Theatertherapie Literaturdatenbank

H. Orkibi, S. Keisari, B. Azoulay and I. Testoni, "Committing to arts-based palliative and bereavement care: Evaluation of students’ experiences in an online course", The Arts in Psychotherapy, vol. 85, pp. 102064, 2023.

DOI: 10.1016/j.aip.2023.102064

Abstract:
Surveys show that only 14% of those in need of palliative care actually receive it. The creative arts therapies can respond to this growing need. The current mixed-methods pilot study was part of a larger European Erasmus+~project entitled Death Education for Palliative Psychology that was conducted from 2019 to 2022 in five countries. This report examined the experiences of 20 creative arts therapies master’s degree students in Israel enrolled in an online course on arts-based palliative and bereavement care. The students who completed the course reported a significantly greater commitment to engaging in a career in palliative and bereavement care than students in the control group. The students considered the course important for their training. The curriculum helped them to communicate end-of-life in both personal and professional situations. The arts provided a bridge for processing death-related issues. The students also reported the challenges they encountered during the course and their thoughts for future directions. Overall, these findings point to a field requiring more investigation that is essential to the training of creative arts therapies students and future therapists.

V. C. Gever, T. O. Iyendo, U. O. Obiugo-Muoh, J. K. Okunade, N. Agujiobi-Odoh, N. Udengwu, F. O. Talabi and P. N. Nwokolo, "Comparing the effect of social media-based drama, music and art therapies on reduction in post-traumatic symptoms among Nigerian refugees of Russia's invasion of Ukraine", Journal of Pediatric Nursing, vol. 68, pp. e96-e102, 2023.

DOI: 10.1016/j.pedn.2022.11.018

Abstract:
PURPOSE The objective of this study was to ascertain the effectiveness of social media-based music, art and drama therapies in treating PTSD symptoms among Nigerian evacuees from the Russia-Ukraine war. DESIGN AND METHODS This study was a quasi-experiment involving a sample of 330 participants that were randomly assigned to control and treatment groups. The treatment group was further classified into three groups according to the different contents of the therapies they received. RESULTS The study result showed that social media-based therapies effectively reduced PTSD symptoms for participants in the treatment group, unlike those who did not receive the intervention. Comparatively, drama therapy was more effective than art and music therapies. The reason drama therapy was more effective could be because it engaged the minds and body of the participants more than the other therapies. CONCLUSION Although art, music and drama therapies are effective treatment options for reducing symptoms of PTSD among victims of war, drama therapy is the most effective among them all. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS The result of this study has practical implications for health promotion from the perspective of nursing services by showing that social media-based therapies could serve as viable and cost-effectivealternativese to face-to-face group therapy.

C. Alston, "Creative explorations of intersectional injustices as an LGBTQIA+ Black clinician", Drama Therapy Review, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 199—209, 2023.

DOI: 10.1386/dtr_00127_7

Abstract:
This commentary is a creative exploration of the writer’s experiences as a Black LGBTQIA+ therapist. The commentary focuses on microaggressions, decisions of educating peers, seeking allies, discussion of intersectionality and more. Through poetry, script and artwork, this writer provides insight into their experiences in a variety of settings with various people, concluding with a call for action.

D. Sharoni and S. Keisari, "Drama-based therapies for spiritual well-being: Three cases in an oncological palliative care setting", Drama Therapy Review, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 259—272, 2023.

DOI: 10.1386/dtr_00132_1

Abstract:
Over the last ten years, a growing body of literature has centred on the contributions of arts therapies to patients in palliative care. However, there is scant literature on the role of psychodrama and drama therapy in palliative care. This article presents three cases illustrating psychodrama and drama therapy techniques with oncological palliative patients. The three cases suggest how somatic experiences, dramatic projection, role reversal and imagination-based techniques can enable a restorative process to emerge in which the patients may reconnect to the personal, communal and environmental domains of spirituality. The creative and spontaneous space of the therapeutic process helps maintain a sense of self-continuity, generates a path to greater awareness of fear of death, reinforces coping strategies and promotes the resolution of unfinished business with significant others. Future studies could provide a broader perspective on drama-based therapies in palliative care through larger more diverse samples.

