Theatre of Self Expression

Exploring the relationship between traditional theatre and dramatherapy, Steve Mitchell details the major theatrical and therapeutic influences on the therapist's development of a 'Therapeutic Theatre'. In telling the story of his own search for such a form of theatre, the author sets out from his background as a theatre director and details his experiences with the work of other dramatherapists and psychodramatists, highlighting both the advantages and the shortcomings of their methods and demonstrating how, through studying the work of others, he was able to develop a model for his therapeutic work. The book will answer the considerable need for a text on the theoretical foundations of dramatherapy. Chapters on clinical practice illustrate how 'Therapeutic Theatre' can be used in both groupwork sessions and one-to-one dramatherapy, using clinical examples from the author's own work with the method. Two final chapters examine how a theatre company might operate within the framework of this method and explore its implications for training dramatherapists to work with it.