Drama Therapy Techniques - Essay Example

Drama Therapy The main elements of drama and theatre employed by drama therapists Drama therapy refers to methods adapted from thetheatre and drama to the process of psychotherapeutic healing. The primary focus of drama therapy is to assist people grow and heal by practicing and taking on new roles. Drama therapists broaden their applications further than the clinical setting to enhance the lives of at-risk persons, improve the health of people and prevent problems. Drama therapy encompasses psychology and drama; psychology is the study of emotions, thoughts and behavior, while drama evaluates and presents the emotions, thoughts and behavior of people for an audience to observe and understand. According to Jennings S. et al (1993), drama can assist individuals with real problems address these problems consciously especially when used as a form of therapy. Drama therapy techniques vary according to the therapist. However, there are elements that are universal to all forms of drama therapy techniques. Metaphor through action Emotions, problems and behaviors, can be characterized metaphorically, allowing for symbolic comprehension and understanding. A variety of behaviors can be seen as role, for instance, victim, mother, hero or student. The playing out these roles in a dramatic setting, leads to an enhanced understanding of the role as harmful or helpful, dangerous or safe. A metaphorical image can be used to represent an emotion: anger shown as a smoldering fire, volcano or an exploding bomb. Dramatization of these images allows the client to gain insight into the traits of emotion and how it acts negatively or positively in his/her life (Jennings, 1986). Concrete Embodiment It allows the abstract to become tangible through the individual’s body. An individual body and senses allows the individual to experience life, and later at an older age, through abstract thoughts and language. Acting out an experience or an idea allows it to become more concrete, which can be dealt as a reality instead of an abstract. Therefore, embodiment allows individuals to experience or re-experience so as to practice new behaviors, learn, or to try out with how to transform old behaviors. This is significant in clients who are visual or kinesthetic learners. Distancing It allows the therapist to alter the way a role is being played in a symbolic or an actual way. Children intuitively employ distancing to shield themselves from guilt and shame in play by taking up roles that are in contrast to themselves. For example, pretending or playing Gretel, deserted in the forest by her father and mother, permits a child to deal with her emotions of previous abandonment or punishment by a significant adult or parents in her life. Distancing allows individuals to take up roles that are different from themselves, which makes them more comfortable than playing roles depicting them. This, in turn, allows the client to detach from his/her own world or experience and see things from a different point of view. More distance can be created through the use of puppets, fictionalizing a situation or employing metaphor to symbolize a problem or situation helps to remove the situation from reality and assist the client in resolving issues without falling apart. Separately, an individual may develop so much intellectual and mental distance that they cease being in touch with their emotions. In such instances, the therapist has to create more emotional participation and less fiction, for the client to tackle the matter directly and honestly. Dramatic Projection This is similar to concrete embodiment and uses metaphor. This is the ability to get an emotion or an idea within the individual and project it externally to be acted out or shown during the drama therapy session. An individual may find it difficult to seek for help for an internal problem; however, it becomes an external problem when it is dramatized with other members of the group, through masks and puppets. Consequently, the problem is seen and shared with the group and the therapist. Transitional Space This is an imaginary world made during the play or an imagination of a trusting and safe environment. This is a timeless cosmos in which everything and anything imaginable can exist, for instance, crossing of raging rivers, vanquishing of dragons, building of castles and experience and acceptance of love. Transitional space becomes an environment where healing and transformation take place, since it is a space of unlimited potential through imagination (Schwartz, 1982). Incorporation of other Arts Drama therapists can incorporate music, song, movement, poetry, dance, drawing, writing, mask making, sculpture and puppetry within their drama therapy sessions. Like the theatre, arts converge and work together in drama therapy. The therapist can begin an individual on writing, followed by enacting a poem or story. Alternatively, a client may start with drawing, the art embodying through movement, drama or body sculpturing. It is, therefore, important for a therapist to be knowledgeable in other forms of creative arts (Palmer and Woolfe, 1999). How is drama therapy used to facilitate personal transformation in a healing setting The engagement in drama activities and actions promote living and thinking more holistically, since it incorporates many dimensions of life. Drama therapy is a holistic process because it balances reason, logic and language, while at the same time incorporating emotions, intuition and imagination, together with the profound emotions of the body, to bring out a personal transformation of an individual. Drama