Learn how drama therapy uses playacting and theatre to improve mental health in this free online psychotherapy course.

Did you know that children can improve their friendships through drama therapy? This psychotherapy describes the many benefits offered by theatre-based activity and outlines many creative approaches to helping patients improve their mental health. We first explain the concept of drama therapy and show you how it may help people of all ages during difficult or tumultuous times. We then discuss the creation and manifestation of metaphors and symbols and examine therapeutic core processes such as dramatic projection, playing and transformation.

The course explores the processes encountered in the developmental and integrated models and lays out their distinctive characteristics, frameworks and positive effects. We then compare the methods used to provide drama therapy for children, adolescents and adults. We discuss the taxonomy of roles, role model therapy goals and the steps involved in helping patients. The course explains how the strategies of psychodrama can be harnessed to promote understanding and empathy and identifies its goals and instruments.

We investigate the assessment instruments used in drama therapy, including ‘six-piece story making’ (6PSM), and the methodologies utilised to evaluate drama therapy sessions. Lastly, we study some codes of conduct followed by drama therapists to maintain ethical boundaries in their therapy sessions. Drama therapy implements the power of theatre and roleplaying to help patients reflect and modify life experiences to improve their wellbeing and mental health. Sign up for this psychotherapy course to learn how to employ drama therapy and add a powerful therapeutic tool to your arsenal.