New York : Drama Therapy Conference

National Association for Drama Therapy (NADT) Conference in New York

A few weeks ago, I attended the Drama Therapy conference held in White Plains, New York. As the previous Drama therapy conferences which I had attended both in the USA and UK, it was an amazing experience. It exceeded my expectations. As there are only two drama therapist in Malaysia, it is always wonderful to be surrounded by other colleagues in the same field and share ideas and insights about our work.

I felt that I had gained a lot in from this conference, not only in expanding the skills and knowledge which I had acquired in the various wonderful workshops which I had attended but also connecting with people both working in the USA and in the other parts of the world.

The title of the conference is ‘Finding Home: Pathways to Belonging’…

I have to say, that my whole trip to New York was an amazingly, wonderful experience. When I first arrived at the immigration, the immigration officer started by asking what I was doing in the USA… the usual question.. Then when I said that I was going to attend and present for a drama therapy conference, he began to share that he does acting part-time, and how he enjoys the process. He also shared that he has a degree in psychology and that he used to be a police officer previously and had to sometime deal with law offenders who had mental health challenges. I then realized that our conversation was taking up time and keeping the others in line waiting and said goodbye. I felt at home at that time… It is quite unexpected, because I suppose, whenever I am in immigration, the thought which is dominant is ‘Have all your documents, answer all their questions and do not irritate them because they have the say whether you get to stay or leave in the next flight’.

The next time I felt at home was when I met the two people whom I was sharing my hotel room with. We have been in touch via email for several months. It was lovely to finally meet them in person.

It was easy from then on to feel very much at home amongst other drama therapists and artists, throughout the conference. One of the evenings, I presented a performance titled ‘The Home Within’ which was a combination of dance and monologue about my journey as a pioneer of Drama therapy in Malaysia. It was about the triumphs and the challenges of working as a drama therapist in Malaysia and realizing at the end, that I may never find a place which I can call home, especially as a drama therapist, but at the end if I feel that I am home within myself, as who I am as a person, and in my work, I will always be home, wherever I am, both in my career and in my Self.

I felt honored with the audience I had for my performance. As a performer, I felt such encouragement and closeness to the audience during my performance. After which many of them had graciously stayed back to speak to me and congratulate me on my performance.

I also presented among other drama therapists who work internationally in a panel discussion about Drama Therapy abroad, where we shared with our audience, our experience working in the field of drama therapy in different parts of the world where it may be still a new field.
I found all of the workshops very helpful and enlightening. With the permission of the participants and the facilitator, I have included a few pictures of a workshop on Playback Theatre, which was one of my favourite workshops during the conference.


To be continued…(more pictures will be added in the next few days)