What is Drama Therapy? 

You may be asking: Isn’t therapy meant to help keep the drama out of our lives? In most cases, yes! But when used correctly, drama can be a creative form of therapy that  makes use of a wide array of theatre techniques as a form of healing. You may be picturing a bunch of theatre kids playing ‘zip zap zop’ and talking about their feelings (and yes, I would sign up for that!), but drama therapy is so much more, and can be effective even if you have no background in theatre or performance. 

There are a number of different types of drama therapy. When someone says ‘I am a drama therapist,’ they may mean in a general way: they practice an eclectic mix of tools. But like most mental health practitioners, they likely have a theoretical foundation in one specific theory.  For example, Narradrama is a form of drama therapy that was developed by Pam Dunne, it comes out of narrative therapy. It focuses on stories we tell about ourselves, and sometimes involves quite literally turning our stories into a three act play. It also includes tools such as exploring unique outcomes: a time when a negative thought or feeling did not occur or a positive outcome that was unusual. It involves a lot of externalization, so using things like masks and puppets to separate a part of us or talk to a part of ourselves we might be struggling with (Dunne, 2003) 

One of the most commonly known types of drama therapy is psychodrama, which is a separate branch of drama therapy and has its own path for training. Jacob Moreno developed psychodrama, and is generally credited with starting the drama therapy field in general (Giacomucci, 2021). In psychodrama, people work in a group to act out the stories of their lives, with others volunteering to take on certain roles. 

For folks interested in social justice, Theater of the Oppressed was originally developed as a form of activism through theater, not therapy. But it does have therapeutic qualities, and has now been adapted to sometimes be used within mental health work. It was first developed by Augusto Boal in Brazil. The focus is social justice and activism. Boal said that theater is a rehearsal for the revolution. Theater of the Oppressed uses tools such as image theater which involves creating sculptures with our bodies, and forum theater which involves a play where the audience has a chance to step in and change the ending (Mondolfi and Pinot-Juste, 2021). 

There are many more types of drama therapy, and if you are interested in diving into any of them in more detail, you can explore the North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA). 

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Benefits for Children and Adolescents  

It may come as no surprise that drama therapy is widely used with younger clients. Children and adolescents often need less traditional forms of therapy, as they do not always benefit from traditional talk therapy. Incorporating drama activities, much like art therapy or play therapy, allows the sessions to be fun and engaging. Children naturally play, and naturally act out stories and scenarios. In fact, teaching certain drama therapy activities to adults can often feel like trying to remind them of what it felt like to play make believe as a child; it’s something we do very naturally, and then tend to forget. 

In a group setting, drama therapy may look similar to play therapy in some ways, but is likely more structured, with specific drama activities guiding the play and exploration. It may involve art projects, puppets, masks, and costume pieces, or it may simply rely on imagination. In an individual children’s drama therapy session, the therapist may present a specific guided drama activity for the individual, or it may involve more free play and allowing the child to use the materials and/ or the space for exploration in whatever way comes to mind. 

There are a number of studies that show how beneficial drama therapy can be for young people. Children who struggle with anxiety, depression, and trauma may benefit from this type of therapy. A review of the available studies indicates that drama therapy can help children with social functioning, self regulation, identity, and cognitive development (Berghs et al., 2022). 

What About Adults?  

While drama therapy may naturally lend itself well to work with children and adolescents, adults can get in on this fun too! Adults often leave play out of their daily lives, and do not have an opportunity to process emotions in this way. Drama Therapy can be particularly useful for adults because it is a unique opportunity for them to engage in this type of play that they may have left behind or forgotten how to do. 

There have been specific studies done with many adult populations showing that drama therapy can be an effective form of treatment. One study looks at older adults and how drama therapy can help them find closure around ‘unfinished business.’ Drama therapy can be useful with things like unfinished business because it can allow imagined conversations to take place with people we are no longer actually able to actually communicate with (Keisari et al., 2023). There is another study done with women who had survived domestic abuse, and this study indicated that drama therapy can be very effective for trauma and working through somatic symptoms that result (Mondolfi and Pinot-Juste, 2021). 

For adults, there is often less free play and more structure in a drama therapy session. In a group setting it likely involves a warm-up, an exploration of a specific theme through one or two activities, and then time to talk and reflect on the process. For an individual drama therapy session with an adult, there may be a significant amount of talking just like in a typical talk therapy session, and one or two activities that help explore somatically or help externalize specific problems. Creative writing is a useful tool that many adults find less intimidating than acting out a scene or using movement to tell a story. 

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Conclusion 

Drama therapy can be a fun and creative way of approaching therapy, and can benefit people of all ages, especially people who struggle with traditional talk therapy. If you are thinking drama therapy may benefit you or someone you know, you can find registered drama therapists all around the country through the NADTA:  Find a Drama Therapist (and a couple of us right here at Sage Therapy are training to be registered drama therapists!) Whether you are interested in trying drama therapy or not, remember that play itself can be therapeutic, and finding ways to incorporate this into our lives can help us feel healthier and happier. 

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References

• Berghs M, Prick AJC, Vissers C, van Hooren S. (2022). Drama Therapy for Children and Adolescents with Psychosocial Problems: A Systemic Review on Effects, Means, Therapeutic Attitude, and Supposed Mechanisms of Change. Children (Basel). Sep 6;9(9):1358. doi: 10.3390/children9091358. 
• Dunne, P. (2003). Narradadrama: A narrative action approach with groups. In D. J. Wiener & L. K. Oxford (Eds.), Action therapy with families and groups: Using creative arts improvisation in clinical practice (pp. 229–265). American Psychological Association. 
• Giacomucci, S. (2021). Social Work, Sociometry, and Psychodrama: Experiential Approaches for Group Therapists, Community Leaders, and Social Workers (1st Edition 2021, Vol. 1). Springer Nature. 
• Keiller E, Tjasink M, Bourne J, Ougrin D, Carr CE, Lau JYF. A systematic review of dramatherapy interventions used to alleviate emotional distress and support the well-being of children and young people aged 8-18 years old. JCPP Adv. 2023 Mar 1;3(3):e12145. doi: 10.1002/jcv2.12145. PMID: 37720583; PMCID: PMC10501692.
• Keisari, S., Yaniv, D., Gesser-Edelsburg, A., Palgi, Y., & Neimeyer, R. A. (2023). Meaning reconstruction 70 years later: Processing older adults’ unfinished business in a drama therapy group. Psychotherapy. 
• Mondolfi Miguel, M. L., & Pino-Juste, M. (2021). Therapeutic Achievements of a Program Based on Drama Therapy, the Theater of the Oppressed, and Psychodrama With Women Victims of Intimate Partner Violence.Violence Against Women, 27(9), 1273-1296.