About
What Is Drama Therapy?
Drama Therapy is an active, experiential approach to facilitating change. Through storytelling, projective play, purposeful improvisation, and performance, participants are invited to rehearse desired behaviors, practice being in relationship, expand and find flexibility between life roles, and perform the change they wish to be and see in the world. - NADTA
Say That Again
Another way to describe drama therapy to individuals who are unfamiliar with this approach is by using the scenario below:
People often acknowledge that it is easier to give advice to others than to know how one should proceed for his- or her-self. Additionally, there are life circumstances that can be hard to fully absorb from a first person perspective. Drama therapy practices allow for a situation to be removed from the individual and analyzed from an observational standpoint . Once the circumstances are played out before the individual - and with additional guidance of the drama therapist - the person is able to more fully process the situation and take back control of the circumstances, thus creating a therapeutic outcome. Furthermore the individual is often able to determine a more effectual and positive future.
Who Is A Good Candidate For Drama Therapy?
Anyone! Drama Therapy is designed to work with both groups and individuals. It can be used with children, adolescents or adults. The techniques are effective in therapeutic, professional or casual settings.
Outcomes can serve a preventative, interventive, or recuperative purpose.
Currently drama therapy is used to work in collaboration with people in a wide variety of fields including facilitative measures in social or corporate organizations and family/couples mediation. It is also used for recuperative purposes such as with at-risk individuals, dementia & dialysis patients, those with eating disorders, the elderly, individuals with developmental delays, recovering addicts, the terminally ill and those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as well as many more!
How Does Drama Therapy Work?
There are several different methods used to achieve the goals of drama therapy including one or more of the following: games, role play, playback theatre, improvisation, puppetry, visual arts, sand trays, guided imagery, music, poetry/writing, storytelling, movement/dance and play! This chart helps to put various categories of drama therapy into a visual representation known as the Drama Therapy Pie.
This image of The Drama Therapy Pie is used courtesy of Sally Bailey, MFA, MSW, RDT/BCT. For more information, visit her website at http://www.dramatherapycentral.com/
The North American Drama Therapy Association
The North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA) was incorporated in 1979 to serve as the professional organization for drama therapists. The association maintains the professional standards that must be in place to qualify as a registered drama therapist (RDT). NADTA currently serves drama therapists in the U.S. and Canada. There are also a multitude of international members from all around the world. For more information on NADTA, visit their website at www.nadta.org.