What is drama therapy ?
Psychodrama therapy, also known as drama therapy, is a form of psychotherapy that uses theater as a standard and focus for the psychological or mental recovery journey of an individual within a group. This treatment has emerged since it was adopted and developed by the American psychiatrist Jacob L. Moreno, who launched improvisation in his group therapy sessions intending to create a kind of emancipation and creativity in translating their emotions.
In this context, the patient represents certain life situations commensurate with his psychological state, or a re-enactment of a situation that occurred with him, with the aim of emotional psychological discharge, considering Moreno 1954 that the psychodrama is "the scientific interpretation of facts through representative methods and finds."
The Mechanism
Drama therapy's mechanism is defined by its participatory nature, which arises from the relationships that are developed between participants in the therapeutic activity. Writing the screenplay they will perform, or acting it out on stage, could be part of this assignment. Each person in this process takes on a "role" that has been chosen for them by the therapist, based on their social and psychological histories. The idea is to improve insight; in other words, if someone is acting out of character in a play and is upset, bringing attention to their behavior starts a process of introspection and improvement.
Thanks to their ongoing interaction with colleagues over an extended time, from proposing the idea to carrying out the performance, this collaborative work, which incorporates the five essential elements for the establishment of any therapeutic theatrical work—the group (individuals in need of therapy), the protagonist, the director or facilitator, and the therapists—immerses the individual in a social integration process without their necessarily realizing it.
Drama therapy can be used in a variety of contexts. It can be used in a group setting for kids or adults in drama therapy clubs to open up about their innermost feelings that negatively impact how they behave in public. The goal is to find a solution that will enable them to overcome their suffering and healthily reintegrate into society. It is also used in jails, where treating inmates who, because of circumstances and life events that led them to commit their crime, pose an immediate risk to public safety, is necessary.