therapy allows individuals to hear and feel their own voices and also to speak to those an individual has emotional reactions. This is a better way to release and express their feelings, instead of talking or explaining about them. Based on the requirements and objectives of the individual, the drama therapist will select a technique that will accomplish the desired combination of emotional release, understanding and learning and acquiring of new behavior. Fictional work may involve improvisation, role play, drama games, puppets, masks rituals and developmental transformations. Through fictional work, the client plays a character that is different from oneself, which expands the role repertoire of the client. The client can pretend to be different characters that can find use in real life. This allows the client to explore and examine his/her life directly, but from a different perspective. The different roles are a fundamental force in human nature, amplified through drama therapy (Landy, 1993). The interpersonal encounters between members in a group bring out different personalities, some of which are similar to their own individualities. In addition, these encounters become authentic when they integrate a broad spectrum of imaginary elements. This, in turn, helps to counter alienation and discrimination that may have existed within an individual. When individuals take up different roles and play them consciously, they gradually begin honing their skills in discerning and managing their thoughts. Individuals are always in the role, at the same time a distant from it. This leads to culmination of reflective thinking and subsequently, improved psychological flexibility and maturity (Grainger, 1995). Imagination develops empathy when a client plays a different role, which is similar to another person. In the process, an individual nurtures interpersonal skills and greater understanding. Drama therapy also opens up roles that go beyond the restrictions of everyday reality, permitting people to do things beyond their comfort zone. Subsequently, it fills a fundamental need to escape limitations of sheer existence and discover new talents and opportunities. Therefore, the process leads to the personal transformation of the individual. People tend to respect the stories they develop in their imaginations; thus, they appreciate their power of life-expansion and healing (Duggan and Grainger, 1997). Through improvising, the mind of an individual is opened up to the continuous flow of inspiration and imagery from the creative subconscious. The exploration and discovery of this ability enables an individual to tap into the vast resources of inspiration, which increases creative potential and deepens identity. This results in the growth and development in the sense of faith and confidence in oneself in coping with daily affairs. How drama therapy facilitates healing in mental health settings Drama therapy is beneficial in facilitating healing in mental illness. Mental illness can be caused by underlying traumatic feelings, memories and beliefs. Suppression and repression of memories and feelings may be helpful to some point, but the repressed pain may become unbearable and manifest itself as mental illness. Art forms such as drama are effective in uncovering this negative mental material, which language does not have access. Drama therapy allows expression of information; this includes pre-verbal information, accessible only through symbolism, which is characteristic of the right-brain world. Language and words may limit the description of an individual’s experience; however, an individual may find it easy expressing it through art, sound, movement or music (Jones, 1998). Role play is an excellent technique in nurturing forgiveness, empathy and understanding, which are integral components in emotional and mental healing. Complete and true forgiveness of others and one’s self are of chief necessity for well-being. People may not tolerate harmful behavior from others, but forgiveness frees them from pain. When individuals take up different roles and physically acting them, they get a real life experience. This enables individuals express anger safely, transform situations, be forgiven and forgive other individuals not present, take up a role of a person they wish to be and take on new roles. In turn, the body interprets this as an actual event. Since this is a blend of reality and imagination, the brain may not differentiate between the two. Thus, an individual benefits from the enactment of experience in drama because they assume the experience. Through healing rituals, group enactments and self-revelation in drama therapy, participants form deep and meaningful connections among themselves. This is crucial in making their life journeys seem sacred and significant in their own existence. In these groups, people teach, learn and heal from one another, which is significant in mental healing. Within the group, people may find it a safe and trusting environment to share their stories, feel encouraged and accepted. Thus, the group forms a support system, which creates acceptance and alienates fear and rejection. This allows for the access, release and change beyond the traumatic events (Jennings et al, 1995). References Blatner, A. (1988). Acting-in: Practical Applications of Psychodramatic Methods. New York: Springer Publishing. Duggan, M. and Grainger, R.(1997). Imagination, Identification and Catharsis in Theatre and Therapy. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Grainger, R.(1995). Drama and Healing: The Roots of Drama Therapy. 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