Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

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 …

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 …

Using Animal As Metaphor In Drama Therapy With Psychiatric Patients In An Intensive Outpatient Program Group Therapy Session: An Intervention, Juliana Fort

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

Drama therapy may be uniquely suited to help people with mental illness who have negative beliefs about what it means to be mentally ill. It focuses on helping the individual expand their sense of what a person with mental illness can be, as well as their awareness of the other roles they may play in their lives. In the current study, the author developed a drama therapy intervention for psychiatric patients in an intensive outpatient program (IOP). The intervention uses pre-made cards that depict images of various animals. During the intervention, the participants were asked to discuss how they …

Creative And Expressive Arts Therapy In Motivational Interviewing, Mary Hunt

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The practices of Creative Arts Therapies (CATs), Expressive Arts Therapy (EATs), and Motivational Interviewing (MI) are regarded as profoundly impactful for use in mental health professions. While there is extensive literature supporting the benefits of the practices individually, research to date on combining CATs or EATs with MI is limited. This Capstone investigates the combination of the fields, including research linking MI to the fields under the CATs umbrella of art, dance/movement, drama, and music therapies. The key elements of each practice are defined, and their overlapping similarities are identified, examples of complementary CATs interventions to the practice of MI …

Group Scriptwriting For Male Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Community Engagement Project, Anna Coleman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The objective of this community engagement project was to explore the experiences of a group of male survivors of childhood sexual abuse via a writing process through a drama therapy-based lens, which included the use of scaffolding sessions with projective writing techniques, the use of aesthetic distance, verbally sharing written works to the witnessing audience, and embodied feedback and response by the witnessing audience to the performer. The participants were part of a grant-funded male sexual abuse survivor support group at an American outpatient, in-office mental health counseling group practice. All sessions were held in audio-video telehealth sessions. There were …

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 …

“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 …

Using Animal As Metaphor In Drama Therapy With Psychiatric Patients In An Intensive Outpatient Program Group Therapy Session: An Intervention, Juliana Fort

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Drama therapy may be uniquely suited to help people with mental illness who have negative beliefs about what it means to be mentally ill. It focuses on helping the individual expand their sense of what a person with mental illness can be, as well as their awareness of the other roles they may play in their lives. In the current study, the author developed a drama therapy intervention for psychiatric patients in an intensive outpatient program (IOP). The intervention uses pre-made cards that depict images of various animals. During the intervention, the participants were asked to discuss how they handle …

Becoming The Monster: The Use Of Monstrous Role With Queer Adults In A Partial Hospitalization Program, Zaira Boylan

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

There is an established history of horror genres being used as an allegory for otherness, especially in regard to queer identity. For much of western media history, these monstrous roles were one of the few ways queer individuals could see themselves in stories. While these depictions were primarily negative, queer people nevertheless found a way to positively identify with the experience of the monster. This positive identification with traditionally negative depictions inspired the creation of a role method-based intervention for use with queer adults in a partial hospitalization program. Two back-to-back 45-minute groups were conducted on two separate occasions to …

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 …

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 …

The Need For School-Based Trauma-Informed Drama Therapy Interventions: A Literature Review, Nicole Ventura

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In this capstone thesis, the author explores the availability and accessibility of school-based trauma-informed drama therapy interventions as a means to address the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). A significant amount of research exploring the impact of ACEs is focused on the long-term negative effects they have on adults, reflecting back on how the adverse childhood experiences impacted their continued development (Brown et al., 2009; Chapman et al., 2004). However, less attention has been paid to the impact of such experiences on children during their childhood. Rather than waiting for ACEs to turn into lifelong physical and mental health …

Embodied Drama Therapy With Incarcerated Youth: A Literature Review, Susannah Rosenthal-Schutt

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The implementation of embodied drama therapy practices with incarcerated youth helps foster a sense of community, connection, and belonging. Little research exists on the impact of drama therapy on incarcerated youth; therefore, this thesis provides guidance on the creation of drama therapy programs for incarcerated youth. The research is divided into three main sections: (a) drama therapy in juvenile detention centers; (b) drama therapy for youth in schools and other settings; and (c) expressive therapies in juvenile detention centers. This examination of the impact of drama therapy interventions on youth in other settings, such as schools and hospitals, reveals effective …

Incorporating Stand-Up Comedy In Drama Therapy As A Narrative Model, Mario Dávila

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Stand-up comedy is the purposeful use of humor while telling personal thoughts, experiences, and vulnerabilities to an audience. This literature review will explore what constitutes humor, its benefits to psychotherapy, how it exists in drama therapy, applications of narrative therapy, and applying stand-up comedy to drama therapy. By combining stand-up comedy and drama therapy, the author will argue how this combination can provide an additional viewpoint for drama therapy techniques and an alternative and therapeutic aspect to stand-up comedy.

