Lisa Weston

Lisa Weston - Dramatherapy/Supervision

Current work

Lisa Weston works for Devon Partnership NHS Trust as Deputy Manager of the Creative Therapies Team and works with people with learning disabilities and mental health issues. Lisa is the Lead therapist in working with clients with profound and multiple learning disabilities and mental health issues.

Through Oak, Lisa is currently delivering Dramatherapy to Asperations, a local charity that offers therapy to children on the Autistic Spectrum, as well as support to their parents. Lisa is offering Dramatherapy to those children making the transition from primary to secondary education. The work takes place in the form of a small, closed group. The work addresses social communication difficulties, anger issues as well as feelings around self-esteem and identity. The group work through drama games, puppets, story making and telling, through the creation of group rituals and the use of playback theatre.

Lisa has also undertaken one off drama sessions for Bovey Tracey Youth Café based around a creative theme, which has allowed the young people to express personal feelings and difficulties.

Lisa sees clients who self refer to Oak for Dramatherapy. Reasons for referral have included depression, bereavement and relationship breakdown.

Training

Lisa has delivered sessions to the University of Plymouth and Exeter working with first year clinical psychology students and those doing a BA ed. The sessions offered an introduction to Dramatherapy and its techniques and possible benfits with differing client groups.

History

Lisa started her professional career as an actor before doing a degree in English Film/Drama at The University of Reading. Lisa then went on to do her MA in Dramatherapy at The University of Hertfordshire. Lisa worked for several years with the Parasol Project in Oxford, first as a playworker/enabler whilst doing her degree and then as the Volunteer Support Worker and youth group leader for young women with and without learning disabilities. Once Lisa qualified she ran some dramatherapy groups for young people with a learning disability looking at the transition to adult services. Lisa also worked 1-2-1 with a 3 year old boy with a diagnosis of severe Autism for a year. Alongside this Lisa worked with Young Offenders in a youth setting using drama to facilitate self expression.

Following this Lisa worked for Connexions as an intensive Personal Advisor in Oxford. She was on the education and the community team and saw the "hardest to reach" young people. Lisa loved this work but wanted to be able to use her Dramatherapy training more directly, hence the move to Devon and working for Devon Partnership NHS Trust.

Lisa has a passionate belief in the need for multi-disciplinary working across health and social care and passionately believes in inclusion. Though Lisa believes that our society needs many more years to change some of its attitudes before it is able to be more fully inclusive. Lisa established Oak, along with Sarah Lea, based on the ideal that a community service should be as accessible to as many people as possible. It should not be the privilege of the few to receive the health benefits of, for example, a massage or counselling. It is on this basis that Oak continues to grow and hopes one day for bigger premises and to provide a solid model of inclusive working that might be more widely available.