E. Diakolambrianou and S. L. Bowman, "Dual Consciousness: What Psychology and Counseling Theories Can Teach and Learn Regarding Identity and the Role-Playing Game Experience", Journal of Roleplaying Studies and STEAM, vol. 2, no. 2, 2023.

Datei : https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/jrpssteam/vol2/iss2/4

Abstract:
Many psychologists, therapists, and educators have emphasized the practice of play, especially with enacted roles, as a site for learning and therapeutic growth. This article weaves together a plethora of theories from psychology, Counseling, and role-playing game studies in an effort to understand the nature of enacted roles, their relationship to identity, and their transformative potential. Challenging the notion that identity is a fixed, stable monolith, the article synthesizes four overall approaches to theorizing the nature of identity drawn from various theories: identity as a social construct, narrative identity, identity as psychodynamic, and identities as parts of a whole. The authors posit that these ways of framing identity can help role-players, designers, and facilitators better understand the multifaceted nature of selfhood. This work holds implications for understanding the enactment of characters in role-playing games, especially with regard to the transformative potential of the role-playing experience. Throughout the article, we also explore the psychology of play from the perspective of therapeutic practices and modalities that exist outside of the discourses of role-playing games as a hobby or field of academic study. We will emphasize how role-play, identity shifting, narrative, and embodied enactment are present in many existing therapeutic processes to various degrees. Examples include psychosynthesis, Gestalt therapy, drama therapy, narrative therapy, Internal Family Systems, and person-centred therapy. We will highlight clinical therapists who use role-playing games to augment more traditional practices. Furthermore, while role-taking activities are central to many human experiences throughout time, the article will emphasize benefits the imagination space of role-playing games, particularly with regard to prolonged perspective taking, co-creative improvisation, the alibi of fiction, and increased agency and empowerment. The article will also address limitations to the form that might interrupt its transformative potential, such as cognitive dissonance, identity defense, and difficulties with integrating these experiences within one’s life narrative after they conclude.

L. Jiang, F. Alizadeh and W. Cui, "Effectiveness of Drama-Based Intervention in Improving Mental Health and Well-Being: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Post-Pandemic Period", Healthcare, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 839, 2023.

DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11060839

Datei : https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/6/839

Abstract:
As a creative form of psychotherapy, drama appears to assist individuals in the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic period in altering crisis conditions and challenging negative perspectives. Drama-based intervention is presented as an option for addressing mental health issues in clinical and general populations by utilising various multidisciplinary sources, such as psychodrama and role playing. In this study, a systematic review and meta-analysis were employed to assess the impact of drama on mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic. Four electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect) were extensively searched from December 2019 to October 2022. Quality assessment and Risk of Bias tool of the Cochrane Collaboration were performed. Using a random effect model, standardised mean difference (SMD) values and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. In the final analysis, 25 studies involving 797 participants were included. The study revealed that drama-based interventions have the potential to improve mental health (e.g., trauma-related disorders) and well-being (e.g., psychological well-being), which could position drama as an adjunctive method of mental health care. This original review offered the newer, more comprehensive recommendations for drama-based intervention based on evidence.

H. Orkibi, S. Keisari, N. L. Sajnani and M. Witte, "Effectiveness of drama-based therapies on mental health outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled studies", Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2023.

DOI: 10.1037/aca0000582

Abstract:
Psychodrama and drama therapy are organized health professions where credentialed professionals intentionally employ experiential drama processes and techniques to ameliorate health and well-being within a therapeutic relationship. These drama-based therapies are used for mental health treatment across a range of clients and in various healthcare settings. The aims of this systematic review and meta-analysis were to (a) aggregate and synthesize the evidence on drama-based therapies, (b) assess the strength of the effects of drama-based therapies on mental health outcomes, and (c) examine which outcome, study, sample, or intervention characteristics moderated the strength of the effect on the outcomes. Inclusion criteria were randomized control trials and clinical control trials, mental health outcomes, and therapy interventions. The protocol for this study was registered at PROSPERO and seven databases were searched: Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, Wiley Online Library, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus. Risk of bias in the included studies was assessed and a multilevel meta-analysis was performed, containing 30 controlled studies, 144 effect sizes, and 1,567 participants. The results showed an overall medium effect of drama-based therapies on both psychological and behavioral mental health outcomes (d = .501, [.36, .64]). There was no statistically significant difference between psychodrama and drama therapy, and other selected characteristics did not have a statistically significant impact on treatment effectiveness. Although this meta-analysis was not restricted to randomized controlled trails, these findings suggest that group psychodrama and drama therapy are effective in contributing to clients’ mental health, with similar overall effects as shown in other psychotherapies. Implications for future research are discussed.