The Use Of Role Theory And Method To Support Expanding College Athletes Role Repertoire: A Literature Review, Danielle Gervais

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

College student athletes tend to prioritize the role of athlete versus the role of student due to positive early life responses to their athletic pursuits (Menke & Germany, 2019). When the collegiate athlete then retires and/or graduates, they are at an increased likelihood of suffering negative psychological symptoms and/or an identity crisis now that the role of athlete is no longer relevant to their identity. Drama therapy’s role theory and method, an embodied form of therapy that focuses on identity formation and development in a less verbal and more expressive way, could potentially be used as a preventative treatment in …

Flexibility And Fusion: A Method To Expand The Window Of Tolerance For Clients With Eating Disorders, Mimi Richmond

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Due to the complex etiology and treatment challenges of eating disorders, researchers continue to explore multidisciplinary, experiential approaches that target the experiential avoidance and psychological inflexibility that are often at the heart of the disorders’ resistant nature. With flexibility woven into its core processes, drama therapy is an embodied and relational approach that is emerging as an effective treatment modality for this population. This project illustrates ways drama therapy can widen the windows of tolerance for clients locked in the rigidity of an eating disorder. A group therapy method which flips the traditional developmental progression of drama therapy interventions is …

Racial Equity For Registered Drama Therapists: A Community Engagement Project, Jamila Batts Capitman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Mental health professionals are currently faced with an increased need to meet the demands of clients of color who are disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Disparities in mental health care for people of color are an ongoing problem stemming from the fact that Western Psychology, the dominant approach to mental health care, is limited by the Eurocentric Worldview. Practitioners who intend to create inclusive therapeutic approaches must consider the unique cultural orientations and historical, social and political realities of clients of color. As of 2021, The North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA) requires that 50% of all continuing …

A Review Of Integrated Embodied Therapies And Racial Healing In Public Schools, Grace Fosler

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Anti-Black racism lies in the social, political, and economic foundations of the United States of America. Race and racism are manifestations of unhealed generational trauma that negatively impact the minds and bodies of all Americans. Black children are exposed to institutional and interpersonal racism upon entering the public school system, leading many Black students to experience discrimination and segregation, exclusionary discipline, and juvenile entry into the Prison-Industrial Complex. Educators have a unique opportunity to engage in individual and collective racial healing while fostering social change and collective healing in students. An integrated approach of individualized coaching and group embodiment, dance/movement …

Language As The Medium: A Literature Review. Harnessing The Prolific Power Of Dramatic Language As A Therapeutic Tool In Drama Therapy, Edward Freeman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Language in and of the theatre, with its palate of variegated writing styles and playwrights from throughout time, has the potential to be harnessed, focused, and systematized for use as a therapeutic tool within drama therapy – the field’s artistic medium. Drama therapy could benefit from having a specific medium germane to its artform which has the potential to provide practitioners with a common resource and means of communication, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning, as well as align the field with other creative arts therapies. Language encompasses all forms of human communication – speaking, writing, signing, gesturing, expressing facially – …

How The Expressive Therapies Continuum Informs Intermodal Transfers, Erin M.L. Little

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Expressive arts therapy (ExAT) is a therapeutic approach that incorporates visual art, music, drama, and dance/movement into the counseling environment. An essential element in ExAT practice is the intermodal transfer, an intentional shift between arts modalities to enhance clients’ understanding and realization. Currently, no theoretical guidelines for intermodal transfers exist in the field of ExAT. In search of a theoretical structure, the author of this Capstone Thesis proposed that the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) informed intermodal transfers. Predominantly presented as an art therapy approach, the ETC originally intended to include all expressive therapies. Yet, there is minimal recent literature that …

Drama Therapy For Actor Training Programs, Emily Faith

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This review synthesizes the literature on the mental health trends and developmental stages of student actors in university theatre programs and the mental health issues they may suffer because of their field of training. I then review the potential negative impacts of COVID-19. Special attention is paid to drama therapy techniques to weave into college and university theatre programs to mitigate mental health concerns invoked by training.

The Effectiveness Of Build-A-Bop As A Tool To Build Self-Efficacy On An Inpatient Unit, Keynessa Nazaire

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explored Build-A-Bop, an original intervention that utilizes elements of drama therapy, music therapy, and Hip-Hop therapy with adults who have been admitted to an adult inpatient short-term unit. Research has shown that hip hop therapy and drama therapy are effective approaches in an adult short-term psychiatric unit (Keisari & Palgi, 2017). This paper presents the foundation for Build-A-Bop and explored its capacity to encourage self-efficacy with adults in an inpatient psychiatric unit. For the purposes of this thesis, Build-A-Bop was broken into four different groups, where each group activity was run by a single drama therapist, who was …

