Date of Award

Spring 5-18-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Christine Mayor

Abstract

There are people of every age, race, religion, ability, socioeconomic status, and area of the world that identify as part of the queer community, and drama therapists have the opportunity to address their specific needs. The current literature regarding effective drama therapy with queer people is limited. Affirming and identity-focused psychotherapy that allows queer people to relate to one another has been found to be beneficial for this population. The discussed development of a method is designed to contribute to an understanding of the strengths and limitations drama therapy, specifically projective techniques, narrative writing, narrative performance, and small group embodiment have when implemented with queer adults, and how this work can create opportunities for identity reflection and expression. This method was implemented with queer adults at a partial hospitalization program, and it was observed that the use of projective objects, narrative writing, and narrative sharing led to vulnerable and detailed sharing of identity. Hesitation was observed in response to embodied interventions, which may be related to the discomfort many queer people have with their bodies. Future research should examine why projective techniques and the use of narratives appear to be comfortable interventions for this population, and why embodied interventions are more challenging. Drama therapists should continue to explore how their professional skills can best be applied to clinical work with queer adults.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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