Narradrama

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Pamela Dunne · 2003 · Los Angeles, USA

What it is

Psychotherapy.net presents narradrama as "a new therapeutic approach and alternative to traditional talk therapy". It integrates narrative therapy and drama therapy and draws on the creative arts and experiential activities rather than talk alone. One applied study describes it as "a drama therapy…

Format

• Dunne's own phase model was not available, so it could not be verified. The structure below has two layers. The macro-arc follows the narrative sequence that the sources describe. The session form is standard drama therapy practice.
• Macro-arc (over a course of sessions)

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Version followed: Pamela (Pam) Dunne's narradrama as named in Dunne & Rand, Narradrama: Integrating Drama Therapy, Narrative, and the Creative Arts (2nd ed., Drama Therapy Institute of Los Angeles, 2006, 172 pp., catalogued as a handbook with a terminology glossary; 1st ed. Possibilities Press, 2003), and in the "NarraDrama" chapter of Johnson & Emunah (eds.), Current Approaches in Drama Therapy (Charles C. Thomas).…
• What it is. Psychotherapy.net presents narradrama as "a new therapeutic approach and alternative to traditional talk therapy". It integrates narrative therapy and drama therapy and draws on the creative arts and experiential activities rather than talk alone. One applied study describes it as "a drama therapy method that contextualizes narrative therapy with action-based interventions", citing Dunne (2009). It was…
• Professional frame. Narradrama sits within drama therapy. In North America the professional body is NADTA, which Dunne has led. DTILA runs her training workshops and publishes her manuals. NADTA's registered drama therapist credential (RDT) is not confirmed here. In the UK, drama therapists are a state-regulated profession (HCPC), with BADth as the professional association. The narrative ingredients (externalising…

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?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• 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

• Self-criticism about drawing skill. Stress that stick figures are fine. Drawings are not diagnostic.
• Problem-saturated talk that deepens hopelessness. Keep this short and move on to B3 in the same session.
• Identifiable trauma details in anything that might be shared publicly. Keep public versions free of these.
• Over-arousal (silliness spiralling, aggression) or withdrawal. Shorten the activity or switch to a calmer one.
• Anyone leaving dysregulated, dissociated or in tears without a plan. Stay with them, or arrange follow-up the same day.

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.