In/visible faces: Dramatherapy as a tool for creating a space of possibilities with refugees

Abstract

Between June and October 2017, Serbian NGO Talas Creative Therapies conducted dramatherapy workshops with eight male refugees between the ages of 14 and 30 in Belgrade, Serbia. They came from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, and were attempting to reach Western Europe by crossing through the Balkan Route. Through the use of fictional characters, dramatic enactment, poetry, art and music, we focused on the healthy components of people’s personalities and helped them to cope with life struggles. The dramatherapy method helped to facilitate the processes of healing, integration, and growth, and to restore communication through creative and often non-verbal means. This article will examine the potential of the dramatherapy method when working with refugees, while exploring three key aspects of our process: the development of a model of dramatherapy with refugees in Serbia; lessons learned; and the outcomes of the work seen through the development of the participants.