Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Monologue Writing And Psychodramatic Techniques With Adolescents Experiencing Suicidality, Justine Rea

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The United States continues to face an ongoing youth mental health epidemic among children and adolescents, coinciding with an increase of suicidal behaviors among this developmental age group. Accessibility to culturally competent mental health support, addressing social barriers, and an increase in research to identify and respond to youth mental health needs are among recommendations provided by the Surgeon General. Currently, there is limited clarity on standards and best practices for treating suicidality across mental health sectors. As such, it’s necessary to explore additional means of support for adolescents experiencing suicidality within the individual therapy model. Thwarted belonging and sense …

Towards An Ecodramatherapy: Drama Therapy For Climate Grief & Climate Activism, Emilie Slotine

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

As governments and social organizations fail to sufficiently address the rapidly warming climate, psychological responses such as grief, anxiety, anger, guilt and shame increase, with young people disproportionately affected. This capstone thesis reviewed current literature on climate-change related mental health issues, considered the lack of literature within the field of drama therapy, and engaged in preliminary ecodramatherapeutic work through textual analysis. Seven plays about climate change were coded using qualitative data analysis for shared themes of therapeutic relevance. Emergent themes included The Paradoxical Power/Powerlessness of Humanity, Lost Connection to Nature or Spirit or Culture, Art as Activism and Intergenerational Responsibility. …

Developmental Transformations And Pediatric Ocd: A Review Of The Literature And Proposal For Drama Therapy In Treatment, Elizabeth A. Lewis

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

One to four percent of the population experiences obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and the majority of cases of begin in childhood or adolescence (Agarwal et al., 2016). Youth with OCD may experience barriers to their personal, familial, social, and academic success. In this Capstone Thesis paper, a critical review of the literature is conducted about obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children and adolescents, standard treatment methods including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and Developmental Transformations (DvT). DvT is proposed as a supplemental treatment method for pediatric OCD to be combined with ERP to combat treatment resistance, address …

Theatrical Intimacy Direction And Drama Therapy: A Community Workshop, Caitlin Mcfann

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Within the last several years, the field of intimacy direction and coordination has grown exponentially, both in usage within theatre and film and within public consciousness. Contributing to this rise is an increased awareness of and consideration for the potential psychological and emotional harm of production processes on performers. Both intimacy directors and drama therapists are uniquely equipped to handle such concerns: intimacy directors, due to their their frequent engagement with sensitive and potentially activating material, and drama therapists, due to their background in and understanding of both artistic and clinical processes.This thesis presents the process and results of a …

The Feminine Expansion Of Role Theory: A Community Workshop, Alexis Cisneros

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Traditional gender roles and dominant narratives in society impose different pressures on men and women. Women experience the societal pressure to excel in multiple roles simultaneously such as caregiver, breadwinner, partner, and community member all while meeting societal judgements and expectations regarding appearance, achievements, and behavior (Ilic, 2023). This thesis will focus on the development of a drama therapy community workshop for cisgender women to explore the roles they play in Western society. Because we are living in a patriarchal society where the understanding of human experience is mostly through a white, male, heterosexual, middle-class, and able-bodied lens my focus …

Opening The Trauma Window: Embodied Storytelling With Adolescent Survivors Of Domestic Violence, April Reck

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Adolescents who have experienced trauma may develop a neutral state, which they use to shield themselves from the trauma so they can perform daily life tasks. Though it is acknowledged in the literature that trauma lives in the body, adolescent survivors of trauma may often stay in this neutral state until they seek mental health services. This thesis asks: How can drama therapy’s core processes, such as embodiment, widen the window of tolerance of an adolescent who has experienced trauma to begin to feel emotions beyond the neutral state and become open to new roles? The method that I have …

Tarole Theory: Alchemizing The Drama Therapy Role Sort With The Tarot, Brooke Ferguson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In this mixed-methods qualitative and arts-based research project, the researcher conducted a community engagement workshop infusing role theory into a personalized tarot reading for each participant. The participants considered the types of roles they currently play and have played in their lives, gave themselves a tarot reading with the researcher’s guidance, and created individual expressive arts presentations based on their reflections of their readings. Data were extrapolated from the prevalent themes observed in the reflections and the performances, which included protection, self-limitation, openness, trust in self, and connection and collaboration. Lack of a focused population was one limitation of this …

I Just Want To Be A Normal Teenager: A Literature Review Of Impacts Of Adolescent-Onset Chronic Illness On Identity Development And Proposed Benefits Of Drama Therapy, Margaret Young

