Drama Therapy Lab – Welma

Facilitator: Christina Pretorius - 1285755

The overarching aim of the interventions for this family is establish the family connections, work within the family’s flexible resources and how
to increase and create a form of respect and trust having to deal with addiction as a family.

Session goals: To welcome the participants, introduce the participants, find a sense of where the participants are with their emotions and work
around flexible resources in the family.

The therapy will have 4 sessions consisting of 45 minutes each as it is a family setting.

This would be session 3 of the therapeutic process.

Aim: To establish the family connections where are the wounded areas and the strong areas of connection.
Activity Description
Introduction Greet and welcome the family. Explain who you are
and what a drama therapist does. Establish a
contract and how therapy will commence going
forward by asking questions using the Family
Systems therapy.
Check in Questions will be asked around what is it that they
think they need from each other or expect from
each other?
What is it that they expect from me as the therapist?
And how would they like me to do it or assist?
Is there an uncomfortable word or behavior that we
Motivation Resources Time
To allow clients to enter the space None 1 min
and become familiar with each
other as a family and the
facilitator in the specific space.
According to Landy (1994)
“Drama Therapy is the nexis of
imaginary action and real action,
ideation and feeling the
heightened dramatic and the
everyday human and all of these
have been considered to be part of
the performance of life”.
Family Systems therapy will be
practiced with a multicultural
perspective as a family lives
within and out its eco system
made of its individuals whom also
exist with a system of intra-
personal relationships (Aponte,
2009).
The questions is to get the body None 2 mins
into a general space and topic of
the theme to warm the body up to
the session that will take place,
(Jones, 1996).
These questions are directive in
 need to look at for any party in the family including order to ensure that therapist is
the facilitator? completely neutral and do not
assume within any worldview or
clients biases (Aponte, 2009).

The warm up will include them to draw their family

This will serve as a assessment
Warm Up map of who is in their family system and then to Paper and pencils
tool such as the social atom for
draw lines to those they close, not so close, angry
me to have a overview without
with or sad.
expressing in words how they
feeling towards one another.
(Jones, 1996) (Dayton, T., 2005).
5 mins
Bridge in I as the therapist/ facilitator will then ask the family Introducing the theme for the 5 mins
members to draw a different line texture to whom embodiment and their minds to
they want to build trust and respect or rekindle their engage in the session through the
relationship knowing about the addiction and its use of drawing – a distancing tool
affects it has on the family (psych education). to help project the feelings they
feel being strong onto the paper
(Jones, 1996).

Main Activity Within the family an empty chair will be used Witnessing exercise tool by the 1 chair. 15 mins
where each person can share with the chair taking observer (Jones, 1993). One of the
turns to what they would like to mend and build on core processes from Jones.
in establishing a connection or deeper connection
while the person they are speaking to on the empty
chair is actually sitting nearby and witnessing the
words being spoken.

I will then invite members of the family if they To assist clients in developing
 would like to respond and what other affirmations their own self-awareness of how
they could say to this empty chair and so each they are in the present moment –
person in the family will get a chance to speak to Gestalt therapy (Perls, et al.,
the empty chair and repeat affirmations that they 1951).(Aponte, 2009)
could say to the empty chair given each person that
resembles the empty chair also a chance to listen to
their family member indirectly speak to them
around connection.

Bridge out I will invite the members of the family to share their This section allows for members 1 min
experience and reflection on the experience. to disengage and leave the
dramatic space through reflections
(Jones, 1996).
Closure I will invite the members of the group to express This is to get the body and mind 1 min
what it is and discuss ideas and way forward in into a general space of knowing
whatever comes up in the session and how my that the theme and session is
presence can help assist, alter or change it in any coming to an end (Jones, 1996).
way.
Reference list.

Aponte, H.J., 1994. Bread & spirit: Therapy with the new poor: Diversity of race, culture, and values. WW Norton & Co.

Aponte, H.J., 2009. Structural family interventions. Working with Families: An Integrative Model by Level of Need. 5th ed. Boston: Allyn and
Bacon.

Dayton, T., 2005. The use of psychodrama in dealing with grief and addiction-related loss and trauma. Journal of Group Psychotherapy
Psychodrama and Soiometry, 58(1), pp.15-35.

Jones, P. (1996). Drama as therapy: Theatre as living. New York: Routledge.

Perls, F., Hefferline, G. and Goodman, P., 1951. Gestalt therapy. New York, 64(7), pp.19-313.