Use of Dramatherapy when working with children
Use of Dramatherapy when working with children
The definition of Dramtherapy set down by Sue Jennings is as follows:
„Dramatherapy is a term used for the application of theatre art in special situations, with the intentions are therapeutic, healing, or beneficial to the participants." Jennings (33)
Detailed goals which Dramatherapy sets for itself are: making interpersonal communication possible, stimulating new thinking, discovering new ways of coping with problems, developing new abilities, transforming bad experiences, becoming aware that it is possible to choose, acting out unknown life situations, understanding problems connected with gender, political problems, etc.
Dramatherapy is primarily an artistic form of therapy, which gives possibilities of extending our perception and understanding of the world.
Sue Jennings states that experiencing the world through drama is innate and starts already in prenatal life.
She had observed how a future mother enters into a dramatic interaction with her unborn child, who exists not only in her body but also in her imagination. A pregnant woman is aware of the change in her identity – now it is her plus someone else. Sometimes it is difficult for her to cope with feelings arising in this state that is new to her. One of the ways is to provide conversations with this still unborn person. The woman talks to her imagined child, asks him questions and answers and responds to them as if she were this child. The mother takes on a double role and changes her voice, determines the context of the dialogue, sometimes adding some gesture, stroking and affectionately patting her tummy.
This dramatic act originates mainly from the dramatic imagination of the mother. It may be accompanied by hopes, fears, as well as ambivalent feelings towards her unborn child.
Jennings states that human conversation in a dramatic convention and changing of roles are not learned abilities but a necessary prerequisite to survival in society. Innate ability to enter into roles strengthens and develops our feeling of identity. The possibility of changing roles develops our feeling of empathy.
When a child is born, a dramatic interaction between him and the mother is continued. Conversation is conducted with the aid of facial expressions, sounds, and words, in which the child imitates and also takes over the initiative.
During the first twelve months of the child's life, the infant enters into interactions with the world mainly through his senses and body. This period in human development has been called embodiment. Through physical experience of play, the sensing of limitations to his own body develops in the child, which is a necessary precondition for development of identity. We must remember that the body is the first, primal means of learning. A large part of our intuition, before it finds its verbal expression, has its physical forms of association.
When a child's involvement with the external world increases and he starts to become physically independent of the mother, he goes into the next phase that is called "Projection". The child then reaches for media beyond his own body and begins to project – transfer his feelings outwards. He enters into interactions with toys, experiments with painting, drawing, etc. During this stage of development, children penetrate various types of relations with objects that have various forms, patterns and shapes. Toys and other objects take on new meanings, through which the child is able to explore other types of relations and even assign to them symbolic meanings. A toy may become, when needed, the mother or father in order to strengthen the feeling of security.
Events and stories may be presented by the child with the aid of toys or other objects.
As the child's imagination develops, he becomes ready to play with others, enters the stage of "Role Play".
Through playing with others, children start to imitate adults and this refers to the process of role modelling. Children, while planning spontaneously, also start to differentiate everyday reality from the created one. They find out what is fiction and what is real experience. A child or an adult who is not able to differentiate between everyday life from the imagined one suffers from serious emotional difficulties.
The EPR paradigm has fundamental significance in working with children. On the basis of preliminary observations, we may immediately notice the preferences of the child we are working with. For example, children who had a bad experience connected with their body (domestic violence, sexual abuse) prefer to use projection techniques, such as drawing, working with clay, or making stories with use of small objects.
It is extremely important in therapy do give children a solid experience at the stage of embodiment and projection before starting role playing.
I would like to present now my experiences in working with children by this method.
I had a placement in a primary school with children who had emotional and behavioral problems. The group was composed of two girls and two boys, ages 6-7.
For easier understanding and in order to keep confidentiality, I am giving them fictitious names: Kasia, Zosia, Jaś, Krzyś.