B. H. Bayley, "From the wet and sandy shore by the eternal sea: Exploring the experience of threshold consciousness following life or death surgery and its impact on practice", Dramatherapy, pp. 026306722311694, 2023.

DOI: 10.1177/02630672231169423

Abstract:
This piece stems from my own experience of a threshold consciousness that followed life-or-death surgery in 2015, when surgeons had informed me that I had only 2 days to live and offered me 2 days palliative care as an alternative choice. My survival of the surgery together with the experience of that threshold consciousness led me to a re-appraisal of my own practice in Dramatherapy. Out of my personal survival of a state bordering on death, I invite contemplation of different levels of consciousness experienced and the internal and external dramas encountered and pondering questions as to how we all may access clearer and more conscious perspectives of ourselves and fuller potentials of physical, mental, emotional, psychological, cosmic and spiritual resources for self-knowledge and consciousness than may be offered by current states of the current material scientific world view alone.

P. M. Mlangeni and R. Lepere, "Healing the healer: Recipes of self-care", Drama Therapy Review, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 177—189, 2023.

DOI: 10.1386/dtr_00125_1

Abstract:
The idea of self-care has been a central theme more recently with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people are seeking ways of existing that are about caring for self and others. As drama therapists and artists, the need for us to practise this care with and for others is even more important as we carry the burdens of stories and trauma of our clients. Drama therapy as a mental health modality is suited to address and offer strategies of what care and self-care especially for practitioners might look like. But what exactly are the traits of self-care and how does it link to our ethical caring practice of therapy and theatre-making? In this article, we argue that self-care needs to be redeemed from the individual focus and to be more about community. We offer recipes as performances of communal creation and a model of self-care that occurs with and for others. These recipes are meditations inspired by encounters with ourselves, our loved ones and our past. The article is presented in recipes and conversation form to emphasize the idea that caring cannot occur in isolation outside of others. We look at the moral imperative of rituals of care that have existed in our lives and how these can be brought to the fore to become shared knowledge. We share our experiences of growing up in a community of women who also practise kindness and love. We hope the techniques suggested deepen the existing conversation on centralizing Black women’s knowledge systems and healing practices within the drama therapy canon. We do not assume to speak for all Black women everywhere in the world; we write to centre our experiences as Black women who are drama therapists who are accountable to other women. We encourage readers to create their own recipes of what community-­centred self-care practices might look like.

M. Velana, H. Xenakis and G. Rinkenauer, "Integrating the Embodiment-Projection-Role Paradigm to Develop and Implement a two-hour-Workshop for Stress Management Among Nurses", The Arts in Psychotherapy, pp. 102090, 2023.

DOI: 10.1016/j.aip.2023.102090

Abstract:
Numerous studies have associated high stress with the nursing profession, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although cognitive-behavioral or creative approaches have been employed by experts to teach self-care, these interventions rarely utilized a solid therapeutic framework, involving a clear experimental design. This study, therefore, attempted to develop a therapy-based workshop for stress management among nurses at a German health care site by employing the Embodiment-Projection-Role (EPR) paradigm and techniques derived from traditionally different approaches. Physical mobilization, art, storytelling and role play were chosen as expressive media for self-exploration of inner resources in a supportive peer milieu. Breathwork and guided imagery were also employed to inspire nurses to develop their coping repertoire. Data were collected from nine participants in a quasi-experimental pre-post study design. The study findings indicated a statistically significant decrease of current stress level and also, a significant improvement in negative emotions, immediately after the intervention. This study suggests that a therapeutic framework with a holistic approach of mental health might serve as an effective coping process to deal with job stress. This study, moreover, encourages researchers to shed light on the EPR processes and explore the long-term effects of the therapeutic paradigm on mental health.

