Trauma-Informed Drama Therapy: Transforming Clinics, Classrooms, and Communities

This book examines how drama therapists conceptualize and respond to relational and systemic trauma across systems of care including mental health clinics, schools, and communities burdened by historical and current wounds. The chapters in this book offer drama therapists compelling examples of emerging models of trauma-informed drama therapy, as well as offering experienced practitioners the opportunity to question the assumptions made by prevailing paradigms that underlie our practice. The introductory chapters review the influence and history of trauma theory and treatment on drama therapy, followed by two sections: The first presents readers with seven emerging approaches and the second section offers detailed applications to specific populations, ending with a meta-analysis of drama therapy in the treatment of trauma. This ground-breaking book will also be useful for creative arts therapists, mental health professionals, educators, students and for many others interested in the role of the drama and performance in the treatment of trauma.This book examines how drama therapists conceptualize and respond to relational and systemic trauma across systems of care including mental health clinics, schools, and communities burdened by historical and current wounds. The chapters in this book offer drama therapists compelling examples of emerging models of trauma-informed drama therapy, as well as offering experienced practitioners the opportunity to question the assumptions made by prevailing paradigms that underlie our practice. The introductory chapters review the influence and history of trauma theory and treatment on drama therapy, followed by two sections: The first presents readers with seven emerging approaches and the second section offers detailed applications to specific populations, ending with a meta-analysis of drama therapy in the treatment of trauma. This ground-breaking book will also be useful for creative arts therapists, mental health professionals, educators, students and for many others interested in the role of the drama and performance in the treatment of trauma.