Dance and Psychology

Dance and Psychology is a combination that links the embodied practice of movement with the scientific study of human thought, behaviour and emotion. Dance is a discipline that develops your physical and creative capacities through performance and choreography, asking you to understand and communicate through your body as well as your mind. Psychology examines cognition, perception, motivation, social behaviour and individual development through empirical research methods, building a rigorous account of how and why people act as they do.

Together they offer a distinctive formation that is particularly valuable for careers at the intersection of creative practice and human wellbeing.

At Liverpool Hope University this three-year full-time degree develops excellence in dance performance and choreographic practice alongside a grounded psychological education. On the dance side you will foster your creativity, develop your individual artistic voice and engage with a diverse range of techniques and theoretical frameworks. On the psychology side you will build the research and analytical skills that psychological science demands, and develop your understanding of human behaviour across a range of domains.

The programme includes a sandwich year, a year abroad and a work placement, giving you substantial professional and international experience alongside your creative and academic studies.

Graduates from Dance and Psychology degrees pursue careers across a wide range of contexts. Many find roles in dance education, community dance, health and wellbeing through movement, arts therapy preparation, and performance with professional companies. The psychology component also opens pathways into mental health support work, youth work, research assistance and roles in educational and social care settings.

The combination of embodied creativity, interpersonal sensitivity and scientific understanding the degree develops is particularly well suited to postgraduate study in dance movement therapy, clinical or educational psychology, or arts and health.