What is dramatherapy anyway? And 5 ways it can help you!

“You’re a what?”

This is usually the next line in a conversation where I’ve been asked what it is I do for a living.  So you’re not alone in not having a clue what a dramatherapist is.

“But what is it?”

Usually the follow up question.  I have tried a thousand ways to put it into lay terms but usually for people who actually weren’t that interested anyway.

But you’re here because you are interested.

Which is nice isn’t it?  When someone makes the choice to listen to what you have to say, is interested in it, and when the focus is on you.

Because let’s face it, most people don’t feel they’re anything special.  Therefore, what they’re feeling isn’t anything special.

But I don’t think that.

I absolutely love hearing people talk about themselves, their lives, their voices, their stories.  Which is a good job as it’s essentially what I do for a living as a dramatherapist!

So maybe not so hard to understand after all!

 

But what can dramatherapy do for you?

I’m guessing you’re here because you are curious about dramatherapy or maybe you’ve been thinking about having counselling.  Perhaps you’ve been struggling, felt a bit down.  Perhaps although you have family and friends you can talk to, this feels a bit too personal or maybe shameful.

Talking is a fabulous way to communicate but it is not the only way.  We use other forms of communication all the time, so I suppose dramatherapy is essentially different, creative ways of communicating.

So as a dramatherapist, I’m interested in what you have to say creatively.

  • It might be the way you move
  • It might be the image you put to the feeling
  • It might be the part of your body holding the tension
  • It might be the character you most relate to

It’s often what you don’t say.  And sometimes that can be the best communication of all.  Because you can just be you, not what you think you should be.

 

Five ways dramatherapy can help you

1 – Dramatherapy is a place for stories. Don’t think you have a story to tell?  What did you do yesterday?  Or last week? Always stories.  Bring them to your therapy session and let them, and your voice, be heard.

2 – Or use someone else’s story. In drama we often take on other roles as a way of experiencing the world in different ways.  In the therapy space other roles can be safely explored.

3 – Dramatherapy takes the body into account. Did you know the mind and body are connected?  We often think of the ‘mind’ in therapy but the body holds much of our trauma, our feelings and our needs.  Find out what those body ‘aches’ mean for you.

4 – Dramatherapy offers another perspective. Not sure how to describe your feelings?  Put them into an image or picture.  This can be done in your mind or on paper.  Now put some words to the image.

5 – Dramatherapy is not about drama as acting, but drama as doing. Drama is taken from the Greek word drao, which means ‘to-do.’ By doing you are experiencing, exploring possibilities and processing the feelings that emerge.

 

It is about bringing and being yourself, free from judgement.

Use the therapy space to help you with any anxieties or stresses you feel.  Use it as a place where you can breathe, take on another role, dive into a story, put pencils to paper, play or move your body.

I set up Mums the Word Therapy because, as a dramatherapist, I have made the choice to listen to you and I am interested in what you have to say.

Now you need to make the choice to have the focus on you.

 

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