Safety, play, enablement, and active involvement: Themes from a Grounded Theory study of practitioner and client experiences of change processes in Dramatherapy

Abstract

This study aims to investigate how dramatherapists and dramatherapy clients experience change in therapy and whether change processes identified are consistent across dramatherapeutic approaches. Method: Seven dramatherapists and seven dramatherapy clients were interviewed about their experiences of dramatherapy. Using a grounded theory method three core themes were constructed from the data. Results: The resulting core categories 1. working within a safe distance; 2. the client being allowed and allowing self to play and try out new ways of being and 3. being actively involved in therapy: creating something visible and having physical experiences using the body, capture the experience of change for both dramatherapists and clients in therapy. Key change mechanisms were also proposed, these included: developing new awareness and finding a language to communicate. Main conclusions: A focus on developing new awareness and increased insight into self are important outcomes for therapy and need to be clearly communicated as such. Future research should include further exploration of the key themes identified and the client developing increased reflective functioning as a key change mechanism during dramatherapy.

From Therapeutic Factors to Mechanisms of Change in the Creative Arts Therapies: A Scoping Review

“…Drama therapists and psychodramatists employ techniques that facilitate experiencing in therapy, to develop a felt awareness (Armstrong et al, 2016 ). Drama therapy and psychodrama promote a sense of agency and empowerment (Bucută et al, 2018 ), hope and optimism (Bucută et al, 2018 ), reflection (Cassidy et al, 2017 ), self-awarenes s and insight (Bucută et al, 2018 ; Testoni et al, 2018 ) and facilitate emotional release and relief (Bucută et al, 2018 ). Four psychodrama studies examined the transformative potential of group processes , such as Yalom's common factors for group therapy, with a specific emphasis on catharsis ( emotional release ), insight, self-understanding, interpersonal learning, and the reciprocal process of giving and receiving support (Yalom, 1983 , 1995 ; Kellermann, 1985 , 1987 ; Oezbay et al, 1993 ; Kim, 2003 ; Testoni et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Drama therapy and psychodrama, like all CATs, elicit active involvement (Cassidy et al, 2014 ) within an embodied artistic process in which both verbal and non-verbal expressions are possible (Cassidy et al, 2017 ). Like other CATs, drama therapists and psychodramatists offer intrinsically pleasurable and playful (Orkibi et al, 2014 ) activities that promote a sense of agency in that participants experience control and choice, and creative experimentation where clients are invited to practice their spontaneity and try out new ways of being (Orkibi et al, 2014 ; Cassidy et al, 2017 ). Drama therapists and psychodramatists, like other CATs, employ concretization , the process of rendering internal experience visible and tangible, which further enables perspective-taking and insight (Cassidy et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Like other CATs, drama therapists and psychodramatists offer intrinsically pleasurable and playful (Orkibi et al, 2014 ) activities that promote a sense of agency in that participants experience control and choice, and creative experimentation where clients are invited to practice their spontaneity and try out new ways of being (Orkibi et al, 2014 ; Cassidy et al, 2017 ). Drama therapists and psychodramatists, like other CATs, employ concretization , the process of rendering internal experience visible and tangible, which further enables perspective-taking and insight (Cassidy et al, 2017 ). Witnessing, a reflective process common to all CATs, was also highlighted in one study (Orkibi et al, 2014 ).…”

“…Drama therapists and psychodramatists facilitate change through active engagement with and within dramatic or surplus reality (Cassidy et al, 2014 ; Orkibi et al, 2014 , 2017a ). Emotional regulation and reflection are facilitated by working at a safe distance within or outside the drama (Cassidy et al, 2017 ). Drama therapists and psychodramatists encourage understanding, self-awareness, perspective, and empathy through doubling (Goldstein, 1971 ), role-reconstruction (Bucută et al, 2018 ), encounter , and role-reversal (Orkibi et al, 2014 ; Testoni et al, 2018 ).…”

Crafting Life Stories in Photocollage: An Online Creative Art-Based Intervention for Older Adults

“…CAT are also action-oriented interventions that promote active involvement in the creative process, since the participants are actively and physically involved in the process of creating something visible [ 14 , 15 ]. This process positions the participants in the active positions of “artists” and “creators”, rather than in the passive roles of “patients” or “clients”.…”