Healing aspects of drama and theatre and perspectives in dramatherapy

Abstract

The intentional use of healing aspects of drama and theatre as a therapeutic process is globally known as dramatherapy (BADT). Dramatherapy considers the body as an excellent therapeutic tool. The process is born, grows, and develops through the body. The reflection on the body is intertwined with the use of the voice in dramatherapy. The theatrical space, inhabited by the body and animated by the voice, thus becomes the place of representation. In dramatherapy, the scenic space is the place of the therapeutic relationship that takes place over time. The play corresponds to the driving force of experience. Mediation objects represent possibilities and tools that a dramatherapist can use to animate the playful experience. In order to have the adequate tools for dramatherapy, it is important to know the potential of this mediation that can be acquired through a serious and constant training path. In order to use such tools in a coherent and functional way, it is essential to know the characteristics of the people the therapist is addressing to and to establish work objectives shared by the client and by the work team. Working with competence and professionalism can reveal unexpected perspectives.