Abstract

The following intervention research study examines how drama therapists may use embodiment and authentic movement processes as tools for countertransference (CT) management in post-session processing. The use of embodied techniques for post-session processing of CT by drama therapists is missing from the literature. This paper completes the first three stages of intervention research to fill this gap in the literature: identifying the problem, developing theory and theoretically building an intervention model. A review of how CT has been understood in the field is completed to provide the reader with an operational definition for the use of this term within this paper. CT management is emphasized as a requirement for therapists in the therapeutic process. Importance is placed upon the use of creative methods within the therapist’s own modality to manage CT. Other creative arts therapies methods of CT management are paralleled with embodied ways of knowing and authentic movement to support the development of an embodied intervention for drama therapists to use in CT management. The term used for the intervention developed through this research is embodied response art (ERA), which is defined as an embodied drama therapeutic tool used by the drama therapist post-session for CT management. Recommendations for future research are provided to test the intervention and continue to fill the gap on CT post-session processing within the field of drama therapy.