Louise Yocum

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[edit] Biography

Louise J. Yocum (wife of Vern Yocum) a Charter Member of the American Dance Therapy Association, speaker, presenter of workshops and classes, and retreat master, used movement as a healing tool. She acted as a program director of the Southern California Chapter of the American Dance Therapy Association and was a presenter at ADTA Conventions, including on the 1987 National Conference in Long Beach]. She served on the Governing Board of the International Co-operation Counsel and was Director of Movement at the Young Players Production Workshop, Oxford Theatre, Hollywood.

Previously a professional dancer and choreographer, Yocum began her work using movement as non-verbal communication with psychologists Andrew White PhD and K. Alexandra White at the White Research Center, in Hollywood in 1950. Subsequently, training with Dance Therapy pioneers, Trudi Schoop and Mary Whitehouse, becoming Schoop's apprentice-assistant in controlled experiments at Camarillo State Hospital and the Los Angeles Day Treatment Center, and later, working with patients at Rest Haven Psychiatric Hospital and the Sunaire Asmatic Home for Children. She studied Sensory Awareness with Charlotte Selver (substituting for Selver in Los Angeles when she was away) and trained in Tai' Chi Ch'uan with Marshall Ho'o (becoming Ho’s assistant), Master Tung Fu Ling of Hong Kong, and the National Institute of T'ai Chi Ch'uan.

Teaching a synthesis of bodywork approaches between 1960 and 2006, Yocum worked with many doctors and psychologists in a wide assortment of California settings, including Dr. Evert G. Loomis M.D. (Friendly Hills, Hemet CA), Dr. William Ofman (USC), J Stanley White (Cypress College), Dr. Lloyd W. Fellows, Jr. (Cal Lutheran College) Dr. Morrie Jacobson (Pierce Junior College) Dr. Stewart Shapiro (Esalen Institute, Big Sur and University of California, Lake Arrowhead) Dr. Everette Shostrum, Dr. Ashley Montague, and Dr. Nora Weckler (Cal State Northridge). In 1976, Yocum became an ordained minister, promoting the use of Sacred Dance in the worship service. Yocum was featured in many articles, including "The Tai Chi Mystique," Feminine Fitness Magazine, October 1973 and has been a segment focus on television programs, including "Gallery" and "Seventies Woman" (KTLA) "Alive and Well" (USA National Cable), "Special Report" (KABC) "Noon Time" (KNXT), and "Nine n the Morning" (KHJ). She's listed in Who's Who of American Women. Yocum retired in 2006 at the age of 89.