Integrated Movement Therapy®
Internship questions
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Molly Lannon Kenny
The Samarya Center
Seattle, WA
www.samaryacenter.org
2
Please print this entire packet and bring it with you, along with a copy of your
responses to each of your supervisory meetings. This, along with your application
packet, will be a document of your entire internship process. You may wish to three
hole punch it and keep it with your IMT manuals.
For each of the following questions, please rate the confidence level of your response on
a scale of 1 -5, with 1 being not at all confident and 5 being totally confident.
Following your rating, please make a brief notation of points of discussion. Make sure to
include these ratings with your emailed responses to your supervisor.
Once your supervisor has reviewed your for responses, she will also rate the response and
make a note for points of discussion.
Your supervisor, considering your input, will choose at least four questions to review in
each supervisory session.
Instructional Area 1: Structure and Continuity
1. Give three diagnostic characteristics of autism spectrum disorders. How do these
show up clinically? Identify children you see (have seen) who exhibit these
characteristics and describe their specific manifestations. How does a diagnosis
of Autism differ in terms of diagnostic criteria, from a diagnosis of Asperger’s
Syndrome?
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2. How do social stories work? When are they effective? How do we represent
cause/effect relationships and behavioral expectations? Why is visual structure
important?
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The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org
3
3. What are some issues that arise (for therapist, student and parent) when creating a
repetitive schedule? What are some solutions to these issues?
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4. Talk about rules. How do kids respond to them? How do you respond to them?
How do we determine what are appropriate rules for a certain group or child?
How do we enforce the rules while maintaining a power balance?
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5. To create and maintain a strong structure, we need our students to be fully
participating in the healing partnership. How do we respond to our clients on
those days and times when their overall energy level seems to conflict with the
structure we are trying to create?
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6. Name at least two immediate, practical activities/solutions to rein them in, and
describe why these work on a physical, energetic, emotional, or neurological
level. What feelings arise within you when you are in the role of the
“disciplinarian?” How do you resolve those feelings for yourself in terms of
looking at the bigger picture for these families?
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The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org
4
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7. We talk about the optimal learning environment as being one in which the student
feels “comfortable, competent and valued.” How do you create and maintain a
relationship with the student in which you are able to be direct and consistent,
without undermining the trust you have developed? In other words, how do you
ensure that your student is still “comfortable, competent and valued,” even when
you are setting limits and expectations.
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8. The desire for, or difficulty in, maintaining structure actually has a place in the
brain. What part of the brain dictates this need or difficulty and how/why? How
do we address this in therapy? What activities strengthen this part of the brain?
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Instructional Area 2: Language Stimulation
1. What are some the non-verbal foundations of language? How do we encourage
these behaviors? Why are they important?
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The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org
5
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2. How do we develop social communication skills with a student in an individual
setting? How do we respond to the parent or spouse/care-giver who insists that
social skills must come from a group setting?
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3. People with language or cognitive impairments often show delayed reaction time
in response to questions. Talk about the reasons for these delays, and how you as
a therapist respond to a person having these difficulties.
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4. Although there is one part of the brain that is allocated specifically for language,
the entire brain is constantly interacting with all other parts of the brain allowing
us to be the complex language users that we are. Explain how this is true; who are
the “key players” and what functions do they serve.
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unfold®
The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org
6
5. Name some specific activities that stimulate language development: in the nonverbal student, in the language-disordered or impaired student and in the student
with social communication challenges. Name some specific techniques for
helping anybody identify destructive language and to encourage language that is
affirming and positive.
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6. How does language stimulation relate to literacy development? Name some
specific activities and describe how they illustrate this relationship.
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7. A parent, spouse or care-giver tells you they want an SLP or an OT or PT to do
the therapy or the evaluation, because that is their loved one’s perceived area of
need. How do you respond? When do you refer?
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The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org
7
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8. Survivors of stroke or TBI often have concurrent physical, cognitive and language
difficulties. What are some activities you could incorporate into your session that
specifically address each of those areas?
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9. With regard to your own verbal responses as a therapist: when is “less” more?
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10. Many children with difficulties in language development and many adults having
survived a stroke or head injury, have some aspect of oral-motor dysfunction,
and/or apraxia of speech. What do the terms “oral-motor” and “apraxia” mean,
and what are some activities that might address these difficulties?.
