Dramatherapy in Europe: Opening the Curtains

2nd

European Dramatherapy Conference

6 -7 May 2016, Bucureşti, Romania

The first EFD Conference, held in Athens in May 2015,

Dramatherapy in Europe: Opening the Map, aimed to offer a

space where the various trends of dramatherapy that had been

developed throughout Europe can meet and recognize each other,

noticing diversities and similarities, and acknowledging the

common roots.

The 2nd Conference, Opening the Curtains, is an invitation to go

further: stepping straight into the dramatherapy stage, to explore

the core knowledge that has been acquired through

experimentation and inquiry all around Europe, and the ways in

which dramatherapy has been construed according to the

approaches that became rooted in the different countries.

DAY 1 – FRIDAY 6th

MAY 2016

KEYNOTE LECTURE – 11.30-13.00, Amphitheatre

SUE JENNINGS - The Twitching of the Curtain: are we 'just playing' or 'playing deep' ?

Play is often dismissed as inconsequential and not about real learning. However philosophers and

academics from ancient times to the present have emphasised the importance of play in children's

growth and development. We will consider the experience of 'deep play' in several contexts:

anthropological, philosophical and developmental and consider play as a basis for all the arts, and

indeed for all arts therapies, especially dramatherapy. Illustrated with Power Point

Sue Jennings celebrates 50 years of Dramatherapy in 2016 (1966-2016) through this Conference.

She has established Dramatherapy training in Czech Republic, Greece, Israel, Romania and the UK,

and is the founder of the British Association of Dramatherapists in 1976 (supported by the late

Gordon Wiseman). Her integrated approach through 2 developmental paradigms of NDP and EPR

are taught and applied on courses world-wide.

She constantly affirms the importance of play and theatre in 'prevention and cure'! Sue is passionate

about the importance of Social Anthropology for Dramatherapists following her own doctoral

fieldwork with the Temiars in Malaysia that changed her whole understanding of children,

attachment and ritual. She supports crisis intervention through play and drama with orphans and

refugees.

She has written over 40 books of theory, practice and ideas. She is especially proud of The

International Handbook of Dramatherapy which she has edited with Clive Holmwood and to be

published in 2016.

PAPERS AND WORKSHOPS SESSION 1 – 14.30-16.30

PAPER - GITAL WOLF POUPKO - Relating the Ritual Clown to DramaTherapy: The

Hasidic Wedding Jester as Test Case – Amphitheatre 14.30-16.30

Anthropologist Don Handelman (1981, 1990) has written extensively on the function of ritual

clowns – sacred clown figures who facilitate liminal stages of religious festivals or rites. The

attributes Handelman has identified in the ritual clown archetype can enrich our understanding of

drama therapy as a therapeutic process with roots in collective performance ritual, spiritual quest,

and shamanic healing. Particularly meaningful in the context of drama therapy, is the tendency of

the ritual clown to transcend ordinary reality, invoke ambiguity and paradox, dissolve boundaries

and structures, engender processes of transformation, and inspire reflexivity in both participants and

onlookers.

Within the ritual, the clown has the unique capability of both embodying a given state of being and

commenting upon it, thus underscoring the fact that there is a transformation in process, pointing in

the direction in which this process is headed, and ensuring that no intermediate stop is confused

with the final destination.

Among the ultraorthodox Jewish community in contemporary Israel are various Hasidic courts, the

inheritors and rehabilitators of prewar eastern European Hasidism. These courts strive to conserve

their Hasidic culture, in both belief and practice, in as authentic a manner as possible. Within the

Hasidic wedding, a Hasidic wedding jester – the b adchan facilitates a pivotal rite of passage,

known as the mitzvah dance, incorporating playful sung verse, Kabbalistic imagery, and aspects of

collective trance or individual ecstasy.

I will examine the art of the contemporary Hasidic wedding jester, in light of Handelman’s ritual

clown model. The Hasidic jester will serve as a test case, in relating the ritual clown archetype to

essential drama therapy concepts and processes. The badchan and his ritual clown attributes can be

viewed as the cultural inheritance of the contemporary Jewish Israeli drama therapist, as well as an

instance of a universal human archetype, accessible to all.

I was born in 1971 in New York, USA, and have lived in Israel for approximately 25 years. I

received my BA in Mathematics and Philosophy from Columbia University in NY in 1992, and my

MA in Drama Therapy from Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass in 2000. I have been practicing

drama therapy with various populations ever since. I am a certified therapist and supervisor in ICET

(the Israeli Association of Creative and Expressive Therapies). I have lectured in Drama Therapy at

the University of Haifa Graduate School of Creative Arts Therapies, as well as at Michlala College

in Jerusalem. I am currently a PhD student at the interdisciplinary program for the study of

Contemporary Jewry, Bar Ilan University, Israel. I am researching the Mitzvah Dance and the art of

the Badchan in the contemporary Hasidic wedding.

PAPER - SHIRI CHALAMISH - Drama Therapy- Puppets show with Holocaust survivors –

Amphitheatre 14.30-16.30

Holocaust survivors, who are coping with the difficulties of the third age and with the trauma of

their childhood in the shadow of the Holocaust, often live in a reality of emptiness and loneliness,

which leaves them searching for being and significance. In a short puppet theatre workshop, they

can produce a show in which the deficit and the loneliness is expressed, by way of achievement and

creation which can convey the “nothingness” by way of the “being”. The childhood of many of the

Holocaust survivors was affected by World War II. Some of them were young children who were

cruelly separated from their parents and missed out on childhood experiences such as: play and

studies within an organized framework. In the puppet theatre group, which took place over one

month, once a week, at the “Amarcha” community club in Beer Sheva, the participants created

puppets, wrote a story, and performed. This opportunity opened a play space in which they could

play the games that they did not play. Thus, they provided an unconscious platform for that hidden

inside them: “It’s like the Budapest Bábszínház” one of them said. In the performance with

designated time limits, processing of bereavement and conflicts, via the puppet. Personal creation of

the puppet enables ramification of unconscious resources which had been blocked for many years to

find an exit sublimely by way of an art form. The puppet enabled each participant to share his

wounded inner world with the rest of the participants, meet with materials in the collective

subconscious which had been deeply buried in the soul of the participant. The puppets presented

parts of their self, some even were physically similar to them The short process can serve as a

platform on which they can perform, as a rehabilitation.

I grew up in Be’er Tuvia, a cooperative agricultural village (“moshav”), south of Tel Aviv. I am the

third child, after two boys. As a Baby I was hospitalized for a year because I was diagnosed with

kidney injuries. When I was 18 years old I joined the IDF. After serving, I anticipated college in the

Ben Gurion University. Went to Technion school to completed a Master’s degree in Physical

Chemistry. In 1998 apply to Lesley University for a Master degree in Drama therapy. I started my

internship in a psychiatric hospital. After one year, I went back to school, studying psychotherapy at

Bar Ilan University. I got my license as a psychotherapist and as an art therapist. In 2007 I moved to

the Silicon Valley in California when HP acquired my husband’s company. I was supervised by

Renee Emunah Studied from Dr. Clarissa Picola Estess the writer of “Women who Runing with

wolves”, while I was working in my private Clinic with groups of women children's and parents

created new models of group therapy in Drama-therapy used “woman who running with wolves”,

mindfulness and Drama. In 2013 I started A Phd. program in Sofia university in transpersonal

psychology.

WORKSHOP - TINCA BIANCA BABES - “I just am!” – Community Theatre – 14.30-16.30,

Room 1

This workshop will promote the importance of the community theatre into humans lives. In this

workshop each person will have the opportunity to share a part of their life experience and put it

together with those of the rest of the participants, so in the end we will build up a play.

The aim of the workshop is to show how this particular model of community theatre works, the

participants being invited to experience a session, similar to those of the community theatre project.

Also similar to the community theatre project, the workshop will emphasize self-awareness and

self-esteem, therefore the starting sentence will be “I just am!”

At the beginning of the workshop there will be a short presentation of the project, so that people

understand how everything is been used.

Improvisation will be one of the main methods used in this workshop.

"I just am!" is a community theatre project sustained by "Teia" Asociation Sibiu and coordonated

by psychotherapist Babes Tinca Bianca. The participants of the project are people from different

environments, with various difficulties: young people with learning difficulties, institutinalised

elderly people, young people from the orphanages, etc,.

Each project runs for 30 dramatherapy and play therapy sessions, time when the participants build

together a play that includes the essential elements of their lives, they develop the script and the

characters, they make the costumes. Every project ends up with a play which is performed by the

participants at the national theatre festival "25 hours of non-stop theatre."

Tinca Bianca Babes is a psychologist, special education teacher, dramatherapist and play therapist.

She has over 10 years of experience in working with children with learning disabilities, with

children in care homes and with elderly people (including those with dementia and/or psychiatric

diagnosis)

Currently, as a psychotherapist, Bianca works at the Humanitarian Association "Teia" Sibiu,

Romania, developing projects such as: "A story for everyone" (Therapeutic stories with

kindergarten children), "Interactive Theater" (fundraising project – doll theatre), "I just am.

Community Theatre "; in the same time she leads dramaherapy and play therapy sessions with

young people with learning difficulties at the Diakoniewerk Occupational Centre.

WORKSHOP - TAL SELA AND OSHRAT LANDAU - Bridging the Chasm- A Safe Space in an

Unsafe Environment – 14.30-16.30, Room 2

This workshop deals with the power of dramatherapy in creating a safe area and continuity in an

unsafe environment. The workshop is based on the accumulated experience of two drama therapists

working in complex geopolitical areas in Israel whilst the country was undergoing intense military

conflict. Attempting to create a safe and continuous therapeutic space amidst concrete danger

resulted in a paradoxical experience which challenged the very existence of therapy itself and raised

the question whether therapy is possible under such conditions.

