dramatherapy? Psychodrama?

[HV Psychodrama]

Thank you for your overview, Saphira. I am going to try to combine it with what Adam wrote, and distil it down into a single paragraph to put on my website, if that is OK with you.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: SaphiraL at aol.com 
  To: adam at blatner.com ; hvpi at hvc.rr.com 
  Cc: list at grouptalkweb.org 
  Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2009 1:29 PM
  Subject: Re: dramatherapy? Psychodrama?


  Dear Colleagues,
  I so appreciate this question Rebecca. I also appreciated Adam's detailed perspective about the differences between psychodrama and drama therapy. This is a question I deal with continually as a Board Certified Trainer of Drama Therapy who, as a psychodramatist as well, has trained countless numbers of students about this difference. Since working with the Morenos in the late 1960s, I have a strong fondness and appreciation of psychodrama and it has always played a major role in my drama therapy trainings:

  The short answer I give is: Psychodrama was the first of what became Expressive Arts Therapies later. (I appreciate that some psychodramatists don't identify as an expressive arts therapist). After psychodrama was developed, art therapy, dance therapy, music therapy, sound healing, poetry therapy evolved, each with their own professional credentialing organizations. Three decades ago, it was felt by several psychologists, psychotherapists, and others, who used other drama modalities in their practices, that there needed to be a broader field that included psychodrama as a base modality, while adding other forms of theater and drama to their clinical work. This includes many forms of improvisation, creative drama and theater games, creative journaling, music, self scripting, self revelatory theater (which we call Transformational Theater, that works with the autobiographical material of the student toward transformation and healing). I would also add that I have trained several people who came to me as psychologists, social workers, teachers, nurses, clergy, management trainers and other kinds of therapists, who wanted to integrate more drama into their practices. In order to be credentialed as a Drama Therapist (RDT), a person has to have a Masters degree in a psychology or theater related field. Everyone has required psychology courses. It is true, as Adam points out, that the majority of students began as theater students and professionals, wanting to use their gifts in the service of healing, but there are far more psychotherapists, who have come for the training than perhaps is known. 

  On a personal note, I have been a strong advocate within our professional organization (NADT) that drama therapy students should be required to take more psychodrama training than is now required. In our program, they do. Similarly, as a CP/PAT one of my hopes is to have more dialogue between the two organizations and more cooperation in terms of supporting very experienced Drama Therapists, who have been experienced in psychodrama, directing for many years, to be recognized and encouraged with less required hours for credentialing. Similarly, I believe very experienced psychodramatists should be more easily able to be credentialed as an RDT. For example, just as I experienced other art forms being used as warm ups in Zerka's training workshop last year, (doing movement to a chosen card, each of which had images), I believe it is so important to all be open to develop our skills in every way possible. I feel that our combined field is small, within the psychology world and there should be ways that we could be more mutually supportive in expanding the work and the field, while keeping our individual identities.

  Thanks for the opportunity to respond Rebecca. I hope this helps.
  Saphira Linden  

  For more information contact:
  Omega Theater at 617-522-8300 or email: info at omegatheater.org
  Omega Transpersonal Drama Therapy Certificate Program
  On the web: http://www.omegatheater.org/
  41 Greenough Ave,
  Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 (In Boston)




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