Tuesday, February 4, 2014


DRAMATHERAPY SKILLS TRAINING WORKSHOP: MODULE 1
by Vanitha Chandrasegaram






What is Dramatherapy?

Dramatherapy comes under the umbrella of Creative Arts Therapies. It utilizes various creative activities to get clients/participants to express and work through their problems/issues.
Creative Arts Therapies is a projective method, which uses  artistic expressions and play as mediums which reflects the events, emotions or state of the mind of the client/participant. The act of doing anything artistic and creative can be in itself therapeutic. Therefore it makes sense to use these tools, giving it a clear structure and boundaries to use it as a form of therapy.

Dramatherapy allows the client/participants to express and work on difficult concerns at a safe distance via the use of the space and the idea of fiction and pretense, which is in theater and drama.
The activities in this workshop will include drama games, movements, role play, story making  and acting

** Dramatherapy is different than Psychodrama.



Objective:
The aim of this workshop is
  • To teach participants the tools and methods used in Dramatherapy which may be incorporated  in the  practice/work situations.
  • To provide awareness of how creative arts is used in therapy.
  • To provide skills and tools which can be incorporated in Personal Development Programs and workshops.
  • To provide insights on how creative expressions allow the unconscious/subconscious to express itself.
  • To help understand the creative expression and use the information and work using the creative tools to help clients/individuals to create solutions to the challenges they encounter.
  • To have fun in the process J



Who Should Attend?
·         Mental health practitioners such as Counselors, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Social Workers to add on to their tools used in their existing practice.
·         Artists(Actors, Dancers, Visual Artists, Musicians)  who would like to experience and gain some understanding on how the arts is being utilized  in the field of psychotherapy to help understand oneself and others better. It provides an insight of  what else artistic expressions can do, besides being a medium of expression and/or performance.
·         Teachers and those who work with children, adolescents, adults, elderly and in the personal development fields will also benefit by being able to utilize these fun yet profoundly impactful and insightful skills and techniques in their work.
·         Parents who would like to understand and utilize some of the activities in interacting and to have a deeper connection with their children.
·         University /College students, especially those in the field of psychology and performing arts and other adults who are curious



What Would Participants Gain from the Workshop?
  • Skills and knowledge to incorporate tools and methods used in Dramatherapy in their practice/work.
  • Awareness of how creative arts is used in therapy and how it works
  • A certificate of participation.
  • Become more in touch with their creative self
  • Lots of fun!
Outline of Module:
  1. Introduction to Creative Arts Therapies(CAT) and Dramatherapy – concepts, theories and ideas of CAT & Dramatherapy
  2. Getting to know yourself and others – Creating a Safe Space and Group Dynamics
  3. The Stories of Life – Various tools of story making and ways of exploration
  4. Reminiscing, being in the Present and the Dreams of the Future – understanding the thread that connects our life story and the possibility of positive transformation.
** Activities such as movements, dance, voice projections, role play, acting and story making will be used in this workshop.


Facilitator: Vanitha Chandrasegaram (MA Dramatherapy,UK; MSc Psychology, USA;  Member of NADTA,USA;) Pioneer and one of the only two qualified and practicing  Dramatherapist in Malaysia. Nine years of experience practicing Dramatherapy in the UK and Malaysia in settings such as Mental Hospitals and wads, NGOs, Universities. She has conducted Dramatherapy Awareness and Skills Training workshops in India and in Malaysia. Her experience includes working with individuals and groups who has experienced abuse, learning disabilities, mental health, emotional, relationship challenges and various other life challenges. She has worked with individuals and groups ranging from 3 to 90 years old. She has also headed a  home for over 70 underprivileged children from ages 4 to 16.  She has presented in Dramatherapy Conferences in UK and the USA.  Her work has been published in professional journals in the UK, and in a book titled “Drama as Therapy” 2nd ed., by Phil Jones. She had also lectured in various colleges and universities and taught Theatre for Seniors at for the U3A (University for the 3rd Age) at UPM.  Her passions also include dancing and playing the flute.