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Using Moustakas's modification of Van Kaam's systematic procedures for conducting transcendental phenomenological research, we explored ballet culture and identity and their impact on ballet dancers' mental health. Participants included four current professional ballet dancers and four previous professionals. Four main themes emerged: (a) ballet culture-"iťs not all tutus and tiaras"; (b) professional ballet dancers' identity-"it is a part of me"; (c) mental health experiences-"you have to compartmentalize"; and (d) counseling and advocacy-"the dance population is unique." Suggestions for counselors when working with professional ballet dancers and professional athletes, such as fostering awareness about ballet culture and its impact on ballet dancers' identity and mental health, are provided. We also discuss recommendations to develop future research focusing on mental health treatment for this population.
Keywords: ballet dancers, culture, identity, phenomenological, mental health
"Dancers are the athletes of God."-Albert Einstein
Professional ballet dancers' mental health experiences are sparse within research literature (Clark et al., 2014; van Staden et al., 2009) and absent from the counseling literature. Most research including ballet dancers focuses primarily on eating disorders, performance enhancement (Clark et al., 2014), and injuries (Moola & Krahn, 2018). Although these topics are crucial to dancers' wellness, explorations of ballet dancers' mental health that do not primarily focus on eating disorders are also important. Increasing professional ballet dancer and athlete mental health research could provide counselors with deeper awareness of the populations' needs. Further, counselors have access to the American Counseling Association's (ACA; 2014) Code of Ethics, which is relevant for all clients, including athletic populations. However, the counseling profession lacks specific sports/athletic counseling ethical codes, competencies, and teaching guidelines (Hebard & Lamberson, 2017). The only mention of "athletic counseling guidelines" appears in a 1985 article from the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (Hebard & Lamberson, 2017). In their initiative to increase counselor response to the need for athletic counseling, Hebard and Lamberson (2017) implored counselors to advocate for athletes' mental health. Further, the researchers stated that it is common to view athletes as privileged and idolize them for their physical endurance; however, this perception may leave athletes vulnerable to mental health concerns. Recent examples of mental health difficulties experienced by formidable professional athletes include tennis player Naomi Osaka choosing to decline after-match news conferences to...