Date of Award

Spring 5-19-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Tomoyo Kawano

Abstract

This project focuses on the use of drama therapy as an adjunct therapy with psychoeducation to increase insight, engagement, and information retention with adults who are managing severe mental illness. The facilitator (this writer) utilized drama therapy and psychoeducation to aid adult clients (20-75years of age) in a goal-setting group. It was conducted with a mixed diagnoses group in a community mental health agency partial care program. The group was made up of English speaking only, Spanish speaking only, and bi-lingual clients. Most of the clients receive government benefits such as Medicaid, SSI, etc. The study took place over the course of 10 weeks, totaling 9 weekly sessions. Participant insight, engagement, and information retention was tracked through the facilitator's journal, worksheet packets, and agency participation tally sheets. It was observed that the use of gesture and embodiment, in this particular group, increased client engagement as well as information retention. This writer gained insight into what it entails to document reliable observations while creating a method. The difficulty in doing so was primarily due to the facilitator working without a co-facilitator or reliable outside clinical observer. The process of tracking progress in a group with frequent turn over and inconsistent attendance was also a large challenge for the facilitator. However, it was apparent that there were emerging drama therapy core processes (Jones, 1996) that aided the group in personal growth.

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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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