Introduction to Dramatherapy provides a theoretical framework for the practice of dramatherapy, and examines the relationship between the 'self' and the 'other'; the understanding of which, the author argues, is key to harnessing the full potential of dramatherapy as a healing medium.
In Part 1, the individual is introduced in terms of the dramatic metaphor, concentrating on the central issue of identity and the mediation between the internal and external worlds. In Part 2 the elements that make up dramatic reality, specifically play, narrative and role, are examined, and in the final part we witness the value of dramatherapy in practice in practice in a range of clinical settings.
This is not simply a 'how to do dramatherapy' book - it provides an essential foundation in the theory of the subject that will be of great interest to those studying or practicing dramatherapy.

Group spirituality is an increasingly popular area of focus, and working in groups raises some very different and valuable consequences which wouldn't necessarily arise in a one-to-one encounter. In Group Spirituality, Roger Grainger, an author already established as an authority on Drama therapy, provides a functional guide to group spirituality and workshops. Derived from the authors' experiences of working with groups of people interested in exploring their own and other people's spirituality, Group Spirituality turns an abstract idea into a practical and recognizable experience. The nature of group work, the embodiment of ideas and feelings, and circumstances aiding personal encounter are discussed. Workshop examples aimed at establishing group identity and the introduction of the idea of the 'safe place' are explained. The symbolism of spiritual awareness is approached, and a firm distinction between spirituality and religion is made.

Group Spirituality's approach to spirituality from a workshop focus, successfully attempts to embody spirituality and provide a framework for consciously examining and integrating spirituality within the rest of our life.

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Religions contribute to wars, but they can also contribute to peace. They are its necessary foundation. Here eight different religions join together in peace to pray for peace. Under the auspices of the interfaith organization, The Week of Prayer for World Peace, they bring home vividly the love that is God and the horror that is war. It is not only inner peace - tranquility of soul and mind - which is being sought here, but an end to agony and bloodshed, physical and psychological torture, abuse of every kind taking place in the world of men, women and children. This is a very practical prayer book, earthed in the pain of being human. Peace itself comes in many different forms, and the book is arranged to be flexible and comprehensive, ideal for individual or group use. It consists of seven weeks of prayer, each of which contains eight "days" of prayers and intercessions on particular themes connected with the overall theme of "Peace on earth and goodwill towards mankind".

This is a book for people who believe in God. Whatever religion we belong to, or whatever branch of whatever religion, just believing in God is enough to differentiate us from those who don't. Not necessarily any better, but different. In a secular world, we who believe ought not to concentrate on the things we disagree about but on this one most important thing that we have in common. And in any case, God's saving love is contagious, which means it spreads out far beyond the barriers we erect in order to try to keep him to ourselves. We may search for alternative things to worship, but there is no real substitute. Now is the time to face facts. Do we believe in God? Whether or not we do is crucial

This book looks at the way theatre works in order to make 'space for living'. It provides the means to help one feel more deeply, think more clearly, relate more personally, by giving audiences and actors the opportunity to rehearse their roles within a setting which is imagined, but to make use of feelings and thoughts which are real. This book extends the territory explored by Peter Brook in The Empty Space. It adds a new psychological dimension: recognising that not only do we ourselves make space for theatre, but it is also true that theatre makes space for us -- a 'space for living'. Roger Grainger looks in turn at the different kinds of space theatre creates, using written sources and the spoken testimony of actors and members of the audience. The author's own discoveries as a professional actor give passion and immediacy to the acting/audience participation opportunities these insights provide. Based on genuine experience of, and love for, the theatre, this book does not present plays solely as literature but as particular kinds of theatrical experience. In so doing the author breaks new ground in theatre studies and provides actors and audience with tools that promote 'hands-on' knowledge and experience of the human value of drama and theatre.

The book describes two experiences of life within a large English psychiatric hospital-the first as a patient and the second as a member of staff; the first in the 1950s, before these hospitals opened their gates, the second at the end of their lives, when their main task was rehabilitation rather than incarnation. The author compares these two situations, focusing on the last gasps of institutional life, as seen from the point of view of the hospital chaplain.

The book examines the various ways in which theatre responds to our psychological needs. It begins with how we present our own personal drama and goes on to look at theatre as the means by which we give events personal and corporate significance. Theatre enables us to overcome our reluctance to face psychological pain and so helps us towards healing, concentrating on its balance of protection and exposure-its principal contribution to health and its significance for human relationship.

This book brings home the dramatic identity of ritual and the religious significance of all kinds of theatre. Historically speaking, religious ritual and theatre appear to have evolved together. But what is the relationship between catharsis and liturgy? How liturgical is theatre, and how theatrical is liturgy? Liturgy's purpose is dramatic; like theatre it is a kinetic medium focusing upon the presence of the other person, whether divine or human. The book explores the characteristics of liturgical experience -- concentration, single mindedness, intentionality, emotional catharsis and above all, the quality of encounter on which personal environment depends -- an exploration which leads into the dramatic shape underlying both liturgy and theatre, that of the rite of passage itself. Examples are given of such rites, understood from the point of view of their theatrical nature and purpose. This involves looking at liturgical structure from a point of view which up to now has largely been neglected by scholars, although its relevance emerges with striking force, as the drama of the incursion of the divine into human lives. Many have spoken and written of the 'drama of religious ritual' and been content to leave it at that. Roger Grainger takes a cliche and examines the often misunderstood truth it expresses.

