...DRAMA THERAPY

If you've read our 'The Company' page you may have noticed that a few of us mentioned coming to 'Nuts' following Drama Therapy. If you're anything like me, I had no idea such a thing existed so when I was offered it as part of my recovery I wasn't too keen. How was acting supposed to help me with the carnage that was my life post-suicide attempt! 

But it was Gerald who explained to me that it might help me to express what I can't put into words. That I might be able to 'act out' what is in my head, that I could do and say things in a dramatic (and safe) environment that I would never consider doing in reality. That role play wasn't something to be avoided like the plague (think 'teambuilding' at work - absolute cringefest), that it could actually be a useful tool. 

The standard slogan for mental health is 'talk to someone' and I completely agree. However, when you've got to a point where you can't put things into words because you can't make sense of anything, you're numb and you're wading through treacle, sometimes to just 'move' can lead to places you never thought possible. If you can't put into words how angry, distressed, confused or even happy you are, you can find a posture or a facial expression instead. In its simplest form, that is drama therapy. But it's not always acting or role play. Some drama therapists use imagery, be it pictures, shapes, figures or props - they can all be used as a device for expression. 

I asked Gerald to describe Drama Therapy through his eyes and he explained it perfectly -

 "I think, for me as a Dramatherapist, the most rewarding aspect of the work is watching folks, 'muck about' as I call it.  As an arts based therapy one of our purposes is to enable an individual or group to engage in a  creative process in order explore very complex and traumatic experiences.  We trust the creative measures that we put in place to gently guide the person to the trauma, through:  metaphor, analogy, images, music, drama, script, small world objects, sand-play, pebbles, shells objects... in fact by any creative means we can introduce.  I call it 'mucking about', because there is less confrontation in that than if we say, 'we are going to focus upon the trauma'.  Watching people, who have had difficult and traumatic childhoods, play and laugh and realize gently that they are in fact exploring the trauma is part of the reward; it's an understanding that creativity is inherent in all of us, and it is a tool we can all use.  It may meander its way towards the  answers for the questions we have, but it always arrives at them."

For me, it has literally saved my life. Coming out of my first crisis, my first overdose, not knowing who I was or what was happening to me, it allowed me to explore decades of buried emotions that never would have reached the surface, that never would have been faced. And it builds a degree of acceptance as you get to know yourself again, or maybe even for the first time, as you gradually start to heal. I can now say with absolute certainty that I know myself more now than I ever have. And that is massive.

So, if you're going through your own struggles with mental health issues maybe consider Drama Therapy. And if, like me you've never heard of it, hopefully these few words have given you a little insight. If you're a student wondering which road to go down in your career in Mental Healthcare, maybe consider becoming a Drama Therapist. People like me need people like you! 

KS