Treatments7

DRAMA THERAPY: The Beginning of Hope
Lori L. Yates, LISW, RDT

Life is a journey in which we are exposed to many experiences. Sometimes those experiences can be threatening, overwhelming, fearful, exciting, adventurous, curious, fun, new, unfamiliar and familiar. Drama Therapy helps people to discover their voice in their life, find and build on their strengths, learn and practice different ways to cope with situations, explore, expand and rehearse their role repertoire, problem solve, communicate, build confidence, and express themselves in meaningful ways. The Making The Journey Drama Therapy Program is based on the belief that all of life is fluid and that all people are on a continued life journey, which they have not yet completed. Therefore, events and situations, which one might find oneself, is only for a period in time, and that during that time, it is an opportunity to grow, change, improve, confirm, reflect, straighten-up, make choices, and contribute. Sometimes one must experience the fire to be refined, sometimes one must experience the valleys to appreciate the higher places, but most importantly, the journey is a continuing and evolving experience in which one always has choices. (Yates, 2002)

Bringing drama therapy to the NTSH has been a challenging task, as the field is relatively new and there are less than 400 Registered Drama Therapist in the nation. There are two Registered Drama therapists in the State of Texas at this time. I will be the third this spring. The challenge has been not so much in the lack of numbers, but in understanding the fundamental premise of this modality and its value to psychiatric adult forensic patients.

What is drama therapy? This is a question I am frequently asked. I believe that drama therapy is an opportunity to find hope, meaning, possibilities, relief, solutions and the self. According to the National Association for Drama Therapy, drama therapy is defined as the intentional use of drama and/or theater processes to achieve therapeutic goals. Drama Therapy is active and experiential. This approach can provide the context for participants to tell their stories, set goals and solve problems, express feelings, or achieve catharsis. Through drama, the depth and breadth of inner experience can be actively explored and interpersonal relationship skills can be enhanced. Participants can expand their repertoire of dramatic roles to find that their own life roles have been strengthened by behavior change, skill-building, emotional and physical integration, and personal growth can be achieved through drama therapy in prevention, intervention, and treatment setting. (NADT, 1979).

Although theory could be discussed here to learn about drama therapy, and its effectiveness, I have instead chosen to share experiences that have occurred in drama therapy. After all, what matters most is that the participants have found purpose and meaning through their work in the theatre and have found ways to make this modality work for them.

Beginnings of Hope

Case # 1:
Today he comes to rehearsal (Drama Therapy) livid. Yelling, screaming, cursing and spitting. The rehearsal space has been cleared of all furniture. We do not talk and I have instructed staff not to touch him or in anyway try to talk him out of his feelings. I begin miming putting bricks up to make a wall. He continues to scream and yell and run about the space wildly. This is not new. Some days he feels angrier than others, however, the routine is the same. No words, just the task of miming. About three minutes later, he is helping me mime putting bricks up to make a wall. He then passes an imaginary brick to me; I smile slightly and accept his gesture. This is the invitation to enter his world. For the next five minutes we engage in our mime silently, but are tossing bricks back and forth, helping the other to make the wall exactly right. Finally, we check our wall to make sure it is safe. We contract the drama team rules; No harm to self, No harm to others, No harm to property, use your ‘outs’. We then take our imaginary wall down and talk about what we might do today. He suggests that we are in an intergalactic war and that we must fight off the enemy. We mime getting into our spaceship and the battle begins. One by one he fights off the enemy until he feels safe to enter the world. Throughout our spaceship ride, I learn how frustrated he is with staff teasing him, and how much he misses his family. He talks about hurting inside, then stops and focuses on fighting the enemy. We come in for a landing and I congratulate him on his victory. He smiles. We close with words in sign language that only he and I know. We practice self-affirmation statements. He smiles. We then gather our imaginary bricks and place them in an imaginary box and put them on our imaginary shelf. He leaves smiling.

Case #2:
She fought everyone and everything, every chance she got. I asked her if she’d like to rehearse with the team (participate in drama therapy group); she said that she wasn’t good enough. I asked her again if she’d like to come rehearse with the team, she asked me if I had heard her the first time. I asked if she had heard me. She informed me she couldn’t act. I countered that I thought she had demonstrated fine acting skills out in the dayroom with the last fight. She showed up to rehearsal the following evening. We were working on a drama entitled “The Boss” about a bully with a bad attitude, rough home life, no friends, but a world of possibilities depending on personal choices. She was accepted on the team by her fellow actors (other patients) and accepted a leadership position requiring accountability to the team. As she and the team began to construct the drama and explore the characters, she began her own journey of exploring her life and choices. In rehearsal, she played each of the characters in the drama and began to seek out her own choices and try them out in the characters in the drama. Numerous rehearsals left her in tears as she struggled to make sense of “The Boss” (Bully), and what motivated the “Boss” to act in such hurtful ways. As the work progressed, she began to take more risks sharing her story. As she shared her story, she began to act out less on the unit. She completed her work on “The Boss” drama, and found choices she could live with through using the characters in the drama to “rehearse” real life changes.

Case #3:
He did not talk to anyone, in fact, I was not sure he had a voice as I had not heard him use it since being asked to work with him in drama therapy. Truthfully, I did not want to work with this individual as I was repulsed by his behaviors. Nonetheless, I was told that I needed to work with this person, as the psychiatrist firmly believed that drama therapy would help him. This journey was in many ways as much about my growth as it was his. He did not particularly want to come to rehearsal, however the psychiatrist made it clear he would come and I would insure that he did. Our first rehearsal, (group) he made no eye contact with anyone, he uttered no sound and stood in one place…stiff as a board. The second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth rehearsals were the same. I was frustrated and tried to argue with the psychiatrist that I did not believe he was appropriate for team (drama therapy) at this time. I was told not to give up and to figure out how I might be interfering with the process. Needless to say, my feathers were ruffled. By the time we got to the tenth rehearsal he had come late, and when he walked into the theatre, the team broke into spontaneous applause. He smiled. I actually saw teeth. From that rehearsal on, he began to participate, slowly at first, then gradually taking more risks. He responded to his peers cheering him on and asking to act with him. I found myself following the lead of my actors and encouraging him as well and celebrating his risks. He performed for the campus for the first time after four months into our work. He began to talk to others and began to interact with others. The process of being a part of a team where he was accepted and celebrated made all the difference in the world. I learned that no one is beyond change, including this social worker/drama therapist.

Conclusion
Drama therapy allows people to find their voice, explore their truth, reality, potential and strengths. It allows people to find alternatives, hope, reconciliation, peace and, most importantly, a second chance to create a hopeful new beginning.