Winicott (1971) related to the baby's need to search for security in their relations with the world as

the need for continuity. This need for a sense that 'yesterday foretells tomorrow' reflects a basic

necessity for human existence which is compromised when undergoing crises. Upon undergoing

crises, the resources at the core of an individual's coping style act as bridges of sorts constructing

the process of effective coping mechanism, as described by Lahad and Ayalon's (1993) BASIC PH

model.

In the workshop we will explore events during which we experienced helplessness and uncertainty.

Based on the aforementioned model and through creative means the participants will familiarize

themselves with their inner 'bridges' of continuity; which bridges require reinforcement? Which

allow safe crossing? Which are yet unknown to us?

Within the metaphoric space of dramatherapy we will undergo a process based on the dramatic

paradox; this paradox allows us to simultaneously be ourselves and also not be ourselves, to

experience both identification and distancing, to be in control and in helplessness. This tension

linking inner and outer reality is the bridge erected within us, the 'third area of human life' as

Winnicott put it. Dramatherapy creates inner spaces in which both subjective reality and actual

reality coexist and find grace and comfort amidst seemingly impossible situations.

Tal Sela holds an MA with dean's honors in Dramatherapy from the University of Haifa and a BA

with honors from Tel Aviv University. Author of the novel A Last Mango's Goodbye (under the

name Tal Davidovich). A qualified therapist for sexual abuse in children and working experience in

a range of public centers: emergency centers for at-risk children and teenagers, the JDC, schools for

drop-out youth and Yad Rachel Family Therapy Center.

Oshrat Landau is an actress and Dramatherapist.She holds an MA with honors in Dramatherapy

from the University of Haifa and a BA from Tel Aviv University's department of Theatre Studies.

She currently works at the Israeli Ministry of Education with children and youth of various

characteristics: attention deficit disorders, learning disabilities, communicating disabilities and

emotional difficulties. Experienced working with at-risk youth in non-formal frameworks

(streetwork) and practices Dramatherapy for groups at Oranim College.

WORKSHOP - DORIS MUELLER-WEITH - The 7 beauties and the wolf – 14.30-16.30, Room

3

This workshop will have two parts: in the first part we will play together: from body posture into

an archetypical role; different roles meet at different places, new scenes and stories emerge...

In the second part we will present you the field of dramatherapy in Switzerland, as well as the

institutes and institution which contribute to the establishment of dramatherapy. Here we would like

to come into an exchange of what works where and why...

The archetype is a tendency to form such representations of a motif—representations that can vary

a great deal in detail without losing their basic pattern. CG.Jung in part one of Man And His

Symbols

There is not a specific amount of existing archetypes:

The most frequent ones are

• mother, father

• animus and anima

• shadow

• hero, male and female

• mentor

• obstacle

• trickster

• child

Characters from myths and fairy tales have a relation with these archetypes. To meet your own

archetypes and play with them is a connection with your soul.

Born in Switzerland, worked about 35 years in Germany practicing theatre and Gestalt therapy as

well as dramatherapy. Built up the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Theatertherapy and a training in

theatre therapy. Since 2010, working together with Dramatherapy Switzerland and as an expert for

kskv-casat Switzerland. Working as a yoga teacher in Spain since 2003. Doing yoga retreats and

meditation in Costa Rica since 2009.

WORKSHOP - LAURA MERCADANTE and PAUL DORN – Dada-Dramatherapy, 14.30-

16.30, Room 4

2016 is the year of the centenary of Dada! Dada was born in Zurich, but one of his major founders,

Tristan Tzara (Sami Rosenstock his normal name) was born in Bucharest! This unique coincidence,

by chance, occurs the right moment to present in Bucharest this year “Dada-Dramatherapy” during

the 2nd European Congress, which is dedicated to the different approaches of Dramatherapy in

Europe.The workshop was born during the project “What a nice DadaDrama!”, an experiment, who

has put together the techniques of Dada with those of Dramatherapy to realize workshops and

performances.The project as a workshop, was already presented 2013 at the Italian National

Meeting of Dramatherapy, 2014 also at the National School of Dramatherapy in Lecco and 2015 at

the Art Festival of Lago d’Orta in Piemonte, and it’s the product of a collaboration between

DadAmiLano (Laura Mercadante), atelier of arts, and Dadamt Zörich, Dadadministration Zurich (.

This method of application of Dramatherapy permits to activate creativity very fast, playing,

amusing because of the strange, freakish and disrespectful effects of Dada. The workshop allows to

make experiences about the Dada-Movement, trying different characteristic techniques (Sound

poetry, Objet trouvé, Collage, Abstract Dance, Mail Art, Assemblage, Word Plays, Nonsense,..)

with the particular attention to move the creative and expressive capacity (voice – body –

movement) under the conduction and proper structure of Dramatherapy.Imagination, play, lightness

and improvisation are really some meeting points between Dada and Dramatherapy, who are

meeting in this workshop like in a “fantastic wedding”, where the male archetypes (action,

provocation, energy) and the female ones (welcome, containment, listening) find the right balance

to give life to “Dada-Baby”: birth of creativity.

Laura Mercadante, Dramatherapist, Actress, Director and Dramatist. Graduated in History of

Theatre and Performing Arts at the University of Milan, Dramatherapist graduated at the School of

art-therapies of Lecco, member of the Executive SPID, co-founder of the group “Dramatherapy

Study and Research”, co-founder of the Expressive Listening Centre (CAE-Mutàr), she works as a

Freelancer leading Dramatherapy workshops for adults, children and disabled persons. Versatile

artist, creator of the Art-Studio DadAmiLano, collaborates with Dadamt Zurich creating

performance and artistic projects between Italy, Switzerland and Germany .

Paul Dorn (Co-worker) Dada from Zurich, actor with diploma of National Acters Schoool

Fokkwang of Essen (Germany), specialist for avantguarde literature, Super-8 Movie artist for 30

years, leading guided tours for Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich; speaks German, English, Italian, French,

inventor of Dadamt Zörich and a Dada-Soirée – Show, collaborating in a large international

network of Dada and other strange artists in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Denmark and

England.

WORKSHOP - SUE JENNINGS AND CLIVE HOLMSWOOD - The dance between education

and therapy: can education be therapeutic and can therapy be educational? - 14.30-16.30,

Room 5

The development of Dramatherapy in the UK owes much to drama in education due to the

pioneering work of Peter Slade (1954/1958). His vision for Dramatherapy appears to be developed

from his pioneering work in ‘child play,’ a forerunner to drama in education in the UK. Slade was

one of the first drama advisors and also the earliest developers of Dramatherapy. Additionally

Jennings’ (1978) early work in special needs education has also contributed widely to the

development of the Dramatherapy profession.

There has been much more debate in recent years over the acknowledging the greater connections

between Drama in Education and Dramatherapy, especially within the context of the classroom and

the impact on drama teachers as well as Dramatherapists working in educational settings: e.g.

Landy & Montgomery (2012), Holmwood (2014), and Gaines, Butler & Holmwood (2015).

This workshop is facilitated by the joint editors of ‘The Routledge International Handbook of

Dramatherapy’ and explores what we mean by 'Drama in Education’ and why it is crucial in child

and adolescent development. Drama enables the growth of empathy and resilience and is crucial for

emotional literacy. The workshop will provide a 'blue-print for action' and enable participants to

acquire takeaway skills and their rationale to apply in their work setting. It will also continue the

debate and consider the connections and interdisciplinary boundaries between drama education and

dramatherapy.

Sue Jennings PhD is a Play and Dramatherapist, social anthropologist and author. She has

pioneered Dramatherapy in UK, Greece, Israel, Czech Republic and Romania. She has established

'Neuro-Dramatic-Play' and 'Embodiment-Projection-Role' as a basis for understanding both

attachment and dramatic development across cultures. She is Visiting Professor at HELP

University, Kuala Lumpur and President of the Romanian Association for Play Therapy and

Dramatherapy. Sue is a prolific author of 40 books (6 by Routledge), and many chapters, and is

currently preparing her 'Selected Works: Thither and back again' for publication by Routledge in

2016. Her PhD thesis was published as Theatre, Ritual and Transformation: the Senoi Temiars, by

Routledge in 1995.

Clive Holmwood PhD is a Dramatherapist with 20 years’ experience working with children and

adults in the public, private and voluntary sectors. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Dramatherapy

and Deputy Programme Leader in Creative Expressive Therapies at the University of Derby and a

Director of Creative Solutions Therapy Ltd. He gained his PhD from the University of Warwick

which was published by Routledge in 2014 as: Drama Education and Dramatherapy – exploring the

space between disciplines.

WORKSHOP - KARIN HILDERINK - Improving a negative self-image: a dramatherapeutic

approach – 14.30-16.30, Room 6

Dramatherapeutic self-image group therapy is a short-term treatment for patients with an anxiety

disorder like social phobia, panic disorder, OCD or PTSD. The goal of the treatment is to develop a

realistic, positive self-image and improve self-esteem. The use of different forms of play, inspired

by the five stages of Emunah, gives patients the opportunity to confront themselves and to develop

a more realistic self image. Symbolic play, fictive and realistic role play and forms of psychodrama

and rescripting are integrated in the grouptherapy. In this group therapy, the use of taking

perspective is based on the work of Robert Selman. The ability to take different perspectives

enhances mentalisation and empathy, and this leads to an improved self-esteem. The extent to

which a client can take several perspectives is observable in drama and therefore offers direct

intervention opportunities for the dramatherapist.

The treatment also uses several cognitive behavioural techniques like contraconditioning and the

use of homework.