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Adolescence is a crucial moment in life for establishing our personal identity, internal values, and social autonomy (Christie & Viner, 2005); however, this already-tumultuous time can be further complicated by the addition of a chronic illness diagnosis which can lead to feelings of isolation, uncertainty, and an inconsistent sense of self (Chisholm, 2018; Wicks et al., 2019). This literature review investigates the current research regarding the impacts of chronic illness on identity development as well as the landscape of available expressive therapies interventions. Based on personal experience and available literature, I argue that drama therapy can provide much needed support …

Amplify Your Narrative: Exploring The Power Of Storytelling With African American And Indigenous Communities In Pediatric Cancer Treatment, Trinity K. Perry

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review investigated the empowering nature of storytelling with Black and Indigenous communities undergoing pediatric cancer treatment. It explored the roles of systemic racism, anti-Black racism, culture, spirituality, and intersectionality in shaping narratives about westernized healthcare. Furthermore, the review examined the concepts of anti-black racism, systemic racism, racial disparities in westernized healthcare, marginalized children’s experience in pediatric cancer treatment, storytelling in African American and Indigenous communities, and storytelling through the lens of drama therapy. Evidence is presented that underlines the psychological impact of the previously mentioned components, and how community engagement and storytelling provide a means of attunement, hope, …

Using Expressive Arts Therapy To Develop Coping Mechanisms To Manage Substance Use, Zayna Mcdonald

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper examines past and current usages of expressive arts therapy in developing coping mechanisms for substance use recovery and explores possibilities for further integration in the adolescent and young adult population around the world. Abundant information is available on the effects of drugs and other substances on mental health, but more research is needed on how the integration of expressive arts therapy can enhance substance abuse programs for these populations. According to the CDC, elevated adverse effects on mental health occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in the US with young adults reporting increased substance use (Czeisler et al., 2020). …

Playing In An Earthquake: Development Of A Method Integrating Traumaplay And Drama Therapy Core Processes, Lisa Bumpus

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

TraumaPlay is a specific play therapy model designed to meet the unique needs of children with exposure to traumatic and/or adverse experiences through clearly identified treatment components. With this, drama therapy has also been considered as a viable treatment option, particularly in the school setting, for children with exposure to traumatic and/or adverse experiences. Additional literature has identified overlaps between play therapy and drama therapy practices. As such, the aim of this thesis was to propose a method which explores whether the drama therapy core processes can be integrated with TraumaPlay’s foundational treatment goals to augment the therapeutic process of …

Re-Storying Teaching: Using Narradrama To Address Burnout In Public School Teachers, Heather Carroll

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The public school system in the United States is experiencing an increasing crisis in teacher retention and effectiveness due, in part, to the effects of burnout on teaching staff. Teachers often face significant stressors such as tense parent-teacher relationships, state and federal mandates on testing, low financial compensation and limited benefits, and negative sociocultural stereotypes about their roles and responsibilities as educators (Westervelt, 2016; von der Embse et al., 2019). These stressors, if not managed effectively on an individual and systemic level, can lead to burnout (Maslach, 2001). This condition involves symptoms such as emotional and physical exhaustion, disinvestment from …

Self-Care For Hospice And Palliative Nurses And How Drama Therapy Could Help: A Literature Review, Heidi Jackson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Nurses experience a higher-than-average risk of suicidal ideation and are less likely to seek help than the general population. In addition, nurses have a higher rate of interpersonal violence, hypertension, diabetes, musculoskeletal injury, and obesity. Many nurses experience burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma. Because of the required exposure to grief, death, and compassion inherently needed in the profession, hospice and palliative care (HPC) nurses are uniquely positioned for special vulnerability to these issues. This literature review aims to examine the use of drama therapy, and how its techniques could be used to support self-care with HPC nurses. Literature was …

Exploring Role Method As An Identity Building Tool With Adolescent Adoptees: Development Of A Method, Rebecca Elowe

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The developmental task for adolescents concerns identity formation. Adoption literature indicates that for adolescent adoptees, the task of identity formation is often complex. As compared to their non-adopted peers, adolescent adoptees must contemplate their identity with informational factors and with potential gaps in their life stories. Though it is acknowledged in the literature that identity formation for adolescent adoptees is complex, and that adolescent adoptees seek mental health services in high percentages, little formal research has been conducted to investigate the usefulness of drama therapy in the treatment of adolescent adoptees, or the adoptee population overall. In response to a …

A Role-Based Integrative Community Engagement Model: Drama Therapy With Survivors (Option 3), Jodi Kanter

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

Trauma survivors have, by definition, undergone a change to their bodies and therefore, necessarily, a change in their role repertoire. This paper describes the development of a 6-session drama therapy community engagement model for self-identified survivors. The model is structured around the categories of Robert Landy’s Role Profiles assessment and integrates a range of role-based methods. The paper begins with a review of the literature on drama therapy theory and practice involving roles. It briefly considers two debates in the field: one involving the difference between therapy and the therapeutic, the other concerning the use of distancing techniques (such …

