ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 articulates a method of drama therapy developed by the author, The Integrative Five Phase model. The Integrative Five Phase model is paced and progressive, embracing the range of healing properties and possibilities within the dramatic mode—from dramatic play that accesses spontaneity, to acting that offers the freedom to expand emotional and role repertoire, to role play geared toward active exploration of real-life issues, to embodied “culminating enactments” that facilitate healing of deep-seated issues, and finally to dramatic ritual that supports integration and closure. Sessions in a treatment series gradually spiral toward increasingly deep levels of play, expression, interaction, and self-revelation.
The chapter examines: (1) core concepts and therapeutic objectives in this process-oriented and developmentally based model of drama therapy; (2) the drama therapeutic process within each of the five phases; (3) practical applications of the phases—including nonlinear use of the phases, and how the model is utilized in individual drama therapy, and in brief and long-term drama therapy; and (4) the role of drama therapist.
