Abstract

There are two main themes discussed in this paper. The first is one drama therapy student's growth process over the course of her last academic year. The second theme deals with using drama therapy effectively with different populations and how she learned to adapt drama therapy best to suit her specific clientele of children with severely disruptive behavior. The paper explains how drama therapy can exist on a continuum which moves from drama being therapeutic in and of itself to clients being cognitively aware of the issues in their life which are causing them difficulty. There is an explanation of how goals were re-evaluated to better serve the specific population. In working with this group, there was a new understanding about how to approach therapy. Important themes were the use of boundaries and containment, play, planning, and acceptance and advocacy.