Kim Dunphy

Kim is a lecturer in the Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit involved in leading the establishment of brand new post-graduate training programs in dance movement and drama therapy. Her recent Mackenzie Post-Doctoral Fellowship focussed on researching dance movement therapy assessment, particularly the establishment of a framework of outcomes for DMT and technological assessment tool MARA, working with colleagues in five countries.

Kim's research interests also extend to the possibilities of culture in development, and the development of culture. She particularly focusses on the arts as an expression of culture, across the whole spectrum of arts as therapy to participation and performance. The main question her research seeks to answer is, what difference arts engagement makes, and how would we know? Specific topics of recent publications include arts participation as a social change mechanism, cultural measurement, cultural impact assessment.
Journals in which she has recently published include Frontiers in Psychology, Australian Journal of Public Administration, European Journal of Development Research, Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, the American Journal of Dance Therapy, Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia and the International Journal Of Creativity And Human Development. Book chapters have appeared in significant collections including The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Wellbeing and Springer collection on Dance and Quality of Life. The Oxford Handbook of Community Music, Contemporary Perspectives in Art and International Development and Psychotherapy and Counselling: Reflections on Practice. Kim has also been involved in developing on-line products for evaluation and assessment, including MARA (Movement Assessment and Reporting App), the world’s first iPad app for dance movement therapy assessment (www.makingdancematter.com.au). This has received two awards, a 2015 Award for Innovation from the American Dance Therapy Association, and award for outstanding presentation at the ACER Excellence in Professional Practice Conference in 2014. Ongoing projects include CDN’s Cultural Development Planning Framework (www.culturaldevelopment.net.au/planning) and the Whitebox tool for project planning and evaluation.

Kim’s research interests are informed by earlier career stages as a practitioner: performing arts educator, dance movement therapist, community artist and local government cultural development professional. She’s also worked as a dance critic for The Age and Director of dance education company Kita, sharing performers’ Asian cultural heritage with Australian students. Currently she is also Director of Many Hands International, an Australian based non-profit organisation that has established Timor-Leste’s first regional community cultural centre in partnership with the Government of Timor-Leste. She is also President of the Dance Movement Therapy Association of Australasia, Chair of the Research Committee of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia and Inaugural Convenor of the World Alliance for Dance Movement Therapy.

Editorial Board contributions:
• 2019- ongoing: Editorial Board member, GMS Journal of Arts Therapies – Journal of Art-, Music-, Dance-, Drama- and Poetry-Therapy, Germany;
• 2018-ongoing: Member, International Advisory Panel, Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy;
• 2018- 2019: Editorial Board convenor, 2019 member, Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia;
• 2009 – ongoing: Editorial Board member, Journal of Arts in Communities;