Date of Award

Spring 5-16-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Expressive Therapies

First Advisor

Dave Mowers

Abstract

This literature review explores how drama therapy and yoga function as systems of regulation that support psychological and, potentially, spiritual transformation. Using the window of tolerance as a unifying framework, the review examines how regulation enables the integration of emotional and physiological experience. Neurobiological research demonstrates that trauma disrupts regulatory capacity through alterations in brain function and arousal systems. Yoga is presented as an embodied practice integrating breath, movement, and meditation to support autonomic regulation and stress reduction. Drama therapy is examined as a relational modality that utilizes play, aesthetic distance, and symbolic enactment to facilitate emotional processing and integration. Across both approaches, transformation is understood as emerging through the capacity to remain present with experience while maintaining regulation. These findings suggest that integrative, embodied approaches offer meaningful pathways for therapeutic change and support continued integration within clinical practice.

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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