Child drama

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Peter Slade · 1954 · Birmingham, England

What it is

Child Drama is an educational and developmental approach, not a manualised therapy. Peter Slade, an actor and BBC children's broadcaster (in 1936 the BBC's youngest Children's Hour "uncle"), built it from about 25 years of watching children make up imaginary games in schools, art centres and…

Format

• Slade gave developmental stages, not therapy phases with session counts. Child Drama (1954) is organised by age. It has chapters on the beginnings of drama from birth to five, dramatic play from five to seven, drama and play from seven to twelve, and twelve to fifteen. Matching "Suggestions"…
• Working format for clinical use

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Professional frame. No professional body or credential exists for "Child Drama" itself. Slade's Certificate Course in Child Drama (Birmingham Education Committee, 1968) was a teacher-training route, not a clinical licence. Its methods are open to teachers and play workers as education. Using them as therapy (working on distress, trauma, offending or mental disorder) needs a therapy qualification:
• UK: dramatherapists train through a postgraduate Masters (named providers include Derby, Roehampton, Anglia Ruskin and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama), register with the HCPC and can join the British Association of Dramatherapists (BADth). "Dramatherapist" is a protected title regulated by the HCPC, alongside Art Therapist, Art Psychotherapist and Music Therapist.
• US and Canada: the equivalent is the Registered Drama Therapist (RDT) credential awarded by the North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA). It requires a master's or doctoral degree in drama therapy from an NADTA-accredited programme (or a related degree plus NADTA Alternative Training), a supervised internship and supervised post-degree drama therapy experience.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• your own urge to explore further in the session. Resist it.
• the child taking up the less-used mode on their own initiative.
• overcrowding during running play, and children using props as weapons.
• whether the freeze works with every child. If not, no high-energy personal play yet.
• a child who cannot join the opening routine. Offer a role nearby, such as drummer or timekeeper.

Problems the guide addresses

• A child who won't join or only watches
• Chaos, limit-testing and "resistance" in groups
• Overwhelm, dissociation and retraumatisation
• Aggression becoming real
• Sexualised play or behaviour
• Touch and physical contact
• Investigations, court proceedings and "rehearsal" concerns
• Carers or schools wanting a performance, or ruptures with carers
• Non-attendance and non-adherence
• Role scapegoating in groups

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.