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What is Drama Therapy?

Psychiatrist Dr. J.L. Moreno first developed Drama Therapy in 1925 (Thinkquest). Drama therapy, according to the British Association of Dramatherapists, “has its main focus on the intentional use of the healing aspects of drama and their therapeutic process. It is a method of working and playing that uses action methods to facilitate creativity, imagination, learning, insight, and growth.” In other words Drama Therapy uses dramatic techniques to deal with emotional and or psychological problems. This will help the patient let out their emotions on the dramatic script rather then people. In psychodrama the patient is the "protagonist." The therapist serves many times as the "director.” Other group members play other roles. The purpose of this setting is to enable the patient to directly interact with humans, acting out his/her internal conflict.

Becoming a Drama Therapist

Psychodrama is becoming increasingly popular. The Drama Therapy Program at New York University prepares students at the Master's level for a career as a drama therapist. In the US, the governing body is the National Association for Drama Therapy (NADT), which establishes guidelines for the RDT (Registered Drama Therapist) accreditation. In the UK, the governing body is the British Association of Dramatherapists (BADth). In India the following organizations are doing voluntary service aided by public funds: http://www.schoolofdramatherapy.in/ in South India and http://www.chilsag.com/?page_id=141 in Delhi

Nisha Sajnani

Nisha Sajnani is the director of the Drama Therapy/Psychodrama program at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts and an alumnus of the Harvard Refugee Trauma Program. She was the former director of Drama Therapy and Community Health at the Post Traumatic Stress Center in New Haven, CT. She has also been on faculty at the Institute for the Arts in Psychotherapy (NYC) and at Yale University. To know more about her and her work click here.
 

Text by: Students of St Marks School

Photo of Nisha Sajnani: Obtained from http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/ with permission
from Sajnani via email.

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Works Cited

British Association of Dramatherapists. "Welcome." The British Association of Dramatherapists. British Association of Dramatherapists, 2013.

Web. 20 Mar. 2013. .http://badth.org.uk/.

Chilsag. "Drama Therapy Centre." Chilsag. Chilsag, 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2013. http://www.chilsag.com/?page_id=141.

Sahnani, Nisha. "Drama Therapy Faculty: Nisha Sajnani - People - Drama Therapy - NYU Steinhardt." Drama Therapy Faculty: Nisha Sajnani. New York

University, 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2013. http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/dramatherapy/people/faculty/sajnani.

ThinkQuest. "Theater in Health Care and Sports." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.

http://library.thinkquest.org/21722/health care and sports.html.

Wikipedia. "Drama Therapy." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drama_therapy.

Boglári Általános Iskola
Balatonboglár. Hungary

Percy Julian Middle School
Oak Park, Illinois USA

ST Marks School
New Delhi, India