Trauma and dramatherapy: dreams, play and the social construction of culture

Abstract

The article explores the ways in which the therapeutic potentials of drama can connect to individuals and groups who have experienced ‘trauma’. Three questions are used to structure the enquiry: Are dreams and dramatherapy related to trauma, and if so how? Can we see trauma as socially constructed? Can play help to resolve people's experiences of trauma? First the relationship between dreams and dramatherapy is discussed as a way of illuminating some of the processes which can occur in work involving those who have experienced trauma. This is followed by a review of the relationships between the concept that trauma is socially constructed and dramatherapy. The third section explores how play features in dramatherapy's engagement with clients who have experienced trauma. A case example of Abui, a child refugee from Sierra Leone, is examined from the perspective of the three questions.