How can we as professionals work deeply with the grief of our clients when words are not enough? This experiential module offers one novel answer in the form of drama therapy techniques adapted for individual and group bereavement interventions.
Dramatic actions in therapy help bring to life invisible dimensions of the experience that cannot be expressed in the real life. Through movements, voice, gestures and text, individuals can express their inner voices, conduct a dialogue that cannot happen in real-life, and move without space and time limitation over the whole course of life (to a childhood memory or future events). The flexibility and spontaneity of the dramatic action as the main component of these techniques encourages new meanings and perspectives to co-evolve. In this way, the creative process allows individuals to explore alternative versions of their stories, fostering meaning reconstruction.
The module will present drama therapy techniques that are used to process losses with grieving adults, both in individual and group therapy. The dramatic techniques have additional unique contributions while processing non-death losses and unfinished business. Case studies accompanied by videos will introduce and illustrate the basic components of the dramatic work. Then learners will experience and experiment with the drama therapy techniques of chair work, voicing, and embodied enactments for individual grief therapy, which support the process of meaning reconstruction and reaffirmation of a continuing bond.
