Drama and Healing: The Roots of Dramatherapy. - Softcover

Grainger, Roger

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853020486 ISBN 13: 9781853020483

Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1989

Synopsis

The author shows how drama therapy draws on both drama and ritual. He argues that personal construct theory provides a hermeneutically useful approach to the study of drama therapy. He shows that drama therapy itself is an effective treatment for depression and schizophrenia, having a measurable effect on thought disorder; he thus tries to be as definite as possible about a subject which resists the 'scientific' apporach, and he is concerned not only to think rationally about drama therapy, but to examine the specific relationship between rational thought and artistic experience which allows the second to act as the mediator of the first.

In Part One, the author investigates the therapeutic origins of theatre before moving on to the part played by drama in psychological maturation, leading to a discussion of depression, thought disorder and schizophrenia and the role of drama therapy in their treatment.

Part Two examines the drama therapy experience and the ways in which the therapeutic possiblities of drama can be harnessed, both in improvised dramatic episodes and in theatre games, to achieve a wide range of therapeutic goals.

About this title

From the Author:

Roger Grainger is a registered Dramatherapist, Chartered Counselling Psychologist and occasional TV actor. He holds a PhD in Sociology from Leeds University as well as Doctorates in Theology and Implicit Religion, and has worked as a psychiatric chaplain for the Stanley Royd Hospital in Wakefield. He is also one of the founders of the National Funeral College and is the author of several books.

Synopsis:

Showing how drama therapy draws on both drama and ritual, Roger Grainger argues that personal construct theory provides a hermeneutically useful approach to the study of drama therapy. He shows that drama therapy itself is an effective treatment for depression and schizophrenia, having a measurable effect on thought disorder. He is concerned not only to think rationally about drama therapy, but to examine the specific relationship between rational thought and artistic experience which allows the second to act as the mediator of the first. In part one, the author investigates the therapeutic origins of theatre before moving on to the part played by drama in psychological maturation, leading to a discussion of depression, thought disorder and schizophrenia and the role of drama therapy in their treatment. Part two examines the drama therapy experience and the ways in which the therapeutic possibilities of drama can be harnessed, both in improvised dramatic episodes and in theatre games, to achieve a wide range of therapeutic goals.

About this edition

• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 1853020486
• ISBN 13: 9781853020483
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192