Core Faculty, Dance/Movement Therapy (Open Rank)

Lesley University; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Significant paid time off

Retirement plan

Tuition programs

Job summary

Lesley University seeks a Core Faculty member in Dance/Movement Therapy to join its Expressive Therapies Department in Cambridge, MA. The ideal candidate blends scholarly practice with clinical work to advance health and well-being across diverse populations.

The role demands teaching across modalities, advancing culturally responsive pedagogy, and guiding students toward LMHC licensure and ADTA alignment. Collaboration with the interdisciplinary team is encouraged.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in DMT or Expressive Therapies required.
• PhD or terminal degree preferred for advanced teaching and scholarship.
• BC-DMT credential required and LMHC in MA or eligible within 1 year.

Responsibilities

• Teach graduate-level Dance/Movement Therapy courses across face-to-face, hybrid, and online modalities.
• Deliver instruction that integrates movement-based approaches and embodied practice with clinical theory.
• Advise and mentor graduate students on academics and DMT career pathways.
• Contribute to curriculum development, revision, and assessment within the DMT specialization and Expressive Therapies.
• Participate in accreditation activities and maintain ADTA-related standards.

Skills

Teaching graduate courses

Embodied somatic practice

Mentoring students

Scholarly activity

Education

Master's degree in Dance/Movement Therapy or Expressive Therapies

PhD or terminal degree preferred

Job description

The Opportunity

Lesley University is seeking a Core Faculty member in Dance/Movement Therapy to join our innovative and uniquely conceptualized Expressive Therapies Department, which integrates counseling and multiple arts modalities.

The ideal candidate will be an experienced scholar-practitioner with expertise in using creativity and somatic or body-based processes to optimize health, well-being, and development across diverse client populations.

About the Program

Founded in 1973, Lesley University’s Expressive Therapies programs have been national leaders for more than 50 years and are one of the first programs dedicated to educating and training professionals to integrate the arts with clinical mental health practice. Our faculty are artist-practitioner-scholars who help students develop their identities as both creative practitioners and clinical providers. The department’s 60-credit Clinical Mental Health graduate programs meet the academic and field training requirements for Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) licensure in Massachusetts, and our five specialization tracks (Music, Art, Dance/Movement, Drama, and Expressive Arts Therapy) prepare graduates for certification through national and professional associations. Programs are delivered both on-campus and in low-residency formats. Lesley University’s Expressive Therapies department is unique in its housing all 5 ET specializations together, allowing for interdisciplinary collaboration.

Primary Responsibilities

• Teach graduate-level courses in Dance/Movement Therapy across face-to-face, hybrid, and online modalities.
• Deliver instruction that integrates movement-based therapeutic approaches, embodied practice, and contemporary clinical theory.
• Incorporate culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and inclusive pedagogical practices.
• Advise and mentor graduate students on academic progress, professional development, and Dance/Movement Therapy career pathways.
• Contribute to curriculum development, revision, and assessment within the Dance/Movement Therapy specialization and the broader Expressive Therapies department.
• Participate in accreditation activities, including documentation, program evaluation, and alignment with ADTA standards.
• Maintain an active agenda of scholarship, creative work, or clinical practice relevant to Dance/Movement Therapy and expressive therapies.

Qualities and Capabilities

• A master's degree in Dance/Movement Therapy, Expressive Therapies, Counseling, or related field (required).
• PhD or terminal degree (preferred).
• BC-DMT (Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist) credential (required).
• Holds the Massachusetts LMHC credential. If licensed out of state, ability to become licensed in MA within 1 year of hire.
• Teaching experience in Dance/Movement Therapy, Expressive Therapies, or a related field, at the graduate level.
• Minimum 5 years of FTE clinical experience, with a record of scholarly activity (required).
• Ability to teach Dance/Movement Therapy clinical courses, in addition to DMT specialization courses (required).
• Ability to teach general counseling courses such as theories, psychopathology, professional ethics, assessments, vocational counseling, etc. (preferred).
• Experience with the ADTA approval process (preferred).
• Required to teach multiple modalities to include in-person classroom teaching and distance learning formats.

Why Lesley

Located in the heart of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Lesley University is highly regarded for its graduate and undergraduate programs in the human arts of education, the arts, and applied social sciences. Lesley fosters a highly creative environment in which innovative ideas thrive, theory is integrated with practice and its 6,400 students and 90,000 alumni are empowered to improve and expand their knowledge and skills.

Benefits

• Health, dental, life, and long-term disability insurance.
• Significant paid time off.
• A generous retirement plan.
• Tuition programs that enable employees and their dependents to expand their knowledge and skills.

Diversity & Inclusion

Lesley is committed to the ongoing pursuit of strategic diversity initiatives that help to position diversity, equity, and inclusion as fundamental to institutional and academic excellence at Lesley. In doing so, Lesley strives for a campus culture and community that fosters a true sense of belonging for all, provides opportunity for everyone to participate equally and fully in the Lesley experience, and helps to develop each individual's capacity to confidently and competently engage within and across difference. Given an evolving national context and the rapid change in the demographic profile of our country, the University has made a significant commitment to addressing and enhancing its campus climate and diversity capabilities as an institution.

At Lesley University we strive for a supportive and equitable environment where people -- regardless of race, ethnicity, color, sex, physical ability, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, neurodiversity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, veteran or military status, membership in uniformed services, and all other categories protected by applicable state and federal laws -- can participate equally and fully as their true selves in all aspects of university life. Accordingly, the University prohibits discrimination based on these protected categories in any education program or activity that it operates, including in admission and in employment. We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the fabric of our institution. Individuals may submit concerns or questions related to discrimination to the University's Director of Equal Opportunity. Please visit the Office of Equal Opportunity's webpage for the University's entire notice of nondiscrimination and for additional information.

Lesley University Core Faculty positions are governed by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Philosophy

At our core, we are a caring and compassionate community bound together by our passion for improving the lives of others through education, mental health, and the arts.

We share an eagerness to build just and humane communities in a stressful and rapidly changing world.

At Lesley, we believe actively advancing our own and all others' potential leads to a just and humane world. Lesley is the only university in the country focused on advancing human potential through the life-time cultivation of professionals in education, mental health and the arts. We share an eagerness to build just and humane communities in a stressful and rapidly changing world.