Motherhood: The Role Of A Lifetime, Amy Larson Mcguirk

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

A mother is thought of only in relation to another person. When a woman becomes a mother, her identify changes. As early as pregnancy, a woman’s brain makes a massive shift in order to care for her child. She loses parts of herself, not only how she will identify, but biologically, she begins to lose some of the gray matter in her brain; all of this begins to be stripped away as the woman becomes the mother (Caruso, 2016). A mother has certain qualities which make her a mother; but aside from having a child, there are not very many …

Theatre Crawl: A Series Of Community Engagement Projects, Anna Rich

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis will focus on Theatre Crawl, a devised and immersive theatre experience grounded in the techniques of drama therapy. Beginning as a creative outlet for drama therapy graduate students at Lesley University, Theatre Crawl has provided performance opportunities for students to exercise the creative and theatrical skills which initially brought many of them to the field of drama therapy. From April 2018 to January 2020, four Theatre Crawl events have been facilitated. All events originated from the belief that providing opportunities for drama therapists to engage in personal art-making is an essential practice for the field of drama therapy …

Reclaiming Metaphor; Myths, Monsters, And Narratives With Lgbtq+ Adolescents In Drama Therapy, Christina Dennis

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper will present a synthesis of existing available research on the unique needs of the LGBTQ+ adolescent community within the field of drama therapy with a specific focus on Narradrama and Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth approach to mythology. The literature review of these subjects will be aimed at the future use of Monomyth in conjunction with Narradrama with LGBTQ+ adolescents who are experiencing identity issues and other crises associated with their status as members of the queer community. This literature review will aim to create a base of collated research to aid in future method interventions using mythology and heightened …

Purposeful Play: A Literature Review Of Play Therapy And Projective Techniques Of Drama Therapy, Rachel Rudel

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Both play therapy and drama therapy are forms of expressive arts therapies that utilize storytelling, imagination, and play to promote healing through a therapeutic lens. Throughout history, both fields have interacted with projection through both assessment, research, and storytelling. In drama therapy, the movement from classification of expressive techniques (Lindzey, 1959) to the concept of ‘projective techniques’ is distinctive due to its use of objects such as miniatures and masks to project story (Dunne, 2009). This literature review will explore theories of play therapy and core processes of drama therapy while discussing the similarities and differences of how they interact …

Expressive Arts Therapy In Performance As Trauma Work For Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities: A Community Engagement Project, Lucy Farmer

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

People diagnosed with an intellectual disability (ID) are at a substantially higher risk of experiencing trauma than typically abled individuals. In addition, the nature of ID makes it especially difficult to cope and access treatment. The goal of this research was to examine how expressive arts therapy can support treating this population for trauma. Information was gathered on Trauma-Informed Care, Psychodrama, Drama Therapy, Interactive Behavioral Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and The Storytelling Method. This investigation led to a community engagement project between August 2019-February 2020 that involved the researcher meeting one-on-one with nine individuals diagnosed with ID. A …

What’S Emergent? A Literature Review Of Thirdness And The Guide In Drama Therapy, Kathleen D. Moye

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis engages two concepts in conversation: thirdness, which is a quality, awareness, or point of reference between two people in a relationship (Benjamin, 2004), developed within relational and intersubjective systems theories; and drama therapy’s guide from Landy’s role theory, a role in a story that emerges between two other roles and brings balance, perspective, and growth (Landy, 2008, 2009). Both are referenced as essential components of the therapeutic relationship. This thesis is a review of the literature on relational, intersubjective systems, and role theories, focusing on how theorists conceptualize the way a person interacts in relationship to others, the …

The Queer Expansion Of Role Theory: A Drama Therapy Intervention With Lgbtq+ Adults, Abigail Truax

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

There is currently a lack of information in understanding LGBTQ+ specific needs in mental health care, thus creating a marginalized space in which queer people are significantly more dissatisfied with mental health treatment as opposed to heterosexual and cisgender people seeking treatment (Avery, Hellman & Sudderth, 2001). This thesis will focus on the development of a method in which I will expand upon Robert Landy’s role theory and create a drama therapy role intervention crafted specifically for the queer population and their needs. Because of oppression within the LGBTQ+ community my focus will be on expanding role theory and its …

Unlocking Recovery: A Role-Informed Drama Therapy Method For Adults With Addictions, Grace Rossman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This Capstone Thesis Project discusses the creation and implementation of a drama therapy method with adults receiving treatment for substance use disorders at an intensive outpatient level of care. Disidentifying from the role of Addict proves a difficult task when this identity is reinforced by widespread social stigma, permanent changes to the brain’s reward system, and a system of criminalization resulting in financial and political disenfranchisement. A drama therapy framework, Robert Landy’s Role Theory, and a trauma treatment framework, Janina Fisher’s Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment, were used as grounding theories from which to create a method intended to help clients with …