The protocol subscribes every single session, with exercises and goals for each session. Therefore it

can be repeated and researched. The outcome research study is carried out in a clinical population

with anxiety disorder from 2012 to June 2015. The results of the intervention group (N=51),

indicates that a significant improvement occurs in relation to the control group (N = 22). The

improvement is 6.38 points (SD 3.95) on the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale and indicates a reliable

change (> 6). Cohens 'd (effect measure) is 1.5 which indicates a very large positive effect that can

be ascribed to the Drama therapeutic Protocol for negative Self-image.

My name is Karin Hilderink. I am 50 years old and a very active person on behalf of dramatherapy.

I have been working as dramatherapist for 25 years in several psychiatric hospitals. I have been

chairman at the Dutch Association for Drama Therapy (NVDT) and for 3 years member of the

board of the dutch Federation of dramatherapy, musictherapy, arttherapy, dancetherapy and

psychomotoric therapy (FVB). I have done two project for my organisation to make sure that the

nonverbal therapies got a good position. At the moment I am projectleader for the dutch

association of dramatherapy to stimulate dramatherapists to describe their work. I have done

research andI am supervisor specialized to give scheme focused dramatherapy.In my daily work I

give individual and group (scheme focused) drama therapy at inpatients with anxiety disorders. At

last I distribute Dramatherapeutic Protocol for negative Self-image and train other dramatherapists.

PERFORMANCE – 18.00-19.00

MARCEL COSTEA AND JOHN BERGMAN - Nu Spune BUG.Si Eu Sunt Ca Tine / Don't Say

BUG. I'm Just Like You. - 18.00-19.00, Amphitheatre

The Roma throughout Europe, and Eastern Europe suffer from intense discrimination. At every

level they have been persecuted, and even murdered. One cannot work in Romania without being

confronted by racist attitudes towards the Roma. My many years of drama therapy work in

Romanian prisons resulted in me asking Marcel Costea if he would work on a revelatory theatre

piece with me.

" I met John in 2013 at the N.G.O where I’m working. He came to put up a show about domestic

violence. After 3 days of rehearsals he said that he will return to Romania and make a show with

me. I am a gypsy, ofcourse I didin’t believe him but he acutally came. He wanted to make a show

about my life. In the beginning I didn’t believe that something like that could happen. I didn’t do

anything great , heroic, special. After that I understood that you don’t really have to kill a dragon, or

to be a war hero. It is enough to be a gypsy in Romania. It is so exciting, demanding, and painful to

work on this show about my life."

"Do not Say Bug, I am Just like You" is a one hour self-revelatory theatre piece that both

contradicts and challenges many of the common prejudices and beliefs of the Romanian people.

This piece of theatre references the murder of the the Roma in 1943-5, and its impact on Roma life,

Marcel's young life under Ceausescu, his earliest experiences of racism, growing up in an educated

family and his complex relationships with non Roma as well as with other Roma with whom he

sometimes had very little in common It is a profoundly moving piece and critical to anyone who

seeks to make honest drama therapy in Romania.

Marcel Costea 1990- 2008 Actor Girgiu Theatre , Romania.

2009-2016 Working with Transcena , Bucharest with out reach to Roma, domestic violence, drug

and alscohol in the schools, violence prevention in prisons and men and women with issues of

mental health.

Trained in forum work , as well as intensive use if games for change.

Worked in a number of films some especially for the Roma

1984 Doctor Humoris Causa at the national festival of comedy at Vaslui, Romania

2010 Award for Excellence for Cultural Achievement from the National Centre for Roma Culture.

John Bergman MA, RDT, MT, BCT is a UK born drama therapist/theatre director with over 35

years experience with prisoners and prison officers, and men women and young people, in all types

of criminal justice settings.

He is the founder and Director of Geese Theatre Company USA, founder/teacher of Geese

Company UK, and a Board member of Transcena in Romania; an arts based company working in

prisons, schools and with victims of domestic abuse.

DAY 2 – SATURDAY 7th

MAY 2016

PAPERS AND WORKSHOPS SESSION 2 – 9.30-11.30

PAPER - IRINA KATZ-MAZILU - No-Curtains Puppets with Disabled: Art and/or Therapy?,

9.30-11.30, Amphitheatre

This paper will present a 5-year activity with a small group of adults with disabilities (autism,

Down, neurological and developmental troubles...) as well as a study of a one-year workshop with a

10-year old boy with autism. The creation of the puppets and their play are both conducted in a

humanistic non-directive approach. As the art therapist is mainly a visual artist, the puppet activity

is realised on a collaborative basis with dance therapists and/or dramatherapists, who are either

practitioners or students in art or dramatherapy.

Every season – from October to June – the workshop concludes with a final presentation of each

group’s work (painting, clay, music, drama, puppets, dance) before the whole organization. This

celebration serves as an opportunity to meet all of the families participating in the organization and

show the work of each group or individual. The workshop setting is provided by a non-profit

organization that is run by the family of the disabled participants. This organization employs seven

art therapists with different media expertise, including puppetry. The organization is supported by

local authorities that provide the workshop space for free. It conducts itself independently from the

other professional departments involved such as psychiatry, psychology, education, work

establishments, etc. This setting intends to offer these very dependent individuals a “free” area in

which they may conduct themselves as valid persons even if the clinical approach is adapted to their

mental, psychic and psychosomatic needs.

The main clinical goal is to develop autonomous creativity, self-esteem, and positive group

relationships. This approach is based on both psycho-dynamic and humanistic theories.

The presentation will be illustrated by a selection of pictures and videos from the workshop and the

final scenic performance.

Irina Katz-Mazilu is a trained visual art therapist living and working in Paris.

She graduated from the DU in the Université René Descartes Paris V in 1998 and since then is

working as an art therapist in clinical and social settings (suicide prevention, mental disabled,

homeless, prison…) and on a private basis in her own workshop.

She is also active as an art-therapy educator and supervisor in social work schools, university, post-

graduate art therapy training.

She is the President of the Fédération Française des Art-thérapeutes since 2008 and participates to

international and European networks and federations with firm conviction that cooperation on a

large humanistic basis is the only way for future human development and social integrity.

Irina Katz-Mazilu is also a visual artist, graduated from the Fine Arts Institute of Bucharest and the

Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs of Paris, member of the Maison des Artistes in

Paris. She regularly exposes her art work – painting, drawing, volume, mixed techniques - in solo

and group exhibitions.

PAPER - MARC WILLEMSEN - Turning the spotlight backstage. Trauma centered DvT as

treatment for chronically traumatized and dissociative children – 9.30-11.30, Amphitheatre

The treatment of chronically traumatized and dissociative children in the Netherlands is often based

on the method creating stabilization, readiness and ability to enter into the trauma-processing work.

But the phases of stabilization and psycho-education can be enduring. The curtains are opened but

the actual trauma work (backstage) is at hold. In surroundings where the duration of treatment is

under pressure it happens that the treatment stagnates and the trauma gets neglected. The by David

Read Johnson developed Trauma centered DvT offers opportunities to address the trauma

immediately. The harm done to the child is from the start of the treatment acknowledged and

(playfully) taken care of. Even if it seems at first ‘unplayable’. The presenter will illustrate this

applied method with case examples.

Marc Willemsen M.A. is a registered Drama Therapist (SRVB) and works at the child and

adolescent division of a psychiatric hospital (GGzCentraal). He is also a Senior Lecturer at the HU

University of applied sciences in the Creative Arts Therapist Department and a Supervisor at the

Nationwide Institute for Loss and Grief in the Netherlands (LSR). A graduate of the Institute for

Developmental Transformations, a Psychodrama Therapist (NVGP) and registred group worker. He

is Training Director of DvT Netherlands North. As an actor he has for several years been involved

in the theatre company 'Wolkentheater' creating plays for refugee children.

PAPER - ELLEN FOYN BRUUN - Dramatherapy in Norway – status and practices - 9.30-

11.30, Room 1

Dramatherapy is in its early stages in Norway. There are very few certified dramatherapists in the

country. However, drama is applied educationally in health promoting practices to support

resilience, empowerment and enhance quality of life. This has been and is still a growing field in

Norway as in many other parts of the world. The recognition of the arts and their potential for

meaning making, creating a sense of community and coherence is increasingly part of the

mainstream public discourse.

In this paper I will reflect on the status of the profession in Norway. I will elaborate on my

experience of establishing and teaching a dramatherapy module at the Norwegian University of

Science and Technology, Trondheim. I have conducted the course since 2011 with students from

many parts of the country. They have been teachers, special needs teachers, preschool teachers,

drama students, practitioners from health professions etc. The aim of the course is to introduce the

participants to dramatherapy, experientially and theoretically. The focus is on basic drama methods

and the potential for transformative learning and therapeutic experience through drama. I shall also

discuss dilemmas that arise when teaching dramatherapy as a subject rather than as vocational and

professional dramatherapist training.

My network has increased over the past five years. Now it encompasses dance, music and visual

arts therapists; expressive arts therapists, psychodrama and playback practitioners. In Norway each

arts therapy community has had a tendency to focus on developing their own discipline. However,

there are now events that bring all the arts therapies together to exchange practices and research.

This broader context might be an advantage for the development of dramatherapy in Norway.

Ellen Foyn Bruun works as Associate Professor at The Norwegian University of Science and

Technology (NTNU). She is a Dramatherapist (Sesame) and Associate teacher of Fitzmaurice®

voicework. Her professional background is stage directing, playwriting and dramaturgy. At NTNU

she is head of Drama and Theatre Studies and the main teacher of a module in Dramatherapy. Her

theoretical and practical research seeks to develop holistic and embodied drama- and theatre based

practices and transformative learning processes. Ellen’s work has spanned a variety of groups: such

as refugees, homeless, elderly, children and adults with learning difficulties. Ellen has published

several articles, written plays and contributed to books on drama and theatre practice.