M. King, V. M. Dehili and M. Queen, "Introducing Dungeons & Therapy: A Tabletop Role-Playing System for Group Therapy", Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society, vol. 47, no. 3-4, pp. 67—76, 2023.

DOI: 10.1353/grp.2023.a916646

Abstract:
This article is the first of a planned three-part series that explores the utility of table-top role-playing games (TTRPGs) in therapy and introduces a new system designed by the authors for use in group therapy settings called Dungeons & Therapy. The surging popularity of TTRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) has led to scholarly interest in their potential uses within therapeutic settings. However, D&D’s financial cost, complicated rules, and history of problematic content can create barriers for therapists wishing to use it. Dungeons & Therapy, which the authors have made as a free alternative to D&D, seeks to capture the role-playing essence of TTRPGs with a simplified rule set and to provide systems through which a therapist can encourage different kinds of play from players to facilitate personalized therapeutic outcomes.

A. Keenan, "Just because I can’t say words, doesn??t mean I can’t have a choice", Dramatherapy, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 32—40, 2023.

DOI: 10.1177/02630672231171017

Abstract:
People with physical disabilities and age-appropriate cognitive levels of functioning can experience incredible frustration in their opportunities to express and communicate along with societal stigma and assumptions. Dramatherapy, and specifically Drama and Movement Therapy, can be an effective therapeutic method in providing a platform for these clients to find their voice through a range of techniques and stimulation. Providing ‘choice’, building a non-judgemental, trusting therapeutic relationship, along with enabling the client is an essential part of this process. This article will discuss a Dramatherapist’s experience from an autoethnological perspective with her own limitations in using her voice, in relation to working and enabling non-verbal clients. This will further be supported by case studies, demonstrating working within an effective multidisciplinary team. Joint working will be discussed along with examples of a range of creative and adaptable techniques to assist the individual and their needs. The article will then discuss and conclude with how practitioners can assist these clients to find their voice, by supporting different ways of communication and importantly providing choice.

L. Thibedi, "Learning in crisis: Notes to myself", Drama Therapy Review, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 191—198, 2023.

DOI: 10.1386/dtr_00126_7

Abstract:
This written piece of work is made up of small notes to myself. As the author, I reflect on my experiences and beliefs of things I have had to learn, unlearn and accept. These notes reflect how I breathe and find myself navigating the teaching and learning space during the COVID-19 pandemic. Putting voice to some of the thoughts and realities which are not always articulated, but embraced and housed in this Black, female, Xhosa body.

E. Maslin, "Learning, living and working with dyspraxia and ADHD: A neurodiverse dramatherapist’s comment on the formal education system", Dramatherapy, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 75—82, 2023.

DOI: 10.1177/02630672231185928

Abstract:
The environment of formal education systems can be a difficult place for neurodiverse individuals to exist, navigate and thrive. This clinical comment explores the impact of these structures on individuals with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The evolutionary theory underpins the article??s argument that ADHD ‘symptoms’ could be considered adaptive depending on their environment, yet a plethora of neurodiverse people experience feelings of failure and negative life trajectories, so it is imperative that education systems reconsider their structures. To further support the case for educational restructuring, trauma-informed research is used to highlight flaws in the United Kingdom’s mainstream education system that parallels the gaps that neurodiverse learners fall through. This article uses an autoethnographic lens to look at the problems within these structures and how they impact both learners and employees, from children to adults. The Sesame Approach to Drama and Movement Therapy (DMT-Sesame) is considered as a comparative structure, which focuses on the body, creative freedom, exploration, authenticity, and individuality, and could accentuate the quality of many neurodiverse traits. DMT-Sesame could therefore inspire the changes that ought to be made to formal educational structures, whereby learning environments are accessible to every individual and enable selfdiscoveries that support successful development.

S. Mokuku, B. Molefe and N. Magagula, "Lifting the ‘knee on the neck’ through virtual collaboration within creative and therapeutic art methodologies", Drama Therapy Review, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 23—44, 2023.

