About Drama Therapy

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.”

-North American Drama Therapy Association

Within drama therapy, I tend to work under particular frameworks such as:

Role Theory and Method

Role Theory (Landy, 1994) posits that “a role is not just a social façade or creation but rather is the actual and tangible form of the self, comprised of a set of qualities representing the various facets of the individual.” Each of us carries within us a repertoire of roles with which we navigate various circumstances and relationships throughout our lives. With this in mind, role theory and method is a great way to explore life goals and relationships with others and the self.

Projective Techniques

Projective techniques allow objects to be imbued with meaning, significance, and role from the perspective of the participant. Psychoanalytically, those projections can then be explored and processed for insight into the individual's inner understandings and drives. 

Creative Writing and Therapeutic Theatre

As a playwright and fiction writer, creative writing was my first love! While I did not have the language to articulate its impact as a child, as a drama therapist, I find great value in creatively expressing thoughts and emotions. Through creative writing and performance, individuals can play in a world of metaphor or a world of possibilities where they can enact and explore to address their concerns.

Who is Drama Therapy for?

Anyone. 

Quite literally. Any individual. Any type of group. No one has to “know” how to act to participate in drama therapy. All you need is a little bit of openness and curiosity. Drama Therapy–like other creative arts therapies–is a great alternative to traditional talk therapy. It’s fun, and interesting, explorative, and–of course-therapeutic.