PAPER - FABIENNE DAUDE - Overview of Dramatherapy as a profession in France today,

9.30-11.30, Room 1

Today, therapists working in the Dramatherapy’s field come from three main courses of study :

Psychology Diploma at University with a Bachelor degree (theater, psychology, social sciences...)

Master Degree in Dramatherapy as a specialization. There are also professionals who studied and

got their dramatherapist diploma abroad (especially in the USA, Canada or UK). Other

professionals have studied at PARIS V University, which is actually the only one to offer a Master

Degree in Dramatherapy in France (since 2011). There are also many Dramatherapy specializations

offered by specific schools like INECAT or IRFAT.

The word ‘Dramatherapy’ is still unrecognized or misunderstood in France, as people often mix it

up with other specific approaches like psychodrama, forum theater or playback theater, which can

be used among dramatherapy processes Dramatherapy too.

The National Association of Dramatherapy started in 2009 and was officially created by Kathleen

Olivier, clinical psychologist specialised in neuropsycholgy a neuropsychologist who studied

Dramatherapy in Montreal (Master II). The aim of the Association is to federate all the

professionals acting as dramatherapists or interested in using dramatherapy tools.

The Association’s goals consist in :

Creating a network between professionals to contribute to the scientific progress of Dramatherapy,

in practice as well as in theory.

To enhance Dramatherapy and to create meeting & discussion opportunities between professionals

(conferences, meetings, articles, traductions…) in France and abroad.

To develop Dramatherapy in all possible forms, processes and applications and ways (including all

artistic media and approaches)

To help Dramatherapy to be officially recognized as a profession by the Government and among the

large public.

WORKSHOP – JOHN HAZLLETT DICKINSON - Examples of embodied practice informed

by British approaches to Dramatherapy – 9.30-11.30, Room 2

This fully experiential workshop will explore embodied Dramatherapy. It will feature group

Dramatherapy practice informed by the Sesame Approach to Dramatherapy, as well as one to one

methods informed by both Sesame and DvT. There will be practical examples followed by the

opportunity to reflect and analyse the methodologies. The final part of the workshop will examine

the challenges and opportunities facing Dramatherapy in the United Kingdom in 2016.

WORKSHOP - DREW BIRD - Formulating a model for personal and professional

development using a research methodology in solo autographic performance – 9.30-11.30,

Room 3

The workshop will offer an autobiographical performance by the presenter followed by a workshop

and discussion that will explore the potential for using solo performance for personal and

professional development using the rigor of a research methodology. The workshop will be of

particular interest for those who want to make clearer links with practice as a Drama Therapist,

artist and researcher. The model utilises specific research methodologies to explore the synthesis of

research and performance. The performance is an ongoing development using a heuristic research

methodology and an action research style approach to explore practice as a therapist and

Dramatherapy trainer. Ethrington (2002) suggests that heuristic research offers the opportunity for

therapeutic development whilst offering a critical gaze on therapist’s practice that can mirror

supervision practice. Action research explores our own story in the company of others, who are

also exploring their story (McNiff, 2007). In respect of both research approaches the audience,

participants and witnesses of the performance help inform the development of the model using solo

autobiographical performance.

The post show workshop that ensues will explore the synthesis of three disciplines of Drama

Therapist, artist and researcher to explore personal themes and obstacles that might impact on

practice as a Drama Therapist. Yalom (2002) makes a clear link with personal themes and

professional themes, suggesting where one is stuck personally one is also stuck professionally. The

workshop will be co-facilitated to develop participant reflection; focusing on archetypal motifs and

myth elicited from the performance; the impact of theatre and how the relationship between the

audience and performer can mirror the therapeutic dynamic; and how the imagination can be

cultivated specifically for personal and professional development using the characteristics of

heuristic research.

Drew Bird is senior lecturer on the MA Dramatherapy, University of Derby. He was programme

leader of the MA in Dramatherapy from and member of the British Association of Dramatherapists

(BADth) Training Sub Committee from 2008 to 2015. His background is working with children

and young people who have experienced trauma, palliative care and adult mental health. He is

currently in private practice as a Dramatherapy supervisor. His recent research interests and

publications have been in narrative therapy, the use of metaphor and senses in supervision practice,

Heuristic Inquiry and autobiographical performance.

WORKSHOP - MIHAELA SASARMAN AND JOHN BERGMAN - Reflections After 25 years

of theatre as change agency in "Other" Places. A Praxis For Romanian Drama Therapists -

9.30-11.30, Room 4

Mihaela Sasarman is a Romanian pioneer in the use of theatre as a social and therapeutic change

agent in prisons, with men and women with mental health issues, with young people and addiction,

in training police to review their beliefs about young people and for many years working with

domestic violence. The latter led to her receiving a major award from the French Embassy for her

work in Human Rights. Mr Bergman has visited and worked and taught with Ms Sasarman and her

company Transcena since 1995 helping create theatre based violence treatment communities in

Romanian prisons and worked on domestic violence prevention work.

In this workshop, Ms. Sasarman and Mr Bergman will discuss and demonstrate what HAS worked

and what has NOT worked in our use of theatre/drama based techniques for social and therapeutic

change in Romania. Romania is a complex country, still very much recovering from the days of

Ceausescu and hence many of the techniques that are common to UK/USA drama therapy are far

less effective in Romania. Ms Sasarman and Mr Bergman will discuss their shared experience of

this. Part of the session will include actual exercises that Ms Sasarman created for her work,

supported by Mr. Bergman's shared work with domestic violence and prisons. We will discuss and

demonstrate issues such as working with very dysfunctional institutional systems, the sometimes

corrosive influence of non-native systems, working with Roma, and how theatre based techniques

have become more acceptable in Romanian social systems. The session will be augmented by film

and photographs of the work.

The heart of this session is exploring how this Romanian pioneer's work and John's long experience

with prisons and staff training have been blended into Romania-centric drama based treatment

programs for those with no voice.

John Bergman MA, RDT, MT, BCT is a UK born drama therapist/theatre director with over 35

years experience with prisoners and prison officers, and men women and young people, in all types

of criminal justice settings.

He is the founder and Director of Geese Theatre Company USA, founder/teacher of Geese

Company UK, and a Board member of Transcena in Romania; an arts based company working in

prisons, schools and with victims of domestic abuse. John Bergman (see above)

Mihaela Sasarman has a degree in Romanian language and Literature and in Theatre at the National

University for Theatre and Film. She has done post graduate work in ethics. Since 1993 she has

done theatre projects in mental health, in prisons, in education with children and youth.

She is the President of Transcena since 2001 looking at education and change through arts and

theatre and advocacy for victims of domestic violence including 9 productions on Domestic

violence, children's rights and drug use.

WORKSHOP - IOANA SERB - The Therapist Self – 9.30-11.30, Room 5

This workshop will focus on stimulating the participants to find and explore their therapist self. As

dramatherapists, we meet our clients both in the day to day reality and in the dramatic reality. We

need to have a vast repertorium of techniques and methods, we have to be, in turns, witness, guide,

director, actor, support for our clients.

As we learn and gain experience, our therapist self develops stability, flexibility, resilience; but

every one of us finds its own unique way of buliding it, so it uses the available resources within

each person and answers the challenges on each person's path.

How does it look? What are the traits of this self? Its strenghts, its weaknesses? Are we nurturing it

enough? Can it be improved?

We will use creative visualisation, drawing, archetypes, masks, improvisation to get a closer look to

our own unique therapist self.

As the workshop is experiential, the participants are kindly asked to wear confortable clothes and

light shoes.

Ioana Serb is play therapist and dramatherapist, working in Romania with youth from children’

homes, adults with mental health issues, sexually abused people, children with behavioral,

emotional and learning difficulties. She is the vicepresident of the Romanian Play Therapy and

Dramatherapy Association. Ioana is trainer and supervisor in play therapy and dramatherapy in

Romania and she organizes the annual international conferences of the association.

WORKSHOP – BERNARDITA BORDAGORRY - The Feminine Power: Polynesian dances and

Dramatherapy for Women– 9.30-11.30, Room 6

This workshop is an inside journey to reconnect with the feminine powerful energy. Trough Rapa

Nui’s ancestral dances (Chilean Polynesian Island), we will explore four female archetype:

The Warrior/ The Mother/ The Lover/ The Child.

Objectives:

• To get to know 2 polynesian dance types (ori/tamure)

• To work with 4 archetypes and to express them through dance and dramatherapy techniques

• To enforce self-esteem through a new perception of our bodies.

Metodology:

2 hour intensive workshop that consist in:

1) Tu'u maheke ritual singing

2) Body training and introduction to dance tecniques.

3) Archetypes with dramatherapy techniques.

4)Ritual singing/Sharing

This work has been developed with women in different parts of Chile, Southamerica (Argentina,

Cuba, México) and Europe (Spain , Italy, England). In Chile I worked with women who had

suffered domestic violence.

In Rapa Nui, polynesian dances has been a way to resist a very hard machism culture, where there is

a lot of violence and aggressive way to relate between men and women. Working with body

expression and experiencing different archetypes roles, the workshop will show you how we can

use this type of dances ( or any other feminine/traditional dances) to empower women and talk

about gender differences. I created this workshop while I was studying drammatherapy and went for

three months to live in Easter Island. I started giving some drammatherpy workshop with the native

women and they started to express using their dances.I discovered that their dances were always a

way to tell their stories, their expierences and sufferings. Working with the way a women tell to

herself and others their story, using body expression and symbolic roles became a very protect and

useful way to get strong insights and become more conscious about themselves.