What Drama Therapy Core Processes Can Be Observed In A Timeslips Session With Residents In Dementia Care Units?, Saverina Scopelleti

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Despite the arrival of the person-centered movement in dementia care, biases continue in caregiving around ageism, cognitive disability, and pharmacological interventions to mitigate behavior issues. This paper underscores the efficacy of drama therapy as a non-pharmacological intervention in dementia care practices, directing focus on drama therapy core processes and how to utilize them to meaningfully engage with persons with dementia. In this phenomenological study, run over a four week period, I facilitated group interventions using TimeSlips with residents from two memory care units at separate assisted living facilities in New England. TimeSlips is an established program, specifically created for persons …

“Staged Combat”: A Literature Review On The Potential Advantages Of Drama Therapy Over Traditional Talk Therapy With Veterans, Christopher Mcneill

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

There is an ongoing disconnect between military veterans and mental health with a vast majority of veterans either unable or unwilling to seek therapy. This may be a result of traditional talk therapy being ineffective with the veteran population; drama therapy may be a recourse that can better bridge the gap between veterans and therapy. Veterans experience trauma not just through means of combat overseas, but via training and transitioning out of the military as well, all culminating in a psychological regression. With the given population, emerging adulthood would be the period that veterans regress to as it is when …

How Drama Therapy Interventions May Enhance The Psychological Health Of Astronauts: A Literature Review, Mackenna Wysocki

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Astronauts may encounter a number of psychological challenges throughout their space missions. Crew members often suffer from a disrupted circadian rhythm, thus altering their sleep patterns. Prolonged disrupted sleep has been linked to a decline in executive functioning, concentration, and decision making, all of which are crucial to the duties of an astronaut. Additionally, crews are required to stay in cramped living quarters with the same group of people for an extended period of time, leading to an increased possibility of interpersonal conflict. There are no open spaces in which to escape when trying to decompress, there is limited contact …

Developmental Transformations With Refugee Children: Exploring Different Cultural Responses To Traumatic Experience, Katrina L. Sanyal

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explored working with refugee children resettled in the US, and how Developmental Transformations (DvT) can support different cultural interpretations and experiences of trauma, particularly when the drama therapist and the client come from different cultural viewpoints. Situated within an after school program, this research includes results from 5 individual, trauma-centered, short-form DvT sessions conducted with refugee children ages 8-15. Dramatic images, traumatic responses, and observations were documented for each play session. To synthesize the experience, the drama therapist reflected on the process through their own DvT play sessions, which are presented as stories via an arts based process. …

Whatever It Takes: A Literature Review Exploring The Psychological Cost Of Actor Training And How Drama Therapy Can Help, Kelsey Burke

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This review examines the literature as it relates to the psychological and emotional impact of professional training programs for student-actors. Special attention is paid to student-actors’ developmental stage, mental health and trauma history, possible exposure to sexual harassment in rehearsal or classroom settings, specific acting techniques taught, and power dynamics between student-actors and acting teachers. Also examined is data on the potential effects that the application of trauma-informed drama therapy approaches could have on this population. This is followed by a proposed outline for a supervision-style class for student-actors led by a drama therapist intended to introduce drama therapeutic principles …

Restorying Queer Family: A Scoping Review, Matthew Freeman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

LGBTQ+ populations within clinical research are typically characterized through the lens of the minority stress model (Meyer, 2003) and the risks or problems that are associated with their identities (Kiekens et al., 2020). Despite rising rates of families headed by LGBTQ+ individuals (Suter et al., 2016), they remain underrepresented within family-based research (Jensen & Sanner, 2021).This body of work aims to move beyond these standards to explore the ways that LGBTQ+ individuals utilize narrative as a means of connecting themselves to their families. In order to accomplish this, a scoping literature review was conducted to answer the following question: “Within …

Exploring Role Method As A Means Of Emotional Regulation: A Development Of A Method With Dysregulated Adults In A Php Setting, Meghan Owen

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Emotional dysregulation is comorbid with a wide spectrum of mental health diagnoses. However, in a partial hospital program (PHP) setting, the roots of emotional dysregulation cannot be thoroughly treated due to the temporary nature of such programs, despite its impact on the wellness of clients. Yet, it has the potential to be explored more in-depth through drama therapy techniques due to the distanced and playful methods of the practice. This thesis method explores the effect of a strengths-based, drama therapy intervention in a PHP setting. The method took place over four sessions, with a fluctuating group ranging from five to …

Advancing A Mixed Methods Approach To An Evidence Based Practice In Drama Therapy: A Literature Review, Travis Ciempa

