative sounds like, “talking about my problems isn’t working for me” or “I am tired of my mind being in overdrive” often indicating the goals to be:
-a desire to be more present
-master nervous system overwhelm
-manage overthinking
-feeling less anxious
-desire to feel happiness again
Offerings & Availability
Telehealth and in-person therapy titled "embodied conversations" (rooted in creative arts therapy).
Available on Monday afternoons, Wednesday evenings, and Saturdays.
Expanded credentials:
- Board Certified Dance Movement Therapist, American Dance Therapy Association
- Registered Creative Arts Therapist, Australian New Zealand Creative Arts Therapy Association
- Co-founder and registered professional - Indian Association of Dance Movement Therapy
- Doctorate of Philosophy - Creative Art Therapy, Australia
- Master of Science in Dance/Movement Therapy, USA