Bernardita in a chilean actress, drama teacher, life-coach and dramatherapist. She had studied in the

Chilean Drammatherapy and Pshycodramma school, that is part of the Iberoamerican

Drammatherapy and Psychodramma Association. She has developed with the Mexican

Drammatherapist Alma Whileleme, a technique called “Teatro Personal” in Chile and Mexico,

creating certified courses and writing a book in 2013. She is part of the teachers staff of the Chilean

Drammatherapy school.

Bernardita has worked for 10 years with kids and teenagers using drama teaching and dramatherapy

to develop the emotional intelligence education in her country, working in a government program to

train teachers and creating teaching programs in 3 different schools.

She has also developed an workshop using Polynesian dances and dramatherapy to work with

women (she lived in Easter Island where she learned these dances and the Polynesian culture). From

her experience and observing the culture, she developed this very unique and different workshop

working in Chile, Mexico, Cuba, Italy and Spain with different women (including women that had

suffered domestic violence).

In 2009 started working with dramatherapy in big companies, developing Management programs

about Leadership and Communication skills. In 2012 she created her own company in this field,

working with a multidisciplinary team (www.booming.cl). In 2014 she certificates as a Lifecoach,

developing coaching programs and dramatherapy workshops, teaching in MBA programms in

different Chilean Universities.

Nowadays Bernardita is studying in Italy a Master in Social Theatre and Drammatherapy at La

Sapienza University in Rome.

PAPERS AND WORKSHOPS SESSION 3 – 12.00-14.00

PAPER - STELIOS KRASANAKIS - Dramatherapy and drug addiction treatment – 12.00-

14.00, Amphitheatre

Greece seems to be a country with a great spreading of Dramatherapy in the field of addiction

treatment, as it is obvious not only from the bibliography, but from the key notes made in

conferences regarding Dramatherapy and addiction treatment. Dramatherapy seems to have a very

positive impact in drug addicts as complementary therapy or main therapy. I worked for first time

in Greece with Dramatherapy method in 1989 at the public addiction treatment centre in a

psychiatric hospital and from 1993 up today at the Drug addiction treatment program “Theseus”

(municipality of Kallithea) of which I have the scientific direction. There are many factors that

contribute to the healing aspect of Dramatherapy in the three stages of addiction treatment. In the

first phase of the therapeutic process (motivation) our work is focused on strengthening the addict’s

decision to stop the substance abuse and he/she is motivated through ritual and symbolic play to

feel his/her body image and to overcome the rigidity of the role of the addict and adopt a more

flexible social role. In the second phase (therapeutic) the psychosomatic problem of drug addiction

(Joyce Mc Dougall) is being treated physically as well as psychologically with dramatherapeutic

techniques. The addict’s experience is treated as a hero’s journey where the most important

stations, actions and roles of this route are being worked out. The client has the chance to create a

transitional space between his/her previous life to the new one where he/she is working with fearful

emotions in action at the “here and now”. The third phase, rehabilitation, functions as a life

rehearsal with dramatic representations of everyday life, before the clients face it in the real world.

Increasing social role repertoire creating a new personality, a new identity, and a new positive

scenario for his/her life with creativity far away from the everyday boring routine, in a cultural

environment. The passages from one phase to the other are marked by dramatherapeutic

performances. Visual material from this performances will be available in the presentation.

Stelios Krasanakis studied Medicine at the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki and specialized

in Psychiatry. Meanwhile, he studied theatre at the Review of Dramatic Art and Dramatherapy at

the Institute of Dramatherapy.

Stelios directs the drug rehabilitation program “THISEAS”. He is the creator of the Dramatherapy

Institute “AEON”, which offers education, therapy and research.

He teaches Drama therapy at Kapodistriako University of Athens in Theater Department and

collaborates with other Universities in Greece

He was responsible for the book series “Roles in life and roles in the theatre”.

He has directed 25 theatrical performances and he is the Artistic Director of Naxos Festival.

He is member of the Greek Psychiatric Association, president of the Art and Psychiatric division,

founder member of the Greek Association dramatherapists and playtherapists, member of World

Council of Psychotherapy, of I.T.A.C.A., of the Greek Director’s Association, of the Greek Council

of Clinical Social Research, founder member (treasurer) of European Federation of Drama therapy

(EFD)

He has participated in more than 90 International conferences with abstracts and workshops,

meanwhile his articles are in scientific journals and books.

PAPER - LENKA FISHEROVA - Boundaries between drama in education and dramatherapy

– 12.00-14.00, Amphitheatre

In this paper the presenter explores practices of drama in education and dramatherapy and looks at

ways to understand and describe their differences as well as their common ground.

The paper presents the work of a PhD project, a research journey, which is still in development. The

aim is to share with the audience it´s findings so far and the further thoughts and questions that arise

from them. The issues are looked at through the eyes of seven very experienced practitioners (some

from drama teaching, some from dramatherapy, and some from both) and qualitative analysis of

interviews with them.

The questions raised by this paper are especially pertinent to the situation of dramatherapy in the

Czech Republic, where the presenter is from. The field of dramatherapy has some tradition there,

but it is not yet clearly established or defined and practitioners are often faced with an uncertainty,

what exactly belongs to which area of drama use and what defines the space of their work and their

role in it.

Are practitioners really either just educating or just healing? Is it alright to meet people´s personal

issues and deal with them in educational settings or should this be left in the hands of therapists? Do

teachers have the competence to heal as well as to teach and visa versa? The presenter has often met

with worries, that crossing the boundaries between the dsciplines can be counterproductive and

even harmful to the the clients. At the same time many find it difficult not to cross them, partly

because the boundaries are not clear and partly because both disciplines have a lot in common and

are naturally interconnected.

Lenka Fisherova studied Dramatherapy under Sue Jennings and is one of the founding members of

The Czech Dramatherapy Association. She has an MA in psychology and special education from

the Faculty of Education at Charles University in Prague. She is also currently working on her Phd

thesis "Boundaries between drama in education and dramatherapy."

Lenka is also an experienced actress and drama workshop leader. She has worked for many years

with The Bear Eductional Theatre in Prague, performing and leading workshops for school

students. She has further experience teaching at university as well as in special educational

facilities.

PAPER - DREW BIRD AND KATY TOZER - Towards Formulating a Dramatherapy

Pedagogy – 12.00-14.00, Room 1

The paper explores the role of theatre in research and teaching practice for the delivery of an MA in

Dramatherapy programme in the UK. Fundamentally, a/r/tography emphasises the importance of

the artistic process to inform teaching and research. Springgay, Irwin, and Kind (2005) identify

a/r/tography as a continuously evolving methodology that is centred around ongoing reflexivity and

practitioner development. Recent research into best teaching and learning practice puts experiential

learning methods as being central to a deep learning that supports process rather than product. As

Beard and Wilson propose, “Emotions are played out in the theatre of the body and experiential

learning will always have an emotional dynamic as part of the experience…Helping people become

conscious of this emotional experience can allow people to manage and intensify their own

learning.” (Beard and Wilson, 2013, p.14). The paper details the research processes the presenters

engaged in using theatre and improvisation to discover, develop and formulate a Dramatherapy

pedagogy for teaching and learning on an MA in Dramatherapy. The paper explores the theatre

methodologies of experimental theatre from Forced Entertainment Theatre company, the Wooster

Group and Jack Smith and how these can be harnessed for teaching and learning. The paper will

draw on the presenters experience as Dramatherapists and how the principle underpinnings of

Dramatherapy can be utilised to develop teaching and learning pedagogy that can be applied to

other arts therapies and non-arts based trainings. The presentation will consider 7 phases and core

principles the researchers uncovered to develop their understanding of Dramatherapy pedagogy and

how this might inform practice as Dramatherapists.

Katy Tozer is the Programme Leader for the MA Dramatherapy and teaches on the Creative

Expressive Therapies undergraduate programme. Katy’s clinical experience is in mental health

services with children and families; adults experiencing psychosis, people with learning disabilities

and people diagnosed with eating disorders. Katy has a particular interest in working with groups

and is the module leader and facilitator for the Dramatherapy Experiential Group. Some of her

interests in theatre include the work of Grotowski, post-dramatic theatre and physical theatre.

Drew Bird is senior lecturer on the MA Dramatherapy, University of Derby. He was programme

leader of the MA in Dramatherapy from and member of the British Association of Dramatherapists

(BADth) Training Sub Committee from 2008 to 2015. His background is working with children

and young people who have experienced trauma, palliative care and adult mental health. He is

currently in private practice as a Dramatherapy supervisor. His recent research interests and

publications have been in narrative therapy, the use of metaphor and senses in supervision practice,

Heuristic Inquiry and autobiographical performance.

PAPER - ELIZA SWEENEY - A study of the theatre\therapeutic space – 12.00-14.00, Room 1

How the theatre space, including specifically the curtains, can have impact on the creativity, the

containment, the communication and the behaviour of children suffering from behavioural and

developmental difficulties in a part-time therapeutic centre.

‘And if the Ambassadors had asked themselves what is there behind the curtains, and what is it

doing there? (in reference to Hans Holbein the Younger’s painting ‘The Ambassadors’ found on the

cover of Jacques Lacan’s publication on ‘the four fundamental concepts of psychoanalysis’.

The paper is an analysis of the theatre space from a scenographic, psychological, philosophical, and

anthropological perspective, within a psychodynamic approach. It observes how the theatre space,

including curtains and scenery, should be regarded as an essential element of the dramatherapy

process, and how the dramatherapists should regard their role as similar to that of a scenographer, as

the decisions and organization of space are tantamount to the transformations that occur in the

process.

