Dramatherapy, first established in the early 1960s, is being increasingly practised in a range of therapeutic settings and is of growing interest to theatre practitioners and teachers. The Handbook of Dramatherapy brings together five authors who are all practising dramatherapists, working in clinical, artistic and educational fields. Their clinical experience includes preventive and community-based work, as well as dramatherapy in long and short stay psychiatry, work with elderly people, forensic dramatherapy, work with abused children and adolescents, and children with learning difficulties. An easy-to-read introduction to the major contrasting models of dramatherapy, the book looks at the developmental approach, the use of role theory, the ideas of the theatre of expression' and the theatre of healing', and presents an integrated model of dramatherapy. The authors explain the theoretical background of these approaches, show how each works in practice in a particular situation, and suggest how it might be adapted to other settings.
They also describe the historical background, explain the difference between dramatherapy and psychodrama, discuss assessment and evaluation techniques, and how to develop more appropriate research methods to address the aims and goals of dramatherapy. The Handbook of Dramatherapy provides a comprehensive basis for theory and practice, and will be a valuable source of reference for all mental health professionals as well as students of dramatherapy and theatre.
