Integrated Health Practice

Dramatherapy

Clients who are referred to a Dramatherapist do not need to have previous experience or skill in acting, theatre or drama. Dramatherapists are trained to enable clients to find the most suitable medium for them to engage in group or individual therapy to address and resolve, or make troubling issues more bearable.

Dramatherapy is a form of psychological therapy in which all of the performance arts are utilised within the therapeutic relationship. Dramatherapists are both artists and clinicians and draw on their training's in theatre/drama and therapy to create methods to engage clients in effecting psychological, emotional and social changes. The therapy gives equal validity to body and mind within the dramatic context; stories, sand tray, myths, playtexts, puppetry, masks and improvisation are examples of the range of artistic interventions a Dramatherapist may employ. At an earlier developmental level a dramatherapist also works with sand tray, sensory work, movement, voice and modelling/mirroring. These will enable the client to explore difficult and painful life experiences through an indirect approach. Dramatherapists work in a wide variety of settings:

• in schools
• in mental health
• in general health/social care settings
• in prisons
• in the voluntary sector

Thus the clients they work with will have differing needs; from children on the autistic spectrum to older people with dementia; adolescents who self-harm, people with histories of sexual and/or physical abuse, those suffering from a mental illness and women with post-natal depression.

Lisa 's approach is gentle and Lisa believes it is very important to find the level of drama that is going to be most useful for that person to explore the difficult, painful parts of the person personal story. We all tell stories every day, about our current feelings, our histories, to our friends, colleagues, carers. We tell our stories to build relationships, to deal with past pains, to make people laugh or feel more comfortable around us - the reasons for sharing our stories are limitless but when we get stuck in recounting our personal story in a particular way and we can see no way out, it is then we might need help.

Lisa's practice is informed by the following theories:

• Developmental and Attachment theories
• Psychodynamic
• Person-centred
• Systemic
• Solution-focused/Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• Gestalt

Initial Meeting/First Session

Initially we would meet and discuss the initial reason for wanting to access dramatherapy. We would talk about the kinds of ways we might work together, the length of time we might work together, and familiarise ourselves with the possibilities of the room e.g. looking at art materials. Most importantly we will see if we could work together and feel comfortable and safe. This process would be the same for all clients with methods of communication altered, according to adult/child/person's level of understanding.

If you would like to read some dramatherapy case studies, please go to case studies page or contact me for further information.

For further information regarding Dramatherapy, please visit the British Association of Dramatherapists website - see links page.

For further information regarding registration with Health Professions Council, please visit their website - see links page.