Minjung Shim, PhD is assistant professor of the PhD program in the Department of Creative Arts Therapies. She is a board-certified dance/movement therapist whose clinical work focuses on development and application of dance/movement therapy (DMT) as an integrative biopsychosocial intervention for people with complex medical conditions such as chronic pain and cancer.
Shim is a graduate of the MA program and one of the inaugural cohort of Drexel University’s PhD program in the Department of Creative Arts Therapies. She has completed her postdoctoral training in the Mind-Body Clinical Research Center/Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Stony Brook University, where she participated in various research projects examining the impact of evidence-based behavioral and mind-body interventions prior to beginning her appointment at Drexel University.
Shim’s research interest centers on utilizing robust methodological designs and an interdisciplinary approach to 1) examine the efficacy and effectiveness of DMT on positive health outcomes in people with various psychological and medical disorders and 2) explicate the treatment mechanisms of DMT specified by theory. She is a recipient of several national and international dissertation and research awards for her doctoral dissertation research study, through which she developed a theoretical model of DMT for chronic pain management.
She has participated in federally sponsored health research projects (i.e., National Institute of Health, National Aeronautics and Space Administration) as a study coordinator and a director during her PhD and postdoctoral trainings. Currently, she is conducting a research study funded by National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) at NIH to test the feasibility and acceptability of Mindfulness-based DMT intervention for people with chronic low back pain.
Academic Distinctions
- 2017 Research Award, American Dance Therapy Association
- 2016 Dissertation Award, Mixed Methods International Research Association. The first place in the category of empirical research, Durham, England
- 2015 The Nancy Gerber Research Prize, Drexel University
- 2014 KiDaF Scholarship, Ki-Een Kim Dance and Art Foundation
- 2013 Marian Chace Research Grant, Marian Chace Foundation
- 2013 Poster Award, International Conference for the Society of Integrative Oncology, Vancouver, Canada
- 2013 Marian Chace Research Grant, Marian Chace Foundation
- 2004 Research Award, Department of Creative Arts Therapies, Drexel University
- 1998 Honors Scholarship, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea
- 1995 Honors Scholarship, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea
Professional Society
American Dance Therapy Association
American Pain Society
Dance and Media
International Association of the Study of Pain
Korean Society of Dance Movement Psychotherapy
Mixed Methods International Research Association
Research Interests
Medical dance/movement therapy, chronic pain management, biopsychosocial interventions, mind-body medicine, neuro-resilience, well aging, psychoneuroimmunology, mechanistic studies, theory/model-building, randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, phenomenological studies, grounded theory studies, mixed methods research
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Specialization
Dance/Movement Therapy
Doctor of Philosophy, Creative Arts Therapies
Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions
Philadelphia, PA
Master of Arts, Creative Arts Therapies
Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions
Philadelphia, PA
Master of Arts, Dance
Ewha Womans University
Seoul, South Korea
Bachelor of Arts, Dance
Ewha Womans University
Seoul, South Korea