Puppetry and mask work

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Rojas-Bermúdez, Moyano

What it is

Puppetry and mask work is a family of projective techniques, not a single therapy. Drama therapists, psychodramatists, play therapists and art therapists all use it inside their own frameworks. In each case the client puts feelings, roles and conflicts into an object they make or choose: a puppet…

Format

• A. Brief psychodramatic mask group (Pires et al. 2021, adapting Rojas-Bermúdez and Moyano)
• Format: 8 weekly sessions of 90 minutes. A director leads, with an auxiliary ego (a psychodrama trainee) present throughout. Each session runs warm-up, then enactment, then sharing.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Professional frame. In the UK, "dramatherapist" is a protected title, and it is unlawful to use it without registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Art therapists are HCPC-registered in the same way. In the USA, drama therapists hold the RDT credential from NADTA, and psychodramatists are certified by ABE (linked to ASGPP). Play therapy in the UK is not a statutorily regulated profession;…

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

• use only with the original scoring materials.
• with autistic children, introduce each puppet separately at the start.
• peers "diagnosing" one another; humiliation; laughter at a mask. Step in at once.
• shame in the parent during the role reversal. Frame it as curiosity, not as an audit.
• dream figures that are frightening. Keep these as puppets or flat images if arousal climbs.

Problems the guide addresses

• Resistance, or "puppets are babyish"
• Stuck or repetitive play
• Overwhelm, flooding and retraumatisation during enactment
• Too much or too little distance
• Refusing to remove the mask, or staying in role
• Destroying puppets or masks
• Non-adherence, absences, and ruptures in the group
• Children: safeguarding, consent and assent
• Materials and physical safety
• Cultural and personal meanings of masks and faces

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.