Role power: Using Role Theory in support of ethical practice

Existing research finds that how the client feels towards the therapist and the therapist towards the client will have a direct impact on the therapeutic relationship. Yet little has been written about how to understand and process the therapist–client relationship in drama therapy. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to illustrate how a relational perspective and use of the Relational-Roles Assessment Protocol (R-RAP) may be implemented in the therapist’s embodied supervision and collaborative therapeutic processes. This article extends the existing R-RAP by providing how-to steps and case illustrations for applying the R-RAP to supervisory settings and in collaboration with clients. The article ends with emergent ideas and considerations for future applications.

The R-RAP revisited: Current conceptualizations and applications

Williams

2020

Turbulence: Arts-based participatory action research on the experience of creative arts therapists and creatives who identify as Black and people of colour

Sajnani

Williams

Low

et al. 2023

Following the production of Turbulence, an original play featuring the experiences of creative arts therapists and creatives who identify as Black and people of colour (BPOC), members of the ensemble agreed to engage in an arts-based participatory action research process in which co-researchers drew on dramatic, visual, musical and poetic forms of inquiry to ask themselves about the realities and hopes faced by this community and the environmental conditions that would support their movement, growth and mobility. Findings emphasized the value and necessity of creative affinity groups together with sustainable structural, financial and relational support to encourage the hopes and dreams of BPOC students and professionals.

At the intersection: Role Theory and the schizophrenia spectrum

Hughes

2023

Clients with severe and persistent mental illnesses are often subject to biased definitions of health and wellness in western psychiatry. Therefore, the playspace becomes a site of potential for the client and the therapist to engage in a collaborative process of understanding and responsiveness. The following commentary outlines an individual drama therapy process that uses a flexible version of the role profile assessment; this intervention supports a client’s nuanced self-exploration. It also provides a shared language for the drama therapist to better understand their client’s inner reality in contrast to the repetitive, reductive narrative of the chronically mentally ill patient.