The children referred to me had various problems and needs therefore it was not possible for me to create a unified, supportive group. The more so, that one person (Kasia) left during the process because of change of school and through this her friend (Zosia) felt abandoned and did not attend several sessions of therapy. In effect, I had to continue the process with two boys.
Children with emotional and behavioural difficulties are perceived as causing many disruptions in their everyday social interaction.
Within many people involved in their upbringing, like parents and teachers, are aroused feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. This sense of frustration very often turns into inappropriate response such as anger or wish to punish them or even violent reactions.
I believe that Dramatherapy group could offer the children a safe and containing space to explore the true reason for their behavioural problems or at least allow them to express themselves creatively and through play and by forming positive relationships with others.
I also consider my approach, based on three stages of Embodiment, Projection and Role by Sue Jennings, a useful tool of assessment and further process.
At the beginning of the process I introduced all elements of EPR to my clients, suggesting: games, movement, making sounds, playing roles, painting, making up stories from objects, clay. I was able to observe that my clients function on different level of EPR from a girl who was very able (Kasia was a very good role model) to a boy who was very disturbed (Jas felt comfortable mainly in a projecting stage).
At the very early stage of the process, I recognised that some of my clients may have disturbing bodily experiences and they did not perceive touch as a trusting experience. Any physical activities like games, movement or close physical contact with others make, especially Jasia very tense and apprehensive.
Considering safety reasons I decided to explore different projective techniques with which they seemed to feel the most comfortable. After giving them the grounding experience with projection, gradually, when they felt safe enough, we would move on to another stage.
I had also a strong sense of their confusion about different kinds of feelings which needed to be named, recognised, addressed, and explored within a framework of dramatherapy.
I therefore decided to use a range of stories, from those by my clients to fairytales, to facilitate this.
Next, I gradually prepared them to undertake a risk, but only when they were feel ready.
After assessment and two first sessions I have observed in children different behaviour in relation to one-to-one interaction and to being in a group.
During individual assessment each of my clients was much more contained but being in a group emphasised their sense of chaos and struggle in their life.
Upon reflection in my supervision, I linked that to some possible issues in their families. Behaviour in therapeutic environment might mirror a family relationship.
After first session it becomes apparent to me that Jas avoids any physical contact with others. For example, despite the firm initial contract about no physical or verbal violence when he was asked to pass a squeeze around the circle he refused at first to do it but eventually did it in painful manner, hurting Zosia’s hand. Sometimes he also showed his violence towards toys in therapy environment. This made me aware that I must be very clear about ground rules whether some things can be knocked or thrown or not in order to release tension in more structured way.
All initial exercises like pushing, resisting, rocking, rolling met his refusal or evoked his angry feelings. His hostility towards everyone and everything had an impact on the group because children, especially girls, perceived him as a constant threat and disruptive element and they had difficulties in tolerating his overwhelming behaviour. Bearing in mind his disruptive behaviour and its negative effect on the group dynamic, I would also consider finding some individual therapy for Jas but at that moment there was no available place for him. On the other hand, taking him out of the group could have reinforced his strong feelings of rejection which came up at the beginning of the process.
Zosia has been avoiding any interaction with Jas and seemed to be more withdrawn and found it even more difficult to express her own feelings.
Krzyś in contrast to Jaś continuously has been pleasing me; trying as hard as he could to prove that he is “a very good boy” and that he liked everything that we were doing and he wanted to make friends with everyone.
Due to very different individual needs of my clients, I was very concerned about a chance to establish some positive relationships within the group and even had doubtful thoughts that I would be able to create any group cohesion at all.
A facilitation of role play on the basis of everyday life example like sculpting a teacher, mother or father brought very interesting results. During this exercise, it emerged that Jas might have had some distorted experience within his family. He seemed to be emotionally detached from his parents and he also perceived other people as potential enemies.
Going through a process of trials and errors and remaining in temporary chaos, I searched for the best method to reinforce trust in the group and the best tool to incorporate all their needs.
