Facilitating empathy through drama therapy for clients and clinicians across the spectrum of psychiatric care

Abstract

Facilitating empathy is a necessary component of treatment in psychiatric care. Drama therapy provides clinicians and clients a clinical and aesthetic lens through which to establish and make meaning of the therapeutic relationship. As a coactive participant, the drama therapist joins the client in performance and collaborates to cocreate consensus reality to explore the origins and functions of symptoms, while rehearsing ways to live with and beyond their psychiatric diagnosis. The same drama therapy core processes, such as embodiment and role-playing, that are utilized in the delivery of care may also be used by the clinician to build embodied empathy and therapist role responsiveness. With a focus on facilitating empathy, drama therapy in psychiatric rehabilitation positions itself as an essential approach to person-centered, collaborative care.