Raised in Melbourne, Australia, Eliza moved to Paris in 2009 to study at the International Theatre

School Jacques Lecoq. She simultaneously wrote a paper theorizing the effects of the Lecoq method

in drama therapy applied to autistic children in an early intervention drama therapy program for

which she received honors. She also studied under Philippe Gaulier in clown and bouffon in 2010.

She developed a pedagogic theatre program to teach English through art and theatre in 2012 and it

continues today with an added drama therapeutic perspective in education. She has an Honors

degree of Performing Arts from Monash University where she graduated from the Academy of

Performing Arts with highest honors. She recently completed Master 1 of Drama Therapy at Paris

IV (Sorbonne) and is currently in her final year of research where she is researching the body as

“space” with patients suffering PTSD. She is passionate about the future of drama therapy

internationally and in Australia. She is currently developing an online database, similar to Cairn or

PsyInfo, for specifically drama therapy texts for professionals and students. She is a translator from

French\ English French for articles and publications in drama therapy. She speaks English and

French, she is also a personal sports coach and painter.

WORKSHOP - MARC WILLEMSEN - Turning the spotlight backstage. Trauma centered DvT

as treatment for chronically traumatized and dissociative children – 12.00-14.00, Room 2

The treatment of chronically traumatized and dissociative children in the Netherlands is often based

on the method creating stabilization, readiness and ability to enter into the trauma-processing work.

But the phases of stabilization and psycho-education can be enduring. The curtains are opened but

the actual trauma work (backstage) is at hold. In surroundings where the duration of treatment is

under pressure it happens that the treatment stagnates and the trauma gets neglected. The by David

Read Johnson developed Trauma centered DvT offers opportunities to address the trauma

immediately. The harm done to the child is from the start of the treatment acknowledged and

(playfully) taken care of. Even if it seems at first ‘unplayable’. The presenter will illustrate this

applied method with case examples.

Marc Willemsen M.A. is a registered Drama Therapist (SRVB) and works at the child and

adolescent division of a psychiatric hospital (GGzCentraal). He is also a Senior Lecturer at the HU

University of applied sciences in the Creative Arts Therapist Department and a Supervisor at the

Nationwide Institute for Loss and Grief in the Netherlands (LSR). A graduate of the Institute for

Developmental Transformations, a Psychodrama Therapist (NVGP) and registred group worker. He

is Training Director of DvT Netherlands North. As an actor he has for several years been involved

in the theatre company 'Wolkentheater' creating plays for refugee children.

WORKSHOP - RAFFAELLA PERROTTA - Roles and counter – roles in Drammatherapy and

Commedia dell’Arte – Basic Level – 12.00-14.00, Room 3

The purpose of this workshop is to give some instruments for working with clients on roles and

counter-roles starting - better than from Landy's taxonomy - from the Five main characters of

Commedia dell’Arte: the zanni, The Capitain, The old Man, The Lovers, the Doctor. An easier

way for taking role, a sort of pre- role steps.

It often happens that people get bound into the same role and tend to use the same automatic

reactions or the same rigid body and expressive schemes from which they hardly get out thus

making it difficult to start a change or a transformation, especially if they suffer psychiatric disturbs

For that kind of clients the stock characters in the Commedia dell'Arte, as a result of a precise and

ingenious coding, can:

1. offer a quite clear holding, playful and immediate for our own schemes, also the emotional ones;

2. supply a structure to our actions;

3. enable the identification of some conducts;

4. set up the process of widening our range of roles, which is a basic element for a drama-

therapeutic process.

During the first part of the workshop we will see and play with the Five characters (exercises and

improvisation) in order to find our role and counter-role. In the second part, we will see and discuss

some video of dramatherapy group session that using Comedia dell'arte to find their role and

counter-role.

Each mask will be given information on: name, status, props, stance, walks, movements, gesture,

speech, characteristics, relationships, plot function.

Raffaella Perrotta, Dramatherapist, Actress, Trainer, Supervisor. Graduated in “Theatre in

Education” at Dams (Turin University), Dramatherapist graduated at Lecco’s School of Art-

Terapies. Master in Social Theatre at Cattolica University (Milan).

President of Spid; Tutor, Supervisor and Theacher of Dramatherapy and Education (Lecco’s School

of Art-terapies); Co-founder of the group “Dramatherapy Study and research”

(www.drammaterapia.net) and Fattore3 (www.fattoretre.it); Member of the Association Caminante

Associazione di Volontariato (dramatherapy). Works as Dramatherapist (Self Employed) with

children, adults, psychiatrics, people with Down syndrome, autistic people, people with various

disabilities and disempowered groups.

WORKSHOP - SALVO PITRUZZELLA - Down to the roots: Unearthing empathy in the

dramatic process – 12.00-14.00, Room 4

‘What is below is like that which is above,

and what is above is like that which is below,

to accomplish the miracles of the one thing’

(The Emerald Table).

In my latest book, Drama, Creativity and Intersubjectivity, I maintained that the dramatic process in

itself, whatever its narrative contents might be, has the power of reawakening our intersubjective

matrix, which, according to the new paradigm of human nature emerging from the recent

interdisciplinary researches on the subject, is the deepest root of our being. Being an inborn

predisposition, it manifest itself in early infancy, fostering the baby’s abilities of emotional

attunement and cross-modal communication, and persists as the life-long foundation of any further

development of people’s interpersonal relationships. Although such a process can be blocked or

hindered by life’s events, and concealed under layers of fear, suspicion and destructiveness, it

remains in each person as a potentiality that can be restored and fulfilled. In dramatherapy, this task

is accomplished in a gentle and respectful way, opening the affective and emotional channels,

promoting an expressive use of the body, and fostering the recovery of people’s primal tendency

toward cross-modal (i.e. intersemiotic) communication. They can grow to balance Buber’s

‘fundamental words’ I-Tou and I-It, and eventually discover what my late lamented mentor Roger

Grainger called Betweenness, the space between people that at the same time divides and connects.

Roger had some brilliant intuitions on dramatherapy’s profound humanness, and on the ways it can

allow people, through simple, visible actions, to unearth their hidden intersubjective resources. His

ideas are rooted in his visions of ritual and theatre as places where betweenness can unfold itself,

and concern not only dramatherapy’s methods and theories, but also its message at an ethical and

spiritual level, from which a novel, powerful and overarching notion of empathy emerges.

The workshop is aimed at experimenting with these ideas, exploring the three phase of the process,

and trying to identify along its flow those ‘states of grace’ that herald change.

Salvo Pitruzzella is Dramatherapy course leader at the Arts Therapy Centre, Lecco, Italy, and

lecturer in Arts Education and Theatrical Direction at the Fine Arts Academy of Bari, Italy. He has

been working for seventeen years in a day centre for young people with personality disorders. He

has widely published on dramatherapy, drama in education, and creativity theories, including

Introduction to Dramatherapy: Person and Threshold, issued by Routledge in 2004.

WORKSHOP - SUE JENNINGS - Deep Play into Drama: a model for Dramatherapy – 12.00-

14.00, Room 5

An experiential workshop that takes us on a journey from the primeval swamp to the play, from the

play to the Play: personal experience of chaos and order.

Participants are invited to journal their experience and reflect on the journey through stages of

playfulness and consider their relevance for dramatherapy. Please wear comfortable clothes for

messy play.

Sue Jennings PhD is a Play and Dramatherapist, social anthropologist and author. She has

pioneered Dramatherapy in UK, Greece, Israel, Czech Republic and Romania. She has established

'Neuro-Dramatic-Play' and 'Embodiment-Projection-Role' as a basis for understanding both

attachment and dramatic development across cultures. She is Visiting Professor at HELP

University, Kuala Lumpur and President of the Romanian Association for Play Therapy and

Dramatherapy. Sue is a prolific author of 40 books (6 by Routledge), and many chapters, and is

currently preparing her 'Selected Works: Thither and back again' for publication by Routledge in

2016. Her PhD thesis was published as Theatre, Ritual and Transformation: the Senoi Temiars, by

Routledge in 1995.

WORKSHOP - ELLEN FOYN BRUUN AND DAVID KEIR WRIGHT - Voices from within and

without – Echoes from nature – 12.00-14.00, Room 6

This experiential workshop will focus on vocal expression and listening. With the figure of Echo as

a dramatic character and metaphor we will explore how imitation and mirroring relates to

intersubjective resonance and attunement. To initiate transformational processes we will work with

the myth from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and William Wordsworth’s poem: Yes, it was the mountain

echo.

According to Ovid, Echo was a beautiful nymph whose one failing was that she was fond of talking

and always would have the last word. When Juno discovered that Echo had helped the nymphs

escape after they had amused themselves with her husband Jupiter, she cursed Echo with these

words: You shall forfeit the use of that tongue with which you have cheated me, except for that one

purpose you are so fond of—reply. You shall still have the last word, but no power to speak first.

The voice of Echo can only react. There is always an answer, the repetition of the last words.

However, in William Wordsworth’s poem the notion of mirroring is not just a copy: Like – but Oh,

how different.

Can we hear this reactive calling from our own nature? Do we recognize our voice rebounding from

rocks, mountains and the trees? Being receptive with an open non-judgmental mind requires that we

develop sensitivity and empathy to the inner voices and the echoes from our own nature and

instinctual yearning for healthy self-regulation.

Our subjective identity is polyvocal and constantly being constructed by ourselves in a fluid state of

being and becoming, as subjectsobjects. In dramatherapy we seek to provide a safe space for each

participant and give them the opportunity to vocalize and release blocked patterns thus promoting

flexibility, resilience and agency.

