As a preliminary examination of therapeutic aspects of mourning rites honoring the dead in Igbo communities of South-Eastern Nigeria, this article brings into focus functions of dirges and accompanying mourning dances as a cultural healing system relevant to dance/movement therapy (DMT). The perspective of the author, a Nigerian of Igbo extraction and an active witness of the death dances, is interwoven with psychodynamic and humanistic principles. Discussion centers on how integrating techniques of African Igbo mourning dances into DMT treatment approaches may help alleviate overwhelming suffering and a sense of fear associated with pain of bereavement and loss.