How To Become A Dance Therapist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a dance therapist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Ron Precht

The average dance therapist salary is $51,634. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an rehabilitation science major. It usually takes 6-12 months of experience to become a dance therapist. Dance therapists with a Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist (BC-DMT) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 600 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Dance Therapist?

Ron Precht

Senior Manager, American Massage Therapy Association

Generally, metropolitan areas have had more openings for massage therapists. This is a report from the end of 2019 that has the most recent data we have available. Report

ScoreDance TherapistUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,634

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.6

Growth Rate 4%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.77%

Asian 3.27%

Black or African American 6.53%

Hispanic or Latino 10.21%

Unknown 4.49%

White 74.73%

Gender

female 92.86%

male 7.14%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.8

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.9

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a dance therapist

Explore dance therapist education requirements

Most common dance therapist degrees

Bachelor's

69.6 %

Master's

26.1 %

Diploma

4.3 %

Complete relevant dance therapist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New dance therapists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a dance therapist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real dance therapist resumes.

Research dance therapist duties and responsibilities

Manage ventilator care, intubation, arterial line placement, mechanical ventilation, BIPAP, and CPAP.
Identify presenting/existing barriers that impede adequate social-functioning and goal-attainment with the purpose of connecting patients to adequate resources within a community.
Document resident progress using MDS weekly, quarterly, annually and significant changes regarding therapeutic activity pattern.

Prepare your dance therapist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your dance therapist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a dance therapist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Dance Therapist Resume templates

Build a professional Dance Therapist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Dance Therapist resume.

Apply for dance therapist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a dance therapist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do dance therapists rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Dance Therapist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2022

Cons

Late hours after 9 pm or before 9 am