Therapeutic theatre

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Snow, D'Amico, Tanguay · 2003 · North America

What it is

Therapeutic theatre is a family of practices, not a single manualised therapy. A group, led by a clinician who is also director, makes and stages a production. In this "performance mode" of drama therapy, making and presenting the piece is itself the therapy, not a by-product of it. It ranges from…

Format

• No source gives one fixed protocol or session count. The phases below combine Snow et al.'s five defining elements with Pendzik's five therapeutic elements: narrating, shaping, embodying and rehearsing, performing, and reflecting and integrating. Pendzik places these within creation, rehearsal, the…
• Goals: set therapeutic goals for each participant and for the group. Choose the vehicle (adapted story, devised piece or autobiographical). Decide on the audience. Screen participants and obtain informed consent to the process, to performance, to disclosure and to recording.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Professional frame. This is a specialist drama therapy application. In North America it is practised by Registered Drama Therapists credentialed through the North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA), which also sets the ethics code cited below. In the UK, drama therapist and dramatherapist are titles protected by HCPC registration after an approved master's training, and the professional body is the British…

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 any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• 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?
• 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

• evaluation that only counts tickets and applause.
• cliques, star dynamics, members who are scapegoated or isolated.
• fatigue and dehydration during long technical and dress rehearsals; overcrowded wings.
• low check-out scores, or anyone who leaves without checking out. Follow up before the next session.
• pressure from the group or director to "reveal it"; the performer flooding during the subtext beat.

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.