Routledge International Handbook of Dramatherapy is the first book of its kind to bring together leading professionals and academics from around the world to discuss their practice from a truly international perspective. Dramatherapy has developed as a profession during the latter half of the twentieth century. Now, we are beginning to see its universal reach across the globe in a range of different and diverse approaches. From Australia, to Korea to the Middle East and Africa through Europe and into North & South America dramatherapists are developing a range of working practices using the curative power of drama within a therapeutic context to work with diverse and wide ranging populations.
Using traditional texts in the Indian sub-continent, healing performances in the Cameroon, supporting conflict in Israel and Palestine, through traditional Comedic theatre in Italy, to adolescents in schools and adults with mental ill health, this handbook covers a range of topics that shows the breadth, depth and strength of dramatherapy as a developing and maturing profession. It is divided into four main sections that look at the current international:
Developments in dramatherapy
Theoretical approaches
Specific practice
New and innovative approaches
Offering insights on embodiment, shamanism, anthropology and cognitive approaches coupled with a range of creative, theatrical and therapeutic methods, this ground breaking book is the first congruent analysis of the profession. It will appeal to a wide and diverse international community of educators, academics, practitioners, students, training schools and professionals within the arts, arts education and arts therapies communities. Additionally it will be of benefit to teachers and departments in charge of pastoral and social care within schools and colleges.
Table of Contents:
Grainger, Preface. Jennings, Foreword. Section I: International Developments in Dramatherapy. Section Introduction. Park, The Development of Korean Drama Therapy. Chang, The Development of Dramatherapy in Taiwan. Chabukswar, Balsara, Arts Based Therapy (ABT) in Contemporary India. Bayley, Embodying Ramayana: The Drama Within. Animbom Ngong, Culture and Mental health: An Evaluation of Esie Performance as a Community-Based Approach of Dramatherapy in Cameroon. Serb, Cernea, Bridge Over Troubled Waters - Play Can Break the Mask of Silence. Gaines, Butler, The History, Trends, and Future of North American Drama Therapy. Section II: Internationalism & Theoretical Approaches. Section Introduction. Gersie, Dramatherapists Believe That They Must be Both Artist and Therapist’ – An Exploration. Jones, How do Dramatherapists Understand Client Change? A Review of the ‘Core Processes’ at Work. Emunah, Instilling Cultural Competence in (the Raising of) Drama Therapists. Chesner, Creative Integration in Practice. Dokter, Embodiment in Dramatherapy. Casson, Shamanism, Theatre and Dramatherapy. Jennings, From Brains to Bottoms: The Preoccupations of the Very Young and the Very Old. Sajnani, A Critical Aesthetic Paradigm Drama Therapy: Aesthetic Distance, Action, and Meaning Making in the Service of Diversity and Social Justice. Holmwood, Dramatherapy & Theatre Current Inter-Disciplinary Discourses. Kidd, The Brain as Collaborator in Dramatherapy Practise. Smail, Open Sesame and the Soul Cave. Section III: Internationalism & Specific Practice. Section Introduction. Zoabi, Damouni, The Contribution of Dramatherapy to the Reconnection of Abused Palestinian Females with Their Bodies and Feelings. Macfarlane, Drowning … but waving – Children Today. Mussa, ‘I am a Black Flower’ The Use of Rituals in Drama-Therapy Work With a Special Education Class in Arab-Israeli Society. Weber, Haen, Drama Therapy from an Attachment Framework with Teens. Mann Shaw, Stevie and The Little Dinosaur A Story of Assessment in Dramatherapy. Valenta, Listiakova, Evaluation of Dramatherapeutical Process for Clients With Neurotic Disorder. Dror Hadar, Sparks of hope - Dramatherapy with Terminal Patients. Janniste, Life stage and human development in Dramatherapy with People who have Dementia. Section IV: Internationalism New & Innovative Approaches. Introduction. Pitruzzella, The Dramatherapy Comedia, Improvisation, Creativity and Person-Making. Kyriacou, Spagyric Dramatherapy© - A Transcendental Perspective. Schrader, Breaking Through the Walls of Shyness Overcoming Shyness, Self-Consciousness and Social Anxiety Through Dramatherapy. Pendzik, Dramatherapy and the Feminist Tradition. Mazaris, Yogadrama- ‘As if I were a Mountain’. Mitchell, Ritual Theatre in Short-term Dramatherapy. Schuchner, Meditation and Drama Therapy. Holmwood, Afterwards. Appendix.
About the Author :
Sue Jennings PhD is a Play and Dramatherapist, social anthropologist and author. She has pioneered Dramatherapy in the UK, Greece, Israel, Czech Republic and Romania. She has established 'Neuro-Dramatic-Play' and 'Embodiment-Projection-Role' as a basis for understanding both attachment and dramatic development across cultures. She was Visiting Professor at HELP University, Kuala Lumpur, and is President of the Romanian Association for Play Therapy and Dramatherapy. Sue is a prolific author of 40 books (six by Routledge) and many chapters and is currently preparing her selected works for publication by Routledge. Her PhD thesis was published as Theatre, Ritual and Transformation: The Senoi Temiars, by Routledge, in 1995.
Clive Holmwood PhD is a Dramatherapist with 20 years' experience working with children and adults in the public, private and voluntary sectors. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Dramatherapy and Deputy Programme Leader in Creative Expressive Therapies at the University of Derby and a Director of Creative Solutions Therapy Ltd. He gained his PhD from the University of Warwick, and his thesis was published by Routledge in 2014 as Drama Education and Dramatherapy – exploring the space between disciplines.
Review :
'The International Handbook of Dramatherapy, edited by Clive Holmwood and Sue Jennings, is a vital addition to the growing literature in drama therapy. Not only do we hear the voices of key pioneers in the field, but we also hear new voices from Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, North and South America. Given the wide breadth and scope of the old and the new, the field of drama therapy spreads its wings even wider into a global world greatly in need of its poetic medicine.' - Robert J. Landy, Ph.D., RDT-BCT, LCAT, Professor of Educational Theatre and Applied Psychology, Director, Drama Therapy Program
