Date of Award

Spring 5-16-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Clinical Mental Health Counselling

First Advisor

Dave Mowers

Abstract

Compassion fatigue and burnout, post-COVID-19 pandemic, are still significant factors in the departure of nurses from the healthcare profession. Despite the identification of the causes of burnout and compassion fatigue in the workplace, and the identification of mental health practices that would support healthcare workers like nurses, healthcare organizations are doing little to provide the necessary resources. Drama therapy would provide a therapeutic framework to develop trauma stewardship, the practice in which individuals and organizations tend to the hardships and trauma faced in today’s world. Only a few studies exist that identify the benefits of using drama therapy to support nurses. There is also no current research that identifies trauma stewardship as a means to reduce feelings of burnout and compassion fatigue. To bridge this gap, this capstone thesis focuses on the development of a drama therapy intervention rooted in Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others (van Dernoot Lipsky & Burk, 2009) to help nurses develop trauma stewardship on a personal level, which will then positively impact the healthcare organization itself. Further research on the use of drama therapy and expressive arts therapy in hospital settings for nurses and healthcare workers would be beneficial.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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