DOI: 10.1386/dtr_00118_1

Abstract:
Police brutality towards Black people and People of Colour (POC) has been a thorn for centuries in South Africa and the world. The advent of COVID-19 escalated this struggle to unimaginable heights, illuminating, amongst other things, the epistemological and ontological limitations underpinning modernity (Mokuku 2021). Nevertheless, the killing of George Floyd moved masses across the globe to reflect critically on the injustices that Black people endure. Equally, social media shone a spotlight to mobilize consciousness amidst the pandemic restrictions. Moved by the mood of the time, we (a group of primarily arts practitioners and thinkers) organized virtual ‘intergenerational and intercontinental dialogues’ to explore how the dialogic approaches informed by the principles of applied theatre may catalyse drama therapy approaches. Through conversations that we named ‘epistemological injustice’, we made discoveries that included noticing how the biases we all carry may serve as enablers or constraints in embracing therapeutic encounters across disciplines. This article shares insights from the ‘#Talks’ and generates reflective material for creative arts therapies and applied theatre methodologies.

M. Andersen-Warren, "Living with dyspraxia: A personal perspective", Dramatherapy, pp. 02630672231184783, 2023.

DOI: 10.1177/02630672231184783

Abstract:
This article is an attempt to convey a sense of how it feels to live with dyspraxia and how creating imagery can be effective in dulling some of the experienced difficulties. It addresses, in particular, problems that arise during training group warm-up sessions.

M. Buckley, "Mapping the empty space: Spatial experience and relationship in drama therapy practice", Drama Therapy Review, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 317—321, 2023.

DOI: 10.1386/dtr_00134_7

Abstract:
This clinical commentary takes up Peter Brook’s (1968) notion of the empty space as the precondition for theatre, exploring the distinct nature of the empty spaces of digital and in-person drama therapy practice in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Spatial experience in drama therapy is explored through considerations of relationship, body memory and the effects of digital therapy on clinical practice. The commentary describes a sense of dislocation in experience, memory and relationship when bodies are not together in space, proposing a series of strategies to acknowledge and mitigate these effects.

S. Keisari, D. Yaniv, A. Gesser-Edelsburg, Y. Palgi and R. A. Neimeyer, "Meaning reconstruction 70 years later: Processing older adults' unfinished business in a drama therapy group", Psychotherapy (Chicago, Ill.), 2023.

DOI: 10.1037/pst0000497

Abstract:
Unfinished business (UB), when individuals appraise their relationship with others or themselves as incomplete or unresolved, entails difficult emotions such as regret, remorse, and guilt. UB is often associated with bereavement and is considered to be a predictor of complicated grief. Here we report two case studies describing the processing of the sudden death of a significant other in the context of a randomized controlled study of 12-week drama therapy groups for older adults. The intervention followed the format of Playback Theater, an improvised form of theater based on personal stories, and a life review paradigm. A mixed-methods approach explored the course of individual therapy within the group and potential mechanisms of change. The participants completed mental health questionnaires in a pre-post-follow-up design. The qualitative data included video recordings and postintervention interviews. One participant reported a clinically significant (CS) change in depressive symptoms and psychological well-being on the post and follow-up measurement indices. The second reported a CS change in self-esteem and relationship satisfaction at the end of the intervention, but not at follow-up. The findings suggest that the drama therapy contributed to the resolution of UB through restorative work in the three domains defined in meaning reconstruction theory: the \textquotedblevent story\textquotedbl of the loss, the \textquotedblback story\textquotedbl of the relationship with the deceased, and the \textquotedblpersonal story\textquotedbl of self. The results point to the need for additional research on meaning reconstruction in the context of drama therapy and encourage the broader application of performative techniques to treat complicated bereavement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

L. Ma, W. Chang, C. Holmwood and J. L. Subbiondo, "Playback Theater as Pedagogy: A Qualitative Research Study on the Use of PT in Education toward the Self-development of Future Teachers", Creative Arts in Education and Therapy, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 225—236, 2023.

