ABSTRACT
This chapter reflects on the author's experiences of being a dramatherapist in special education and the pivotal role that relationship to ‘space’ plays within the therapeutic experience. Drawing on 17 years of work, the author attempts to define essential factors that have assisted the co-creation of a dramatherapy space relevant to both participants’ therapeutic needs and the aims of the educational setting. Four key considerations related to a therapeutic conceptualization of space are presented. The first essential factor is focused on environmental and cultural variables which influence the maintenance of a healthy psychological space. The second reflects on practical considerations related to the creation and preservation of a dramatherapy space within a school, where emphasis is on learning over the therapeutic process. The third factor considers which dramatic tools and methods construct and enable reflection on the power of an imaginal space in which young people with complex challenges are enabled new possibilities. The author concludes by reflecting on how we co-create and sustain an intersubjective relational space to explore the unique ways dramatherapy invites young people in special education to co-create a dramatic space and reality which values authentic self-representation and engagement with others.