Ellen Foyn Bruun works as Associate Professor at The Norwegian University of Science and

Technology (NTNU). She is a Dramatherapist (Sesame) and Associate teacher of Fitzmaurice®

voicework. Her professional background is stage directing, playwriting and dramaturgy. At NTNU

she is head of Drama and Theatre Studies and the main teacher of a module in Dramatherapy. Her

theoretical and practical research seeks to develop holistic and embodied drama- and theatre based

practices and transformative learning processes. Ellen’s work has spanned a variety of groups: such

as refugees, homeless, elderly, children and adults with learning difficulties. Ellen has published

several articles, written plays and contributed to books on drama and theatre practice.

David Keir Wright, MPhil, Independent Drama Practitioner-Researcher. Member of the Norwegian

Drama Education Association, Associate Member of the Roy Hart International Arts Association

and Associate Member of IDEA (International Drama/Theatre in Education Association). David

studied drama in Scotland, England, Denmark and Norway. He pioneered drama education in

Scandinavia in the 70’s and 80’s. Over the past six years David hascontributed to the field of

dramatherapywith his practical expertise and knowledgeon British Dramatherapy Conferences and

European Arts Therapies Conferences.Current research interest is the integration of voiceworkin

drama practices – in drama education and dramatherapy. He has co-authored two books on drama

and theatre in Scandinavia and contributed with articles to conference publications and international

journals.

PERFORMANCE – 15.30-16.00

MAGDA CERNEA - “The dice of life” - 15.30-16.00, Amphitheatre

"The dice life" is a performance, which is part of the national project "Carousel masks". The project

was initiated in 2016 by « Audiosofia Association» with the support of the Community Foundation

and Mol Romania and its main aim is supporting the deaf children with cochlear implant.

The performance sets its focus on the experience of learning verbal communication of the deaf

children. All the themes involved in this process (e.g. trauma, resilience, family issues, etc.) are

played through metaphors and dramatherapy techniques.

The performance will be played by a mixed group of 22 children (15 deaf children and 7 with

normal hearing).

Magdalena Cernea is psychologist and audiologist with training in play and dramatherapy. She has

over 15 years experience in working with deaf children, with cochlear implant and hearing aids in

Bucharest, Romania.

She is part of the organizing team of cochlear implant national team for Romania. She is national

clinical director “Healthy Hearing” for Special Olympics and vicepre president of “ Audiosofia

Association” and “Audiology Association of Romania”.

PAPERS AND WORKSHOPS SESSION 4 – 16.00-18.00

PAPER - SUSANA PENDZIK AND EDNA LESHEM - A cultural/ ethnic/religious Mosaic

against all odds: Dramatherapy in Israel, 16.00-18.00, Amphitheatre

Mosaic is the art of creating images by assembling together small pieces of colored glass, stone, or

other materials; it is a combination of diverse elements that produce some kind of Gestalt.

Dramatherapy in Israel has developed as a Mosaic, in which practitioners from different cultures,

ethnicities and religions have had to assemble their unique approach. Although each culture has to

cope with its own dilemmas and difficulties endeavoring to find ways to translate dramatherapy into

different languages and idiosyncrasies, and to develop its particular approach, some unique

approaches as well as creative forms of collaborative coexistence have been achieved, in the midst

of an incredibly odd situation: amid war, armed conflict, terror, and trauma.

This presentation will give an overview of the ways in which dramatherapy has evolved in Israel; it

will show how dramatherapy is currently used, being particularly noticeable in the educational

system, in the remarkable work on trauma (among others, initiated by Prof. Mooli Lahad), in the

attempt to bridge and develop communication between conflicting populations, and in the social

services (women’s shelters, older people, prisons).

Edna Leshem, M.A. Dramatherapist, Music Therapist, and Psychotherapist, is Head of I.C.E.T – the

Israeli Association of Creative and Expressive Therapies [Y.A.H.A.T], and formerly served as the

representative of the Dramatherapy modality at the Association. Edna is a teacher at the Graduate

Program of Arts Therapies in Haifa University. She is a senior supervisor, and has experience

working with individuals and groups, particularly in Special Education schools, Mental Health

institutions, and with battered women. She has also done group work on grief and death, and has a

private practice.

Susana Pendzik, PhD. RDT, Head of the Dramatherapy MA Program at Tel Hai Academic College,

Galilee, is an accredited supervisor by I.C.E.T. (Israeli Association of Creative and Expressive

Therapies), a registered member of NADTA (North American Drama Therapy Association), and a

founder and honorary member of the Swiss Dramatherapy Association. Susana lectures at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Swiss Dramatherapy Institute, and conducts workshops

worldwide. She has published many articles on drama therapy, including a book on Action

techniques with abused women, co-edited Assessment in Drama Therapy (2012), and is currently

co-editing a book on the Self in Performance with Renee Emunah and David Johnson.

PAPER - SHOSHI KEISARI - Life-crossroads on stage: A life story dramatherapy group with

older adults, 16.00-18.00, Amphitheatre

This presentation examines the contribution of a therapeutic intervention of dramatherapy group

with older adults in which narrative elements of life stories are used.

Life stories become more important in old age, when older adults face their last chance to sum up

their life and its meaning. The protocol examined here focuses on working with Life-crossroadsas a

way of crafting the most rudimentary life story. During the process life-crossroads were animated

into dramatic imagesenacted in front of the group. The dramatic role allows participates to bring

together the main themes emerging from the life story in order to foster process of meaning making.

Within the dramatic space, the individual can examine other ways of looking at major events

experienced in his/her life and imbue the memories and the link between them with a new meaning.

The study involved 55 subjects.Participants were members of existing groups that meet on a regular

basis. To estimate the effectiveness of this protocol, the intervention group (n=27) was compared on

key indicators of mental well-being with a control group (n=28) (care as usual), using a before-after

study design.

In all the indices examined, there was significant interaction between time (before and after) and

groups (experimental group vs. control group).Our findings confirm that the therapeutic

intervention positively improved measures of depressive symptoms and psychological well-being.

The contribution of this research lies in the development of therapeutic intervention that allows the

individual to address his life story in a succinct mannerusing the dramatic space. The therapeutic

intervention has positive affect on mental well-being of older adults and can be used in a focused

and short-term group treatment.

Shoshi Keisari, drama therapist and doctoral student in Haifa University. On my work I meet

children, adolescents, adults, older people and their life stories. I work in public and private

frameworks. In 2007 I got my dramatherapist certificate from Tel-Hai College, Israel; In 2014 I got

my Master's degree at the school of creative arts therapies in Haifa University. My research follows

on the integration between life review therapy and playback theatre with older adults. I am a mother

of four children.

WORKSHOP - LENKA FISHEROVA AND KAMILA LAUDOVA - Boundaries between drama

in education and dramatherapy – 16.00-18.00, Room 1

This workshop led by Lenka Fisherová and Kamila Laudová of the Czech Dramatherapy

Association will take a more practical, hands-on look at the issues raised in Lenka Fisherova´s

presentation "Boundaries between drama in education and dramatherapy", This presentation looks

at issues raised by a qualitative analysis of interviews with experts from the fields of Drama in

Education and Dramatherapy.

The workshop will look at the following questions....... Are practitioners really either just educating

or just healing? Is it alright to meet people´s personal issues and deal with them in educational

settings or should this be left in the hands of therapists? Do teachers have the competence to heal as

well as to teach and visa versa? The presenters have often met with worries, that crossing the

boundaries between the disciplines can be counterproductive and even harmful to clients. At the

same time many find it difficult not to cross them, partly because the boundaries are not clear and

partly because both disciplines have a lot in common and are naturally interconnected.

These questions are especially pertinent to the situation of dramatherapy in the Czech Republic,

where the author is from. The field of dramatherapy has some tradition there, but it is not yet clearly

established or defined and practitioners are often faced with an uncertainty, what exactly belongs to

which area of drama use and what defines the space of their work and their role in it. The workshop

leaders aim to work through a series of activities to shed light on these questions.

Lenka Fisherova studied Dramatherapy under Sue Jennings and is one of the founding members of

The Czech Dramatherapy Association. She has an MA in psychology and special education from

the Faculty of Education at Charles University in Prague. She is also currently working on her Phd

thesis "Boundaries between drama in education and dramatherapy."

Lenka is also an experienced actress and drama workshop leader. She has worked for many years

with The Bear Eductional Theatre in Prague, performing and leading workshops for school

students. She has further experience teaching at university as well as in special educational

facilities.

Kamila Laudova

WORKSHOP - PAZIT ILAN BERCOVICH AND RONEN KOWALSKY - Psychodynamic

Group DramaTherapy through Playback Theater, Inspired by the Relational Approach –

16.00-18.00, Room 2

Playback Theater has become an extremely popular Drama Therapeutic tool in Israel through the

last two decades. In parallel to its flourishing in the communal, social and artistic fields, many

therapists use it in their practice with wide range of populations. Playback Theatre is a part of most

Drama Therapy training programs in Israel, today.

The use of Playback Theaterin group psychotherapywith a dynamic orientation is an evolving

Drama therapy method.As group members perform stories from their lives and inner world as a

theatrical improvisation, an intersubjective field is createdaround the story and the mental content it

portrays,that enables the symbolic expression of dissociated inner roles. During this process, group

members switch between "playing the other", and examining the experience and practicingthe

ability to observe the situation from the other’s perspective, at the same time that they "allow the

other to play me", thus expanding theirview of the self from the perspective of the other. This

process provides an ongoing training inside the intersubjective field in empathy and understanding

of others and working through the difficulties involved.

In the workshop, the participants will practice Playback theatre methods in the above orientation, by

which the framework of dynamic group Drama therapy will be demonstrated. It will present the

existence of relationality as the core essence of theatrical resonance. The workshop will enable to

experience the potential therapeutic effect of psychotherapeutic Playback Theater that stems from

the mutual experience in the intersubjective field, which carries the developmental transition, from

"self and other" being split, to a perception of "relational individualism".