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unfold®
The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org
8
Instructional Area 3: Physical Stimulation
1. How do we harness excess physical energy? How do we work with it and how do we
know when to rein it in.
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2. When, if ever, would we be interested in refining a person’s gait or posture, as
opposed to more general issues? How would we address that most effectively?
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3. When people have a significant physical “deficit,” we recognize it by the outward
manifestation. Talk about the internal components, how they manifest and how we
can address them.
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The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org
9
4. How and why do we focus on vestibular stimulation? Talk about some specific
students and their needs vis a vis the vestibular system.
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5. Give a brief description of the respiratory system and its relationship to: breathing,
speech, language, sense of self, chakras, and cognition.
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6. How do we differentiate between structural and functional issues and motor planning
(apraxia)? How do we address these?
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7. We love inversions. Why?
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The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org
10
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8. Name at least three techniques for providing physical stimulation to a body that has
severely limited mobility.
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Instructional Area 4: Self-Calming
1. How do you distinguish between behaviors that result from internal neurological
stimulus and behaviors that are impulsive/hyperactive/oppositional? And how do you
respond to each of these? How do you as a therapist manage your own feelings when a
student isn’t doing what you ask?
2. What physical postures directly affect attention/concentration and why?
3. How is behavior related to working memory and what part of the brain is responsible
for regulating these functions?
4. Name at least three different self-calming techniques and the ages they would be
appropriate with?
5. Talk about the concept of savasana. Why do we think it is important for all of our
students? What are some of the benefits? Discuss age appropriate expectations. Name
some techniques you can use to help younger kids with savasana.
6. How does body/self awareness help students of all ages improve their ability to selfcalm? What are some non-asana techniques for increasing body awareness?
7. Briefly describe and give examples for each of the following calming techniques:
 pranayama
 yoga nidra
 guided meditation
 visualization
unfold®
The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org
11
Instructional Area 5: Social Interaction
1. How does having a common focus facilitate interaction in the IMT approach? How is
this different from more conventional therapy approaches?
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2. We tend to think of “social skills groups” as an intervention for kids, but adults with
injuries and illnesses should also be encouraged to increase social interaction on the path
to healing. Why is this so important?
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3. We expect even young children to show empathy and subtle understanding of emotions
and emotional states, but these expectations are often unrealistic, especially with regard
to brain development. Explain.
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4. What are the effects of students having to take on multiple roles, i.e., leader/follower,
teacher/student? What problems might arise when you structure these new roles for your
students?
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The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org
12
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5. The six core principles are essentially artificially divided for definition. In fact, they
are over-lapping and interrelated. Make the connection between social interaction and
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structure and continuity
language stimulation
physical stimulation
self-calming
self-esteem
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6. In the IMT approach, we try to put groups together in a balanced way, looking at the
group needs and dynamics. Sometimes this turns out to be problematic. How do you
deal with a dynamic that feels “off?”
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7. Although we have ideas and high hopes for the social development of our students, we
also recognize that individual personalities differ. Talk about how and when to ask for
more and when it’s “good enough.” Talk about the ideas of “hyper-normalizing” and
“radical acceptance.”
unfold®
The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org
13
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Instructional Area 6: Direct self-esteem building
1. What is meant by the term “direct self-esteem building? Give some examples of direct
self-esteem building in the IMT session and in the IMT environment.
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2. How is self-esteem related to learning and achievement?
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3. Why is falsely inflating a person’s ego – or giving a false sense of accomplishment potentially destructive to the person’s self-esteem? How do we both encourage our
students to be/stay motivated while giving them honest feedback about their performance
or behavior?
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The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org
14
4. It is very difficult for many children and adults to name positive characteristics about
themselves. Why do you think that might be? Why would it be important to change that,
making it an easier task, and how might you, as the facilitator, seek to accomplish that?
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5. How is body awareness and control related to self-esteem? How can poor body
awareness negatively impact self-esteem?
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6. In terms of energy centers, the solar plexus, or manipura chakra, is said to be the base
for self-esteem. Talk about how we can directly stimulate the 3rd chakra through each of
the six core principles.
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unfold®
The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org
15
7. Give examples of self-esteem building activities for the following age groups: 3-7, 811, 12-15, 16-19, 20 +. If they overlap, talk about how to change the same activity to
make it age-appropriate.
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unfold®
The Samarya Center
Molly Lannon Kenny
IM® Internship application
© 2015
www. samaryacenter.org