The best way of doing it was to give them individual space to do something creative, allowing first to get in touch with their own internal world and then share individual experiences with others. I found at this stage working with clay and painting very useful where everyone seemed to be very involved in their own pieces of stories.
At session nr 6, I decided to use as facilitation tool and a potential containment of chaos the “Hansel and Gretel” fairytale, which seemed to have powerful themes to be explored by my clients. That was also a chance to combine all elements from EPR.
“Stories have the capacity to name the previously unnamed, and to personify the content of internal psychic functioning, thereby making the content of unconscious material, memories of repressed experiences and previously denied emotions communicable in a way which is not necessarily threatening.” (Harper and Gray, 45)
We have worked for three sessions with this story and it seemed that some real interactions between children had begun to appear at that time.
They all engaged in this story very well and were able to identify some individual meanings and also find a place in the group using creative tools.
They identified most important themes through drawing pictures, setting up scenes using small objects, making scary noises of the forest and taking on roles.
The most significant in enactment of this fairytale was that they reached the point when they had an awareness that from a scary place there is an escape and using their own resources they are able to get out from there.
When they also realised that in the second scene Hansel and Gretel are lost for good in woods and there is no safe journey back home, no one wanted to enter the space and take on roles of the main characters.
Initially, I felt frustrated and also blamed myself for not being a good enough facilitator, because perhaps I did not encourage them enough to explore these feelings, but upon reflection in supervision, I have realised that maybe they were not feeling ready at this stage to get into it.
“Above all, realise that children are resistant and defensive for good reason. As I have said over and over, they do what they have to do to survive, to protect them”
(Oaklander, 198)
Possibly for the sake of protecting themselves against becoming more vulnerable then they were they choose stay in a safe place. With respect for their needs, I decided to wait until they feel safe enough to explore more difficult feelings.
In the middle of the process when the group cohesion seemed to start to improve and chaos became a less apparent issue, I had to deal with many disruptions due to the disorganised setting and some unpredictable events.
At session ten, Kasia announced that she is going to leave the school and I was worried that Zosia might not want to continue coming to the sessions.
Jaś at the same session seemed to have recognised his angry feelings and expressed them in more structured way. It was the first time when I felt I could hold his outburst of anger within safe boundaries, and also there was a sign of some degree of trust beginning to develop in the group.
Unfortunately Kasia had left the school and I had not been able to do a proper closure for her because on the planned session the children did not turn up. There was a polling station set up on that day and no one had informed me in advance.
Moreover, two weeks later, the school decided to redecorate the therapy room without giving any available replacement room and this resulted in cancellation of another session.
Nevertheless, against all adversities, I have tried to sustain achievements thus far and guide the group to the end of the process.
As I suspected, due to feeling sad and abandoned by her friend, Zosia refused to come to three sessions. I carried on with two boys and the work which we have done was much more contained and they were able to share their feelings and seemed to be more opened and reflective. I wondered to what degree the new space, which we eventually were assigned, had a positive effect on the group.
I have to admit that to my surprise, Zosia decided to rejoin the group after missing three weeks and I also noticed a positive shift in her behaviour. She appeared more confident and relaxed.
I had marked at the fourth session before the end that I would not be coming back after the summer. When I mentioned how many sessions we had left, the children found it hard to listen to it. They were hoping that we could continue and felt very sad about not having this possibility. I also had a sense of unfinished work and a need of continuation; therefore I recommended that the three of them have further therapy.
I prepared certificates acknowledging their individual input into the group and planed for them to summarise the whole experience by doing a story of the group and reflecting what they have learned from that.
Unfortunately I was able to do it just with Zosia because, exterior factors made it impossible to continue the process.
Effects of therapy, despite disorganization of our work, still were positive. Jaś's behaviour in class improved, he ceased to have outburst of aggression toward other children and his relations with other children became friendlier. Krzyś came to understand that he does not have to constantly worm himself into the favour of adults so that they would accept him, he learned to express his needs.
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