Drama therapy
Choose a start date
- Course Code: DPP012
- Dates: 01/06/24 - 22/06/24
- Time: 14:00 - 17:30
- Taught: Sat, Daytime
- Duration: 4 sessions (over 4 weeks)
- Location: Keeley Street
- Tutor: Dan Skili
Course Code: DPP012
Choose a start date
Duration: 4 sessions (over 4 weeks)
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Centre for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
What is the course about?
An intensive course in Dramatherapy which gives you a clear and concise insight into the profession. A very practical course which aims to make you feel comfortable enough to explore Dramatherapy for yourself.
Dramatherapy is a form of psychological therapy in which all of the performance arts are utilised within the therapeutic relationship. Dramatherapists are both artists and clinicians and draw on their trainings in theatre/drama and therapy to create methods to engage clients in effecting psychological, emotional and social changes. The therapy gives equal validity to body and mind within the dramatic context; stories, myths, play-texts, puppetry, masks and improvisation are examples of the range of artistic interventions a Dramatherapist may employ. These will enable the client to explore difficult and painful life experiences through an indirect approach. Learners will receive a Continued Professional Development (CPD) certificate on the completion of the whole course - strictly 100% attendance of all course dates is required to qualify for this certificate. As a CPD certified course your employer may agree to pay for your enrolment.
What will we cover?
• Introduction to Dramatherapy as a profession.
• Storytelling and Story Enactment in dramatherapy.
• How Carl Gustav Jung's Archetypes plays a major role in the way we work with storytelling and story enactment in dramatherapy.
• Working with story in dramatherapy, using relevant themes, topics, and metaphors.
• Identity workshop, increasingly relevant in our society, and frequently used in a dramatherapy context. Who am I? What are the components which make me, me? What and who do I identify with? How would I like to be seen by the world around me?
Please note that acting classes by their very nature can involve exercises and the exploration of material that some students may find challenging.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
The course will give you a clear insight into what it is to work as a registered dramatherapist when working with Dramatherapists in a professional context and other settings. The course would offer those students, who are thinking of doing an MA course in Dramatherapy, a much better idea of what to expect at university and could help you decide whether Dramatherapy is for you as a profession.
• Practise Dramatherapy techniques.
• Participate with ease in improvisation “thinking on your feet”.
• Communicate more effectively through voice and movement skills.
• Be aware of the therapeutic ideas of Dramatherapy and C.G Jung.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
It is a beginner’s course although a certain maturity is needed and an interest in people. There are no qualifications necessary other than an interest in the subject matter. However, the course would be especially useful for social workers, counsellors, nurses and teachers who wish to use drama as a tool in the workplace and/or to actors who wish to deepen their interpretation of their roles.
In order to get the most from the course you must be able to:
• Listen and respond to instructions and feedback.
• Take part in class discussions.
• Work within groups and pairs safely.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
Practical participation in dramatic exercises.
Group work.
Sharing/showing of dramatic work.
Reflective discussion of insights on the journey of the individual in a group setting.
Background reading to take home.
Some limited personal sharing will be encouraged, although this is optional at this level.
As part of the course content, your tutor may record your image for initial and ongoing assessment purposes. You are entitled to decline to participate in the recording of your image.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
No extra costs. Comfortable clothing should be worn for movement and story enactment workshops. Please bring paper and pens and relevant books will be recommended.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Other classes recommended at the City Lit in connection with Dramatherapy, would be Actors Movement classes, Physical Theatre, Jungian psychology classes and Storytelling for business and pleasure.
You may at this stage also feel a lot more confident when applying to do an MA in Dramatherapy.
Dan graduated as a Dramatherapist from Central School of Speech and Drama in 2000 and has nearly 20 years of extensive experience working with people in various settings. He is employed by the London Borough of Sutton as a Dramatherapist for the Sutton Clinical Health Team and has worked there for over 14 years. As the placement manager, he also supervises Dramatherapy Roehampton University students. Dan has taught drama therapy at City Lit since 2011, and now also runs The Acting room: developing potential, which is ideal for anyone who may require a little more time, support and adjustment to engage in the acting process. Dan regularly facilitates and make use of Forum Theatre, Playback Theatre and Gabriel Roth‘s 5 Rhythms, and recently worked with women and men who experience domestic abuse, in the London Borough of Greenwich. Dan’s more recent work, since 2017, includes facilitating ongoing therapy and therapeutic discussion groups for men. Dan is a registered Clinical Supervisor and offer supervision to all professionals who work in the Health and Caring professions and his private practice is in London Bridge next to Borough Market [see www.counselling-directory.org.uk]
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.