DOI: 10.15212/CAET/2022/8/25

Abstract:
Self-development is an important basis for the professional development of teachers and future teachers. In this study, future teachers are graduate students whose majors are school counseling and mental health education. The performance of playback theater (PT) in the classroom has become an integral part of teaching, especially for teaching integral drama-based pedagogy (IDBP). Using qualitative research methods, researchers found that PT enables future teachers to deeply develop and experience “respect” and “empathy.” PT actively promotes self-development by using empathy as the main factor for promoting change in self-cognition, behavior, and emotional release. The improvisational action presents storytellers with accessible forms of empathic reaction. Researchers have discovered that the use of theater ritual and artistry are the external conditions for inspiring empathy by creating an atmosphere of equality, respect, and inclusion. Moreover, this atmosphere also promotes dialogue. Having learned empathy, individuals connect better with each and become more open to self-development through reflection.

M. Vogt, "Playing the role of supervisor: Reflections on supervision", Dramatherapy, pp. 026306722211457, 2023.

DOI: 10.1177/02630672221145797

Abstract:
What does a supervisor do? What makes for good supervision? Is one a supervisor, or is it a role one steps into, that once embodied allows you to gather and hold insights plain-old-you don’t have access to? This article, in the form of a case study, uses self-reflection and interviews with supervisees to explore these questions.

K. M. Story, M. Flanagan, S. L. Robb, D. M. Bravata, M. J. Bair, D. Otto and T. M. Damush, "Rapid Implementation of Veterans Health Administration Telehealth Creative Arts Therapies: Survey Evaluation of Adoption and Adaptation", 2023.

DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2234684/v1

Abstract:
Background: Creative Arts Therapies (CAT) are employed throughout the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and are predominantly delivered in-person. Due to guidance from the Center for Disease Control and VHA that temporarily suspended or reduced in-person services, CAT therapists adopted telehealth delivery. The aims of this study were to evaluate adoption and adaptation of CAT telehealth delivery and identify related barriers and facilitators. Methods: We deployed a survey guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and administered it via email to all VHA CAT therapists (N=120). Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data and responses were compared based on therapists’ age, years of experience and CAT discipline. ~Open survey field responses were summarized, qualitatively coded, and analyzed thematically. Results: Most therapists (76%) reported adopting telehealth with 74% each delivering >50 CAT sessions in the prior year. Therapists adapted interventions or created new ones to be delivered through telehealth. Barriers included: ~technical challenges, control of the virtual space, and building rapport. ~Facilitators included added equipment, software, and infrastructure. CAT therapists adapted their session preparation, session content, outcome expectations, and equipment. CAT therapists reported being able to reach more patients and improved access to care with telehealth compared to in person visits. Additional benefits were patient therapeutic effects from attending sessions from home, therapist convenience, and clinician growth. Conclusions: VHA CAT therapists used their inherent creativity to problem solve difficulties and make adaptations for CAT telehealth adoption. Future studies may explore CAT telehealth sustainment and its effectiveness on clinical processes and outcomes.

Ž. Korde, S. Šuriņa and K. Mārtinsone, "Research trends in drama therapy: A bibliometric analysis based on Scopus", Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 14, 2023.

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1327656

Abstract:
Aim: As drama therapy has become increasingly important in healthcare, the number of scientific publications has increased, complicating the orientation in the research field. Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive overview of research trends in drama therapy, assessing the impact factors of publications and analyzing the research structure. Methods: Three hundred and ninety-five scientific articles indexed in Scopus were analyzed without time, geographic and language restrictions using bibliometric analysis methods - performance analysis, citation analysis, and science mapping. Data processing was performed using MS Excel, VOSviewer and Biblioshiny software. Results: The work of the pioneers of drama therapy continues to be actively cited, influencing the development of drama therapy. Today’s leading researchers are increasingly engaging in collaborative research, working across disciplines and contributing to scientific progress. The hot topic of research is older adults and mental health. The diversity of terminology and the large volume of unpublished research point to the need for consolidation. Altmetric analysis would optimize the use of scientific information, promoting innovative research. Conclusion: This is the first study using the Scopus database to perform an extensive bibliometric analysis of research articles on drama therapy applying Biblioshiny and VOSviewer software. The results of the analysis reflect the evolution of the field from its historical roots to academic maturity, highlighting its current dynamic growth and the trend of drama therapy to establish itself as an interdisciplinary field in the healthcare system. This work serves as a valuable resource for the scientific community, professionals, students, and librarians in the field, helping to optimize the use of scientific resources in drama therapy and contributing to its future development.

