SPORT THERAPY: STIMULATE MIND AND BODY THROUGH THE MOVEMENT

Antonio Ascione, DAviDe Di PAlmA, PAtriziA Belfiore, Domenico tAfuri

Department of Sport Sciences and Wellness, University of Naples "Parthenope", Naples, Italy

The relationship between sport and therapy shows itself as a dynamic process that acts at psychological, cognitive and social-re- lational level, generating an open communication enhanced and supported by the creative, symbolic and metaphorical modalities suggested by sport activities. The use of sport activity as a therapy can explore the subject's feelings by reducing his emotional conflicts, stimulating greater awareness and enhancing a better management his of social behaviors. Dance therapy, for example, represents an alternative channel of expression, in which the subject’s psychological and emotional aspects are involved. This type of therapy supports and strengthens the conscious use of one's own body, which takes on the role of main communication and expression channel of one's own emotions and sensations, managing to reach fragments hidden and preserved in every subject.