Dramatherapy is one of the creative arts approaches used in psychosocial intervention, alongside music therapy, dance therapy and art therapy. This approach can give students the chance to tell their stories and express their emotions through various drama-related media: character creation, exploration of metaphor, gestural expression, storytelling, object theatre or different forms of writing. In all cases, the artistic experiences that result from dramatherapy are designed to respect each person’s rhythm and limits, without any pressure to perform aesthetically.
In line with measure 4.1 of the Student Mental Health Action Plan, the psychosocial team at College Montmorency wanted to diversify its mental health support services by including dramatherapy. This complementary approach currently takes three forms:
- Individual intervention
- Group workshop
- Intercultural transition support group
The Station SME team met Mélodie Bérubé, drama therapist at College Montmorency, to find out more about the interventions in place.
Dramatherapy during an individual intervention
The dramatherapy offered to students as part of an individual follow-up enables them to externalise and project an emotional issue in an artistic form (a character, a story, a movement, an object, an image, a monologue, etc.). This projection provides an emotional distance from the issues presented by the student, enabling them to explore their relationship with them. To achieve this, the student and the drama therapist will take the time to question, explore perceptions, confront, encourage, create meaning, clarify, empathise with or normalise the externalised work as required.
The aim is to raise the student’s awareness, to initiate a transformation through art, and then to encourage the integration of this process into his or her personal life. This may take the form of the smallest step possible, for example, self-compassion, an emotional regulation strategy, expressing a limit, a step towards acceptance, etc.
Exercise example
A student creates a character, and then a monologue, representing his or her anxiety. Through this personification, the student explores the idea that he or she is not his or her anxiety, but rather has a relationship with it. A dialogue can then be established between this anxiety persona and a “future self”, enabling fears, hopes or internal resources to be addressed.
Dramatherapy in a group workshop
Dramatherapy tools can also enrich group workshops. These one-off workshops combine psychological education with playful exercises derived from drama therapy. Artistic expression then becomes a way for participants to link theory and experience, to explore concepts such as stress or self-talk and to open up space for introspection. The advantage of dramatherapy in a group context is that it allows the individual to limit the information shared if they so wish. As creativity often manifests itself in the form of metaphor, the participant can use artistic tools to create meaning with the theory and offer him or herself a moment of introspection without being obliged to share the meaning with the group as a whole.
Example of a group workshop
Two workshops aimed at taming stress using dramatherapy tools are being offered to all students at Collège Montmorency.
- The first is an introduction to stress and stress tolerance using object theatre. Students are invited to create an assemblage of symbolic objects representing their current stress, followed by a second creation representing tolerable stress.
- The second workshop looks at how self-talk can influence stress. The artistic medium here is the creation of characters in which certain types of thought are personified. Thoughts linked to self-criticism, for example, can be embodied in the creation of a character with specific characteristics, such as posture, clothes, facial expressions, tone of voice, etc.
What is object theatre?
Object theatre is a form of artistic expression in which objects become characters or elements in a story. Far from traditional puppets or sets, this art form plays on humour, symbolism, emotion and surprise. It makes artistic expression accessible, stimulates creativity and offers a new way of looking at the world.
Dramatherapy to support intercultural transition
At College Montmorency, drama therapy groups are offered on a voluntary basis to students in the francization programme. Most of them are in intercultural transition, and participants are invited to take part in 6 meetings focusing on key themes: transitions, landmarks, hope and the future, self-care, feelings of security and emotional regulation. The themes are explored through physical expression, gesture and movement, object theatre, the use of images and metaphors, and so on. Dramatherapy becomes a bridge between cultures: words give way to gestures, images, movement and symbolisation. This enables rich psychosocial support, without requiring a perfect command of the French language.
Exercise example
During a meeting, participants are invited to create a theatrical scene depicting a party that would be celebrated 100 years from now. This imaginary party would be organised by their descendants as a tribute to their courage and their migratory journey. Through this symbolic creation, the students often become aware of their strengths, while reconnecting with their hopes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the floor is given to students who have benefited from dramatherapy tools and to members of the psychosocial team at College Montmorency who are discovering and working with this approach.
Personally, I find that dramatherapy allows me to connect better with my feelings. I’m less intellectual, because my brain is preoccupied with a task. So this way I can trick my brain and drop my intellectualisation barrier. (Student)
For me, dramatherapy has enabled me to express myself in a different way from the norm. I’ve been able to put words to my emotions, or things that are difficult to express, using objects, art, and so on. (Student)
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Members of the psychosocial team at College Montmorency report that dramatherapy :
« … reaches out in a different way to students who might not consult a traditional medium. It also reaches students who have difficulty using verbal language to express themselves or their emotions.. » (Anick Lagacé, psychologist)
« …helps to break down isolation. The game allows sensitive and emotional subjects to be addressed. It also allows the expression of emotions that would not be socially accepted in some countries of origin. » (Marilou Forestier-Gauthier, social worker , and co-facilitator of dramatherapy groups for francization students )
“… is a superb way of addressing, expressing and acknowledging emotions without being overly confronted by the weight of words, which can sometimes “’retraumatise”’. It allows us to follow the student’s pace and give them a certain amount of control by being able to choose how and how far they are prepared to go in the intervention “ (Karen Métayer, social worker).
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Thanks to Mélodie Bérubé, drama therapist at Collège Montmorency, for her contribution to this article.
Further references and resources on dramatherapy
- Albertini. A (SD). L’art-thérapie vue par le prisme des neurosciences. Art-Therapie.
- Association des art-thérapeutes du Québec (site web)
- Bérubé. M (2021). Le Théâtre Image en Dramathérapie (vidéo)
- North American Drama Therapy (2021). What is a Drama Therapist?
- Rousseau, C., Gauthier, M.-F., Benoît, M., Lacroix, L., Moran, A., Viger Rojas, M.& Bourassa, D. (2006). Du jeu des identités à la transformation de réalités partagées : un programme d’ateliers d’expression théâtrale pour adolescents immigrants et réfugiés. Santé mentale au Québec, 31(2), 135–152.
- Yüksek. C (2018) Dealing with stress using social theatre techniques with young Syrian students adapting to a new educational system in Turkey: a case study Intervention. Journal of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Conflict Affected Areas, Volume 16, Issue 2 ¦ July
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