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The present literature review investigates the history, roles, strengths, and limitations of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches within the research process. The goal of this review is to conclude whether a mixed methods approach can be utilized to support drama therapy in becoming an evidence-based practice. Current trends in drama therapy research demonstrate a need for more empirical investigations within the field. This is accompanied by the added competitive nature and standards of professions within healthcare. As such, this literature review explores future recommendations for research practices within drama therapy, including utilizing a mixed methods approach, manualization in drama …

Streamlining The Performance/Talkback Model Using Media And Alternative Action (Maact): An Intervention, Daniel Brown

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This capstone project ventures to develop a drama therapy method that may increase empathy, social skills, and communication skills in populations with substance use disorders. Particular attention has been paid to the efficacy of performance/talkback methods in increasing these factors. An attempt has been made to streamline the performance/talkback method for greater accessibility to such methods in clinical spaces. The literature shows a particular need in populations with substance use disorders for social skills, communication skills, and empathy training. There have been published drama therapy studies that aim to intervene in these areas, though few with this particular population. This …

Drama Therapy Interventions That Support Students With Asd During Covid-19, Olivia Reyes

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that began in December 2019, many people experienced traumatic losses, environmental stressors, and overall daily challenges. One of the populations most at risk during this time were those with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Those with mental health illness and developmental differences are experiencing the pandemic in different ways. Individuals with ASD tend to have both developmental differences and mental health challenges that motivate individuals to seek medicinal and therapeutic help, along with other services to support their daily needs. This literature review addresses the negative and positive impacts COVID-19 has had on the …

Preparing For An Unpredictable Future: A Community Engagement Project, Rebecca Coates-Finke

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The COVID-19 Pandemic has upended lives across the world for the past two years, and it is hard for anyone to say if or when life will return to what we may have called “normal.” Communities must learn how to support and protect one another in rapidly changing circumstances, while holding space for the collective trauma and grief of this pandemic. In this thesis, there is a review of literature regarding trauma, collective healing within communities and families, and COVID’s impact on Jewish communities, with a particular focus on drama therapy. This is followed by a description of a workshop …

Patient-Drama: A Literature Review Of Simulated Patient Experiences In Medical Education And Training, Shelby Davis

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Simulated patient experiences are commonly used in medical education and training. These experiences have the benefit of training students in real-world environments without risks to real patients. However, these forms of training can be expensive to implement. Additionally, there may be room to improve their effectiveness for training medical providers in humanistic skills like empathy and relationship building. These experiences can be considered dramatic encounters with the incorporation of dramatic elements like role, story, and improvisation. Given the intentional use of drama in these simulated patient experiences, it can be argued that the definition of drama therapy broadly applies to …

An Embodied Drama Therapy Approach To Restorative School Practices: A Method, Sarah Harmer

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Restorative School Practices offer schools a circle structure to shift the punitive mindset and power dynamics commonly found in America’s schools, to a model that focuses on relationship, connection, and mutual respect. Drama therapy interventions utilize embodied or active work that engage the entire person. The purpose of this thesis was to create a method to explore the addition of embodied drama therapy techniques to deepen the experience of the restorative school circle process. Three community-building and social emotional learning focused circles, in a second, fourth, and sixth grade class, were compared using the traditional scripts and then the same …

“Hey! Whoa.”: Enhancing Dialectical Behavior Therapy With Drama Therapy For Patients On A Short-Term Inpatient Unit And Trauma/Dissociative Inpatient Unit: Development Of A Method, Sarah Moore

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a widely used treatment approach for many different populations across an array of clinical settings. There is ample supporting evidence on its effectiveness, however there is also emerging literature on the barriers and challenges when engaging with this treatment modality. Drama therapy is an embodied treatment approach that uses theatre processes and techniques to achieve therapeutic goals. The aim of this thesis was to combine drama therapy and DBT into a proposed method to explore the impact of this infusion with clients on two inpatient units: a short-term unit and a trauma/dissociative unit. This method …

The Use Of Drama Therapeutic Play And Unconditional Positive Regard In Fostering Self-Actualization In Unhoused Individuals, Amanda Ludeking

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Childhood instability and the associated trauma are risk factors for homelessness, a circumstance which is perilous and traumatizing in itself. In order to survive such dangerous situations, unhoused individuals can develop protective behaviors to keep others away, which makes building and maintaining interpersonal relationships difficult. Beyond this, aspects of childhood instability can negatively affect socialization and interpersonal skills; for example, attachment theory suggests that attachment-based trauma (resulting from an insecure relationship with a caregiver) can negatively impact self-regulation and social skills into adulthood. This literature review seeks to better understand how two specific approaches to treatment, person-centered therapy and drama …