Drama Psychotherapy And Psychosis

This work explores the use of drama and theatre in the challenging area of working with people who hear voices, focusing especially on survivors of abuse and those diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia.

This book concerns psychotherapeutic aspects of a Dramatherapy Performance for people with schizophrenia as well as a new evaluation of this therapeutic method. It includes the full Ph.D. thesis of the author, approved by the University of Hertfordshire in 2002, parts of which have been published in Greek and International Journals thereafter. References are revised for this edition, to include updates of publications till 2016. The aim of this publication is to offer a source of knowledge to all those interested in the fields of drama, psychotherapy and the social sciences, as well as in the areas that interconnect them. Furthermore, it can be a helpful tool for researchers, professionals and students specializing in the arts therapies.

Therapeutic Communities for Psychosis offers a uniquely global insight into the renewed interest in the use of therapeutic communities for the treatment of psychosis, as complementary to pharmacological treatment. Within this edited volume contributors from around the world look at the range of treatment programmes on offer in therapeutic communities for those suffering from psychosis. Divided into three parts, the book covers: the historical and philosophical background of therapeutic communities and the treatment of psychosis in this context treatment settings and clinical models alternative therapies and extended applications. This book will be essential reading for all mental health professionals, targeting readers from a number of disciplines including psychiatry, psychology, social work, psychotherapy and group analysis.

As part of the overall growing interest in the rehabilitation of people with mental illness in the 1980s, therapy through drama was being seen increasingly as a significant aspect of therapeutic programmes. While the subject of remedial drama for people with disabilities was reasonably well documented, originally published in 1983, this was the first book to address the topic applied to psychiatric patients (or clients). The book is intended to be practical throughout and keeps jargon to a minimum. It is not written for professional or student dramatherapists alone, but is aimed as much at occupational therapists, nurses, social workers, psychiatrists and psychologists who are all involved in rehabilitation of people with mental illness. Topics discussed include referral by the psychiatrist, and general and specific approaches to dramatherapy. In addition, practical application is given to particular groups such as elderly people and those with schizophrenia.

Dramatherapy uses the healing aspects of drama and theatre as part of the therapeutic process and is increasingly required to supply evidence of its effectiveness. This book aims to provide an evidence base for practice with destructive clients, and raise the profile of dramatherapy as a distinct therapeutic intervention in this field. Dramatherapy and Destructiveness discusses working with those suffering from conduct disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia and personality disorders. Divided into three parts, topics of discussion include: theory and research underpinning the understanding of working with destructiveness in-depth case studies of dramatherapy with a wide range of clients analysis and evaluation of the evidence base for dramatherapy with these clients guidelines for best practice Dramatherapy and Destructiveness covers a wide range of client groups, settings, methods and therapeutic approaches. As well as being an invaluable resource for dramatherapists, this book will be of interest to other therapists, health professionals, social workers, teachers and artists.

Beginning with a history of dramatherapy, Salvo Pitruzzella goes on to examine the issues of identity, and the mediation between the internal and external worlds.

`The book is well researched and provides a solid overview′ - Therapy Today `Dorothy Langley′s book offers a valuable overview of dramatherapy in all its applications. It provides evidence of many years′ work as a teacher and practitioner. It is both clear and readable, and will serve as a useful introduction to this unique therapeutic approach for people in other healing professions, particularly psychiatry, as well as for the general reader′ - Roger Grainger, Senior Practitioner on the Register of Psychologists Specialising in Psychotherapy, and State Registered Arts Therapist, Drama An Introduction to Dramatherapy is a concise introduction to the background, theory and practice of a method of therapy which uses the dramatic process to help people during times of stress, emotional upheaval, illness or disability. Illustrated throughout with vivid examples from dramatherapy sessions, the book shows how drama can be used in an intentional and directional way to achieve constructive change with individuals or groups. In particular, the book highlights the power of drama as a therapeutic medium because of its foundations in metaphor, power which can be harnessed through the use of techniques such as role play, enactment, story-telling and the use of puppets and masks. An Introduction to Dramatherapy provides a welcome overview for readers who are new to the field and an excellent starting point for further study.

The author shows how drama therapy draws on both drama and ritual. He argues that personal construct theory provides a hermeneutically useful approach to the study of drama therapy. He shows that drama therapy itself is an effective treatment for depression and schizophrenia, having a measurable effect on thought disorder; he thus tries to be as definite as possible about a subject which resists the 'scientific' apporach, and he is concerned not only to think rationally about drama therapy, but to examine the specific relationship between rational thought and artistic experience which allows the second to act as the mediator of the first. In Part One, the author investigates the therapeutic origins of theatre before moving on to the part played by drama in psychological maturation, leading to a discussion of depression, thought disorder and schizophrenia and the role of drama therapy in their treatment. Part Two examines the drama therapy experience and the ways in which the therapeutic possiblities of drama can be harnessed, both in improvised dramatic episodes and in theatre games, to achieve a wide range of therapeutic goals.