Pazit Ilan Bercovich, M.A.,Drama therapist, supervisor, family and couple psychotherapist. Pazit

teaches in several drama Therapy training programs, at the Israeli Institute of Psychotherapeutic

Playback Theater, and supervises clinical seminars at the Winnicott Center (Israel). She is the

founder of "Marot", a professional Playback theatre group that actively practices and performs since

2002, and is among the founders of the Israeli Playback Theatre Association, actively serving in its

committees. She has imparted drama therapy and playback theatre workshops in many professional

conferences, is a member of ICET (the Israeli Association of Creative and Expressive Therapies), in

which she acts as the Head of the Exceptional Cases Authorization Committee. She works with

children adolescents, adults, couples and families, at the TELEM Institute and in private practice.

Ronen Kowalsky, M.A., Founder and Head of the Israeli Institute of Psychotherapeutic Playback

Theater, and lecturer and supervisor at Winnicott Center, Tel-Aviv, The Academic College of

Society and Arts, and The Drama-Therapy Institute, Tel-Hai Academic College. Clinical

psychologist and supervisorin private practice, Candidate at the Israeli Institute of Group Analysis.

Former Supervising Psychologist at “AMCHA” – The Israeli center of psycho-social support for

Holocaust survivors and the second generation. Actor, playwright, theatre director, and founder of

"The Left Bank Theater Group", and "Third Generation" German-Israeli theater project.Ronen has

been awarded the European ARENA prize for young directors. He has lectured and conducted

workshops in numerous conferences, and investigates the therapeutic applications of Playback

Theater since 1991.

WORKSHOP - STELIOS KRASANAKIS, MARIA SCHUBERT AND ANDRONIKI

NIKOLALAKI - The addicted Body – 16.00-18.00, Room 3

Our place lies here in the woods

with our branches cut, our trunks half burned

our roots stuck among the rocks'

Aris Alexandrou 'Undelivered letters'

Addictus: Roman law that abolishes every freedom and turns into slaves, those who have fallen to

heinous actions.

In every stage of a human’s life, we are depended on others, we are ‘addicted’ to them. Starting

from the first dependence, the relationship of a mother and her child already from her pregnancy,

we build relationships and put ourselves into situations of dependence, in order to survive.

Dependence often drives to addiction, when the addicted person is not allowed to grow and mature

outside the ‘mother’s nest’.

Addiction is connected not only with the psyche and mind, but also to the body. The addicted body

suffers the roundabouts of the mind and soul, adopting dysfunctional roles, hurting itself and losing

its meaning. Dramatherapy works in order to change the dysfunctional roles, to alter the life roles of

addiction and co-addiction. It helps clients to re-invent themselves, to create new roles, to solve

unsolved issues of the past. If addiction is a still picture, Dramatherapy will help the person to find

its movement, to create a whole life’s movie instead of living through fragments.

In this workshop we will look into the different gestures of the addicted, we will search the

boundaries between the victimised and the victimizer body and we will investigate the different

roles that have conquered the addicted person’s life. This workshop aims to create a series of

sculpted images that indicate not only the birth of addiction in a person’s personality, but also the

stages of change that are visible in the person’s body.

Stelios Krasanakis studied Medicine at the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki and specialized

in Psychiatry. Meanwhile, he studied theatre at the Review of Dramatic Art and Dramatherapy at

the Institute of Dramatherapy.

Stelios directs the drug rehabilitation program “THISEAS”. He is the creator of the Dramatherapy

Institute “AEON”, which offers education, therapy and research.

He teaches Drama therapy at Kapodistriako University of Athens in Theater Department and

collaborates with other Universities in Greece

He was responsible for the book series “Roles in life and roles in the theatre”.

He has directed 25 theatrical performances and he is the Artistic Director of Naxos Festival.

He is member of the Greek Psychiatric Association, president of the Art and Psychiatric division,

founder member of the Greek Association dramatherapists and playtherapists, member of World

Council of Psychotherapy, of I.T.A.C.A., of the Greek Director’s Association, of the Greek Council

of Clinical Social Research, founder member (treasurer) of European Federation of Drama therapy

(EFD)

He has participated in more than 90 International conferences with abstracts and workshops,

meanwhile his articles are in scientific journals and books.

Maria Schubert

Androniki Nikolalaki

WORKSHOP - JOHANNES JUNKER AND BETTINA STOLTENHOFF- ERDMANN - "Come

on ... Let‘s Play", Drama Therapy with Children and Adolescents – 16.00-18.00, Room 4

In this workshop we look at drama therapy treatment for children (i.e. ADHD, attachment

disorders) and adolescents (i.e. personality development disorders, depression, eating disorders)

covering a variety of illnesses.

We are introducing several tested methods that have been applied in Germany in clinics as well as

in independent practices. Even when suffering from mental problems, children and adolescents

often find it easy to get involved in games, phantasy and stories. This is how during therapy we can

activate the healthy aspects of their personality on a symbolic level and thus support a healthy

development. We can also create realities in drama therapy where the child may experience feelings

of acceptance and security and can thus be „nourished” retrospectively. The structures inherent in

games, role-play and improvisations help to accept the rules that are necessary to develop contact

and conflict skills in everyday life. We use cabin building, stories and various forms of

improvisations during the workshop and also include case studies.

Johannes Junker is Professor for Dramatherapie, head of the Insitute for Arts Thearapies in the

University of Nürtingen-Geislingen; specialised in the psychiatrie working with childs, teens and

adults for more than 21 years

Bettina Stoltenhoff-Erdmann is Dramatherapist, Heilpraktikerin für Psychotherapie, nurse;

specialiste as dramatherapist in psychiatrie / psychotherapie / work in the emeinschaftskrankenhaus

Herdecke; trainer and lecture for dramatherapie.

WORKSHOP - MATHIEU VAN DER STRAETEN, LIEVEN DESOMVIELE – Bebop

interaction: The rose of axen and DvT – 16.00-18.00, Room 5

De rose of axen is an instrument that can guide people in order to map human interaction. It is

constructed in the late 70s in Gent in Belgium by Ferdinand Cuvelier. He started working with the

rose of Leary but soon he acknowledged that parts were missing in order to map human interaction

in a accurate way. Therefore he constructed a more accurate rose.

During this workshop we will explore this interactive dramatherapeutic approach thrue enactment.

Furthermore we will try to combine the received insights with concepts of DvT (developmental

transformations). Is it possible to create something like ‘bebop rose of axen’. Is it possible to

dimensionalize the different axen and “inputs”. We will welcome you humbly in our workshop.

Lieven Desomviele teaches in the dramatherapy program at Artevelde University college Gent,

Belgium and he is a self-employed Dramatherapist. He is also one of the founders and former

president of the Belgian association of the Arts therapies. He is creativitycoach in the centre for

creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship at Arteveldeuniversity college where he facilitates

brainstormsessions. He teaches about the creative person and creative processes such as service

design thinking and Osborn brainstorm methodology. He is course leader from the postgraduate

program Innovative change management.

Mathieu Van der Straeten is a Belgian dramatherapist who is working in a psychiatric institution in

Zelzate. There he has been working with multiple population, often in combination with a substance

abuse. He is teaching dramatherapy at Artevelde University college Gent. At both places he has

been practicing^experimenting with DvT for serveral years. He is the former president of the

Belgian association of Arts therapy (BVCT-ABAT) and Vice-president of the Belgian department

of Dramatherapy.

WORKSHOP – ELSA VAN DEN BROEK - Dramatherapy & Schema therapy, so happy

together? – 16.00-18.00, Room 6

In this workshop you will be introduced into working with Dramatherapy & Schema therapy.

Schema therapy (Young et al. 2006) has been proven to be a very effective treatment for adults with

personality disorders, and has been ‘hot’ for years in treatment of difficult to treat patients with

severe personality disorders all over the world.

Many Dutch art therapists have started to integrate the ‘best of both’ formula in their work in the

last few years. Not only because the need for evidence based practice is so obvious. In the

Netherlands, dramatherapist have a hard time keeping their jobs, because the call for evidence, and

proof of effect is very loud. Dramatherapist aren’t the only ones dealing with these issues, and a lot

of dramatherapists are very happily collaborating with psychotherapists for instance. These joint

forces are very powerful and very rewarding for clients. A good opportunity for the dramatherapist

to show the unique expertise that is beyond words.

So yes, if you ask me, Dramatherapy & Schema therapy are So Happy Together.

The experiential work that is specific for Schema therapy has many parallels with the drama

therapeutic work with roles. It is inevitably and logical to combine the work and start integrating

best of both. Time to share and experience it yourself.

Participants will be introduced in working with schema modes in various ways. Introduction to the

schemamode-model through the Bernstein mode-cards (Bernstein, 2015) and of course by playing

with the different modes

The workshop is highly experiential, so please bring some case examples of your clients (e.g. play

the role of your own client) and experience possibilities that this integration can bring to the work

of the Dramatherapist.

Elsa van den Broek is a Dutch dramatherapist at FPC de Rooyse Wissel (Venray, the Netherlands),

lecturer at HAN University of Applied Sciences (Nijmegen, the Netherlands). Her work the last 17

years is predominantly in forensic psychiatric centres for the treatment of male TBS patients. TBS

is treatment on behalf of the state; her patients are male offenders with psychiatric disabilities.

She has over 20 years of clinical experience in adult and adolescent mental health. Her specialism is

treating male offenders with personality disorders. In this work she started integrating Schema

therapy (Young et al. 2006). She started doing research, a pilot study, as part of a RCT on Schema

therapy in treatment of forensic patients with personality disorders that resulted in publication in the

Arts in Psychotherapy (Van den Broek et al, 2011).