Talk:Drama therapy

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Disclaimer..[edit]

I have re-included the disclaimer about scientific efficacy of drama therapy. Thanks. "The guy in blue."

I like the change to "like any new form of therapy..." to raise scientific questions about the efficacy of Drama Therapy. I bet, though, that many would say Drama Therapy is not exactly new. But - probably splitting hairs. "The guy in blue"
Drama therapy is not new, although not as 'old' as other CAT's (creative arts therapies) there are MANY journal articles in The Arts in Psychotherapy relating to the efficacy of drama therapy in various populations. -"a drama therapist"

Scientific efficacy[edit]

During my rewriting of this piece I removed this paragragh:

The therapeutic efficacy of Drama Therapy has not yet been proven scientifically. Some contend, however, that it is virtually impossible to scientifically prove the efficacy of any psychotherapeutic modality, new or old. They argue that the variables are simply too vast, infinite in fact, making a controlled experiment impossible. In fact, the efficacy of several scientifically-based therapies, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, has been well established as one of the most effective forms of treatment for many mental illnesses. Drama Therapy or other Creative Arts Therapies, not unlike Psychoanalysis, may elude scientific validation as the goals and methods of the modality is fundamentally based in art, not science.

This sounds like original research to me, and seems to be generally off-topic to an encylopedic entry. Leontes 20:48, 10 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Merge with Applied Drama[edit]

Drama therapy has approx. 100,000 google links, whereas applied drama has 10,000. They appear to me to be the same discipline, perhaps an "also known" at the drama therapy article would be appropriate. Additionally, I find the some of the wording on the Applied Drama article superior, so we can merge that in. 15:19, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Your suggestion seems appropriate to me. --Jaxhere 14:01, 28 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Keep them separate. Applied drama should be a link in the See Also section of DT, but using play acting in the classroom is miles away from treating patients with psychosis.--tufkaa 16:09, 28 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I can see how working with students and those with psychosis may seem like different disciplines, however, speaking as an expressive therapist and drama therapist in training, a school is considered another special population. Just as traditional talk therapy is used with functional individuals who want to get more out of their life, or learn more about certain things, drama therapy is used with people without mental illness as an educational tool or exploratory measure. I know a drama therapist who works in a school. In my experience, professionals in the field and various organizations would certainly characterize applied drama as drama therapy leontes 16:43, 28 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

My larger point is that DT is an established field with lots to write about: the Role method, Developmental transformations, current practices, established benefits, etc; in and of itself it should be a sizable article. Applied drama seems too vague and touchy-feely, like a think-piece about how and where drama technique can be applied. I would rather see it separate from an established scientific field.--tufkaa 17:22, 28 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that DT has much more of established theory and history behind it, but my argument is that applied drama isn't different enough from drama therapy to warrant it's own article. It appears to be a subsection of some aspects that drama therapy. The 'see also' suggestion in your original comment implies you support a separate article for applied drama, something I don't think is necessary. Would a sentence saying "The term applied drama has also been used to describe psychoeducational groups that use drama therapy." or the like speak to your concerns? leontes 17:33, 28 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I haven't yet been able to figure out what AD is, let alone if it is an established field worthy of a WP article. From your description, it seems to be a catchall phrase describing pretty much any activity which incorporates drama. Psychoeducational groups which use drama therapy, are practicing DT; I don't see how applying the vaguer term AD helps define things.--tufkaa 17:48, 28 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Merging, in effect, redirects applied drama to Drama Therapy. If, as the article evolves, people find the Applied Drama term vague, or unnecessary, than it will be edited out. The merging to this article just helps avoid confusion by there being two articles about the same thing. From your perspective, I would imagine that redirection not to be a bad thing, as drama therapy describes what applied drama does, as it is written now. The whole reason I wish to merge them is that, from what I understand, I don't see Applied Drama speaking to anything that Drama Therapy already works on. Please be clear as to why you would disagree that Applied Drama should be merged into this article. leontes 18:14, 28 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]


I do not think that these topics should be merged for the simple reasion that applied drama whilst "theraputic " is not conducted by therapists, whereas drama therapy should only be conducted by a trained therapist. ... you could be opeing a whole can od worms if you did not know what you were doing...

just my oppinion though...

Areitta Moon

From a DT-in-training... DO NOT MERGE THESE! They are VERY different. DT has its own journals and other empirical events in the works, and Applied Drama is a subset of Theatre NOT DT.... 71.76.239.217 14:19, 28 February 2007 (UTC)JAROOT71.76.239.217[reply]

Interesting debate - but do not merge them. It seems many people here do not know about Applied Drama/Theatre (which for many [practitioners would include DT as a subset of it, rather than the other way around). There are at least 4 MA courses in Applied Drama or Theatre in the UK and more internationally, many undergraduate courses in Theatre and Performance Studies departments in the UK, US and other countries, it is a major part of at least one peer reviewed journal (Research In Drama Education), and is the defining term for projects in schools, with refugees, in prisons, with young offenders, with the elderly, with disabled people etc etc. There are also a range of publications using Applied Drama or Applied Theatre in the title. A similar terms used in Italy and also the US is Social Theatre. It is interesting that Sue Jennings (a familiar person to the Dramatherapy world) is now using the title Social Theatre rather than Dramatherapy for her new book. 82.12.158.199 18:26, 1 June 2007 (UTC)James Thompson[reply]

I am a dramatherapist in training. Dramatherapy is a different discipline than applied drama. In the Uk it is a protected title which means you have to train at masters level at university to practice. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.148.40.144 (talk) 15:26, 16 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have a BA in applied theatre and an MA in dramatherapy. They are related but different. Applied theatre includes drama in education (those shcool plays which say "don't do drugs kids" or using drama and role play to teach history), drama for development (community plays designed to teach about water sanitation for example). While applied theatre may be (and often is) therapeutic, it is not therapy. During my BA I had 0 training on mental health, human development or psychosis. Dramatherapy is drama with a healing intent. It does not include the emphasis on education which some applied theatre does. It is a form of psychotherapy and the people who practice it are trained in mental health. Amy Willshire, UK Dramatherapist

Requested move[edit]

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Not moved. Jafeluv (talk) 08:09, 27 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Drama therapy → Drama Therapy – Change in capitalisation will more accurately reflect how the term is used in the article and the sources. . Roguebluejay (talk) 01:12, 20 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Definition of drama therapy[edit]

The certainty of the definition offered currently appears to be somewhat at odds with http://peterfelix.tripod.com/home/Drama.pdf pg 14 "Most practitioners probably agree that drama therapy refers to the utilization of dramatic methods in group situations, usually for the general purposes of promoting healing intrinsic to theatre art, developing skills of improvisation and creative thinking, expanding the repertoire of roles with the inclusion of body movement and other aesthetic dimensions." 124.168.211.106 (talk) 23:08, 14 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

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