Healing Trauma via Drama & Body Movement
Introduction
Mindfulness is an important concept in health and wellbeing. It refers to the concept of being present in ones experience and aware of the self. Mindfulness is an ancient and traditional practice used both in the east and in the west, with characteristics found in meditation and contemplation across cultures and eras (Scott, 2014). Being mindful and living in the moment promotes a sense of active engagement in life, a sense of purpose, and a sense of congruence. To promote mindfulness, new therapeutic approaches have been introduced in the field of psychology, such as drama therapy and yoga therapy. Dance and yoga have been found to improve ones cognitive quality and positive state of mind (Megranahan & Lynskey, 2018). For individuals who have experienced trauma, drama and body movement exercises are ways to promote resilience and healing. This paper will explain the specific psychological and mindfulness health benefits of drama therapy and body movement; provide an historical understanding of the evolution of psychological and mindfulness healing through drama and body movement; and discuss the role and impact of self-discovery in personal healing through drama therapy and dance.
Psychological and Mindfulness Health Benefits of Drama Therapy and Body Movement
Dance and yoga have the ability to center the individual, bring the person to a place of calm focus and attention, while giving the body the exercise it needs to maintain its resilience (Shim, Goodill & Bradt, 2019). Individuals who find themselves distracted or discouraged by traumatic events or experiences in the world or in their own lives can find comfort, rejuvenation, and refuge in drama therapy and body movement such as dance or yoga. Both drama therapy and dance therapy provide psychological and mindfulness benefits in different ways, however.
Drama therapy allows one to enter into a process of catharsis by leaving the self behind and acting out in the persona of a different character. Just as the audience is capable of being cleansed through engagement with dramatic performance, dramatic performance experience a similar emotional and psychological cleanse by performing as a new character (Sajnani et al., 2019). Stress and anxiety can be reduced, bringing equilibrium to ones psychological state, and one can be better positioned as a result to be aware of ones own center. By purging negative emotions and thoughts through the experience of partaking in drama, one finds oneself able to overcome distracting thoughts that might have derailed one prior.
Dance and yoga therapy operate towards the same end but by way of a different path. Rather than exercising the emotions and the mind by way of active performance or immersion into a new character, dance and yoga focus the attention on the body and the need to pay attention to the body to understand and control it more effectively. Dance and yoga both depend upon one centering oneself in oneself, of working to maintain a physical balance, a sense of rhythm, and a presence of mind that both allows one to be in the here and now and to transcend the stress and anxiety that can afflict one in the everyday experience of life (Smith, Esat &...
Conclusion
Healing through mindfulness and self-discovery allows individuals who have experienced trauma to overcome that trauma and gain confidence in themselves. Drama therapy, dance therapy and yoga therapy are examples of ways in which individuals can achieve mindfulness as part of their overall therapeutic process. Acting, body movement and meditation are all ancient practices that all the human being to process emotions and gain control of…
References
Megranahan, K., & Lynskey, M. T. (2018). Do creative arts therapies reduce substancemisuse? A systematic review. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 57, 50-58.
Sajnani, N., Mayor, C., Burch, D., Feldman, D., Davis, C., Kelly, J., Landis, H., &Mcadam, L. (2019). Collaborative discourse analysis on the use of drama therapy to treat trauma in schools. Drama Therapy Review, 1, 27.
Scott R. Bishop. (2004). Mindfulness: A Proposed Operational Definition. ClinicalPsychology: Science & Practice, 11(3), 230–241. https://doi-org.proxy.library.ucsb.edu:9443/10.1093/clipsy.bph077
Shim, M., Goodill, S., & Bradt, J. (2019). Mechanisms of dance/movement therapy forbuilding resilience in people experiencing chronic pain. American Journal of Dance Therapy, 41(1), 87-112.
Smith, B. H., Esat, G., & Kanojia, A. (2020). School-based yoga for managing stress andanxiety. In C. Maykel & M. A. Bray (Eds.), Promoting mind–body health in schools: Interventions for mental health professionals. (pp. 201–216). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Drama Poetry How is the more direct performative aspect of drama and/or poetry reflected in these forms? (Consider for example, each genre's uses of literary structure, language, technique, and style.) In Rupert Goold's Macbeth, the language and literary structure are following the same lines from the Shakespearian play. Yet, the way the characters are speaking and performing their roles helps the individual to understand the setting and background of what is occurring.
However, behavioral skills training that incorporated active learning approaches, such as role playing, were found to result in children that were significantly more likely to demonstrate the proper safety skills in role playing and in situ assessments than children who did not receive this behavior skills training. Furthermore, in situ, role playing training was found to enhance the safety skill development of both the educational and behavior skills training
He left her in her pain. I wanted to be there for her. She wouldn't let me. (Sits down next to SILENT GIRL) SILENT GIRL (Smiles, shakes her head, sighs a little, looks at MARK) MARK (Smiling amidst the tears): I remember the trip. I was glad she came; I finally found the courage to tell her. (Turns to SILENT GIRL) I took her for a walk near the field of
According to Flynn (2004), rehearsals and performances of CBRT scripts can help increase students' abilities to read the text fluently. "Fluent readers read aloud smoothly and with expression. They recognize words and understand them at the same time. Reading educators emphasize the importance of fluency -- the ability to read a text accurately and with the appropriate speed. Because there is a close relationship between fluency and comprehension, fluent readers
Still, the thwarted desires of Emily have more of a sense of inevitability, and thus seem less tragic than the willed and possibly preventable actions of the heroines of the "Doll's House" and "Trifles." However, perhaps the least functional and most distorted family is the family without a father at the helm at all, that of "The Glass Menagerie," where Tom functions as the breadwinner and quasi-husband to this mother
Drama Death of a Salesman -- comparison between the play and a 1985 TV rendering of the play, starring Dustin Hoffman The tragedy of Willie Loman in the play by Arthur Miller seems like a man who wants to be great, yet falls to a tragic and small end. However, the televised version of the play makes Willie seem like a little or 'low' man throughout. Thus, although the Arthur Miller 1950's
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now