Nalini Prakash, PhD, BC-DMT, CMA, graduated with a master’s degree in dance/movement therapy from Drexel University and a master’s in performing arts from Maharaja Sayajirao University. She also earned her PhD in Creative Arts Therapies from Drexel University and is a certified movement analyst from the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, New York. Her past clinical experience includes working at Saint Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, DC, with chronically mentally ill individuals in the criminal justice system. Nalini contributed to violence prevention initiatives at the hospital to decrease incidents of violence and the use of seclusion and restraints. Her strong focus on social justice motivated her to work with patient advocates at the hospital to provide equitable and accessible treatment, and to foster social change.

Nalini is director of the Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling (DMTC) program. Her role as an educator is to create a rich relational learning environment that is informed by all participants’ narratives, histories and experiences facilitating dialogue that is informed by diverse and multicultural ways of exchange. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the impact of dance/movement therapy on empathy, peer relationships and cultural self-efficacy in the context of ethnic bullying in middle schools. She received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Marian Chace Foundation of the American Dance Therapy Association for her dissertation. She also served as a study coordinator in the Mind-Body Movement Research for Whole Person Health lab, run by Minjung Shim, PhD. Nalini has presented her scholarship at regional, national and international conferences. She is a member of the Committee on Approval at the American Dance Therapy Association and an advisory board member for the Creative Movement Therapy Association of India. Nalini’s interest in the positive impact of dance stems from her longstanding practice and theoretical study of South Indian dance, Bharatanatyam. She continues to explore its multicultural capacity to empower individuals and communities through teaching, choreography and performance through the non-profit, Spilling Ink.

Academic Distinctions

• National Endowment for the Arts in Research Grant, 2021
• Marian Chace Foundation grant for research, Marian Chace Foundation, 2020
• Teck-Kah Lim Graduate Student Domestic Travel Subsidy Award, Drexel University, 2019
• The Stronach/Buschel Creative Arts Therapy Endowed Diversity Scholarship, Drexel University, 2008 – 2010

Professional Society

Selected Publications

Puhy, C., Prakash, N., Lacson, C., & Bradt, J. (2021). Multicultural teaching competence in undergraduate faculty: A convergent mixed methods study. Journal for Multicultural Education.

Research Interests

Dance/movement therapy, violence prevention in inpatient mental health settings, violence prevention and ethnic bullying in schools, multicultural counseling competencies in education, mixed methods research, qualitative research

• PhD, Creative Arts Therapies
  Drexel University
  Philadelphia, PA
• MA, Dance/Movement Therapy
  Drexel University
  Philadelphia, PA
• MPA, Indian Classical Dance, Bharatanatyam
  Maharaja Sayajirao University
  Baroda, Gujarat, India
• BA, Indian Classical Music
  Queen Mary’s College
  Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India