S. Fernández-Aguayo and M. Pino-Juste, "Sustainable Health and Wellness: Effectiveness of a Drama Therapy Program to Improve the Wellbeing of People Affected by Mental Health Decline", Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 16, pp. 12485, 2023.

DOI: 10.3390/su151612485

Abstract:
An increasing number of health professionals advocate for psychosocial attention as a vital part of treating mental health illnesses and not only a pharmacological intervention. Drama therapy offers a space where patients can improve socially, physically, and mentally, thus reaching a complete state of wellbeing. So, we aimed to design and evaluate a drama therapy program to develop assertiveness, quality of life, and social interaction in patients suffering from mental health decline. The study was performed under a participatory action design and a critical focus using a case study methodology that required a pretest–posttest and tracking of activities during the whole process. The results suggest that there was a rise in social interactions, an improvement in the quality of life and, significantly, assertiveness, perception of dependency, and isolation. The program improves the assertiveness of the participants and helps a person to feel less isolated and more independent. We conclude that the creation works help them to know themselves and favors their improvement.

D. Harel and S. Keisari, "Tele-Drama Therapy with Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Field Training Project", Clinical Gerontologist, pp. 1—13, 2023.

DOI: 10.1080/07317115.2023.2178353

Abstract:
OBJECTIVES This paper explores a field training project of tele-drama therapy with community-dwelling older adults during COVID19. It merges three perspectives: the older participants' perspective, the students engaged in the field training, who conducted this remote therapy, and social workers. METHODS Interviews were conducted with 19 older adults. Focus groups were conducted with 10 drama therapy students and 4 social workers. The data were thematically analyzed. RESULTS Three themes emerged: the role of drama therapy methods in the therapeutic process, attitudes toward psychotherapy for older adults, and the phone as a therapeutic setting. These themes coalesced into a triangular model associating dramatherapy, tele-psychotherapy and psychotherapy with the older population. A number of obstacles were identified. CONCLUSIONS The field training project made a dual contribution to the older participants and the students. In addition, it promoted more positive attitudes among the students toward psychotherapy with the older population. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Tele-drama therapy methods appear to promote the therapeutic process with older adults. However, the phone session should be planned in advance in terms of time and place to ensure the participants' privacy. Field training of mental health students with older adults can promote more positive attitudes toward working with the older population.

A. Yanik, "The ‘power of encouragement’: mapping and developing a drama therapy intervention program to strengthen self-compassion for patients with depression", GMS Journal of Arts Therapies, vol. 5, 2023.

DOI: 10.3205/jat000032

Abstract:
Background: This research develops a theoretic, empirical, and investigative drama treatment program for depressed patients. The goal is to strengthen self-compassion with drama therapy methods. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression will be the most common disease by 2030. Self-compassion has been shown to be a robust factor that protects against symptoms of depression and has yet to be fully utilized. Methods: To find out what drama therapy intervention (DTI) for the treatment of depression encompass, a semi-systematic literature review and interviews with experienced drama therapists were conducted, and the intervention mapping method was employed. Based on the literature search and interviews, behavioral factors of depression and self-compassion were identified, and appropriate DTI was determined and integrated into an 8-week program. Results: The main themes from the literature were: symptoms of depression, the multifactorial depression model, specific reasons for dysfunctional behavior, general change, and performance goals for drama therapy. The interviews suggest to incorporate self-compassion into the form of playful drama therapy as an effective means to reduce depression by promoting flexible thinking, improved self-recognition, and expressing emotions. The results were integrated into a drama therapy treatment program for patients with depression. The 8-week “Power of Encouragement” program integrated interventions targeting playfulness, flexibility in thinking and perceiving and improved emotional expression and awareness to improve self-compassion. Discussions: The “Power of Encouragement” (POE) program lays a foundation for further research on the effectiveness of drama therapy. It serves to improve self-compassion and to reduce symptoms of depression. Findings broaden the intervention possibilities in creative arts therapies within the healthcare system.