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. Currently, Nalini provides trauma informed and culturally sensitive dance/movement therapy services across diverse populations and community settings. At the Community Wellness HUB at the Dornsife Center for Community Partnerships, she works with older adult women to explore themes of grief and loss, healthy aging, social connection and physical and emotional well-being. Her clinical practice also includes working with young adults on the autism spectrum to support social connection and creative expression as well as with kindergarten and elementary school children to foster social- emotional development, interpersonal connection, and healthy peer relationships.
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 interpersonal synchrony, 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 and was also awarded the Outstanding Dissertation Award from Drexel University's Graduate College. Nalini has served as a research assistant and study coordinator in the Mind-Body Movement Research for Whole Person Health lab, run by Minjung Shim, PhD. Her research as been widely published and she 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
- Outstanding Dissertation Award, 2023
- 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
American Dance Therapy Association
Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Dance Therapy Association
American Psychological Association (APA)
Creative Movement Therapy Association of India
Selected Publications
Prakash, N., Ramakrishnan, A., Vader, D. T., Goodill, S., Beardall, N., Moore, R. H., & Shim, M. (2025). Two ways to measure interpersonal synchrony in dance/movement therapy: Comparing accelerometer data with observational data. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 92, 102245-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2024.102245
Prakash, N., Goodill, S., Sood, S., Vader, D.T., Moore, R.H., Beardall, N., & Shim, M. (2024). Examining the impact of dance/movement therapy on empathy, peer relationships and cultural self-efficacy in middle school: A mixed methods study. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 10, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2024.100998
Shim, M., Gaydos, M., Golstein-Levitas, N., Musalo, N., Prakash, N., Bradt, J., Zhang, Z., Wenger, S., & Gonzalez, A. (2024). Development and feasibility of a mindfulness-based dance/movement therapy intervention for chronic low back pain. Frontiers in Pain Research (Lausanne, Switzerland), 5, 1281085-1281085. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpain.2024.1281085
Prakash, N. & Nagpal, M., (2024). Marian Chace Foundation 2023 Lecture & Introduction from the 58th Annual American Dance Therapy Association Conference: Dance/Movement Therapy: Before, Between, Beyond Words: आत्मा (Ātma): A Journey; Denver, Colorado. American Journal of Dance Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10465-023-09398-1
Puhy, C., Prakash, N., Lacson, C., & Bradt, J. (2021). Multicultural teaching competence among undergraduate faculty: a convergent mixed methods study. Journal for Multicultural Education, 15(4), 459–473. https://doi.org/10.1108/JME-05-2021-0059
Research Interests
Dance/movement therapy, violence prevention in inpatient mental health settings, violence prevention and ethnic bullying in schools and community-based settings, multicultural counseling competencies in education, mixed methods research, qualitative research, innovative technology in research