Erica Hornthal is a licensed clinical professional counselor and board-certified dance/movement therapist based in Chicago. Erica is the CEO of Chicago Dance Therapy and in addition to private practice, she is dedicated to advocating and educating on the use of movement for mental health.

Unsatisfied with her limited post-graduate options of either performer or dance studio owner, Erica forged her career in the space where her twin passions of movement and therapy met. Dance had long been Erica’s mode of expression; movement allowed her to navigate the challenges she faced in her own life. At college, psychology fascinated her so the prospect of helping others physically move through their difficult situations and experiences was a natural fit.

In Erica’s practice, movement is the catalyst for change; her tool is the body itself. Even the tiniest alteration to the way a client uses their body improves their resilience and reinforces the possibility that change is possible -- from a deep cellular level outward. But the techniques used in dance and movement therapy are often misunderstood.

Erica joins Sarah to dispels some common misconceptions surrounding dance therapy and, of course, they examine what it means to be a wounded healer, discussing how that empathy informs Erica’s therapeutic modality.