This book is about the therapeutic nature of theatre. It roots the work I have done over the past 19 years as a dramatherapist and counselling psychologist in my own experience of the professional theatre and of psychotherapy. In order to do this I have to pay attention to the the origins of my own involvement, as someone personally healed by theatre, as well as my consequent work as a healer myself and the research I have carried out into dramatherapy.
Whereas my previous books about Dramatherapy tended to be addressed mainly to other arts therapists, this one is intended for psychotherapists and counsellors of all kinds. Indeed, I hope that it will attract a range of readers not usually aimed at in books about dramatherapy - actors, audience-members, and all interested in theatre and the interface between psychology and the arts.
The aim of Healing Theatre: How Plays Changes Lives is to give dramatherapy a new dimension by combining life-experience with professional expertise in a way not attempted before. I have aimed at accessibility, addressing those whose knowledge of dramatherapy is not extensive, and those already practising it, thus adding to the literature by demonstrating the creative relationship which exists between the arts therapies and more conventional approaches; a relationship embodied in my own work over the years.
To conclude: my book records the development of my personal conviction about the healing power of theatre. It differs from other books because of its concern with the experience of existential transformation which is theatre's unique gift. Thus it moves outwards from applied drama (i.e. the therapeutic use of dramatic approached) to theatreitself, and to what exactly makes it heal. No other book, so far as I know, has actually gone so far to ask actors the question, Why do you Act?

Ritual theatre is a powerful healing system that has been practised since ancient times by early societies and in tribal communities. It has the ability to effect deep transformation in its participants, support growth and development, and resolve personal issues. This book considers the relevance of ritual theatre in contemporary life and describes how it is being used as a highly cathartic therapeutic process. With contributions from leading experts in the field of dramatherapy, the book brings together a broad spectrum of approaches to ritual theatre as a healing system. It explores the anthropological and tribal roots of dramatic ritual and proposes that ritual theatre finds its most potent expression in personal development work. The practical application of ritual theatre in various clinical settings is discussed and the final chapters explore the possibilities of ritual theatre as performance. Offering a comprehensive discourse on the theory, application and potential of ritual theatre, this book will be an essential text for all students and practitioners of dramatherapy, arts therapists, psychotherapists, psychologists, counsellors and theatre professionals.

A study examining the underlying theatrical underpinning of dramatherapy, which is firmly based on an understanding of processes which are fundamentally theatrical: imagination, identification and catharsis. The text approaches the subject systematically, arguing that the hidden psychological mechanisms which make theatre work are the same as those that operate in dramatherapy. The authors assert that it is the theatricality of dramatherapy which makes it healing.

Shakespeare's plays present the dynamics of personal relationships in a way that is direct and unambiguous, and with unparalleled forcefulness. This book concentrates on three of Shakespeare's last plays, King Lear, Pericles and The Tempest, allowing them to demonstrate the underlying dynamic of theatre as it is embodied within the work of a master craftsman. The three plays are widely dissimilar from one another at the surface level, yet they all concentrate on a particular relationship - that between fathers and daughters - working outwards from the centre of human experience and using the fundamental relational paradigm as it is enshrined in theatre, especially Shakespeare's. As a professional actor as well as an academic, the author combines an actor's understanding with psychodynamics and literary criticism.

Supervisors who wish to employ a more imaginative approach to their work will find concepts such as 'aesthetic distancing' and techniques derived from dramatherapy - the use of myths and stories, dramatic play and roles - particularly useful. Supervision and Dramatherapy explores the ways in which dramatherapy techniques and concepts can be applied to supervision, and looks at how supervisions are conducted within the field of dramatherapy. The contributors, leading dramatherapists from Britain, Continental Europe, the United States and Israel, have written on the historical background of supervion in dramatherapy, the process of dramatherapy supervision, the training of supervisor-dramatherapists, taking a dramatherapy approach to business supervisions, the supervision of crisis intervention teams and dramatherapy research. They offer insights into the relationships between supervisor, supervisee and client, and the dramatic roles that unfold during the supervision process. Drawing on their own experiences in clinical and non-clinical settings, and richly illustrating their accounts with examples from practice, they offer exciting and creative ways of effectively supervising dramatherapists and non-dramatherapists alike.

This book would appeal to professionals and practitioners in the field of bereavement care, particularly funeral practices. In the presence of much that is so meaningless through grief, this book provides a meaningful overview, perhaps with new insights and perspectives, and is as such highly recommended.' - The Compassionate Friends Newsletter UK 'Discusses research in the field of art therapy, the forms of research available in the field, and the ways in which definitions of research affect understanding of the arts therapies and how they are practised. In his introductory chapter, the author outlines the importance of research into the arts therapies and explains that, while the rest of the book focuses primarily on research into drama therapy , his observations are applicable to other forms of art therapy. He describes the characteristics of art therapy and how these affect the types of research that can be carried out in the field... The author addresses questions relating to research by practicing art therapists, the investigative processes open to them, and the necessary differences between the approaches they take and those of traditional academic research. He proposes an art-based form of research, which uses art as both the means of interpreting art and of presenting that interpretation.' - ARTbibliographies Modern In The Social Symbolism of Grief and Mourning Roger Grainger focuses on the role of funerals in promoting the personal and social adjustment of the bereaved. The work explores the significance of many of the areas and stages connected with death, with chapters covering such topics as: * attitudes towards death * our fear of death and dying * ways in which we attempt to come to terms with death * the rituals that surround these processes. By tying together folklore and traditional beliefs with actual funeral practices, both ancient and modern, the author has created a work that examines the anthropological, psychological and superstitious aspects of our relationship to death and dying. 'Grainger is multi-talented, drawing on his expertise in drama, counselling, acting, theology, sociology and anthropology... He has some interesting things to say about the necessity of chaos, and how this is ritualised in the Irish wake. Unlike many authors on bereavement, Grainger takes seriously the ghost beliefs that are widespread throughout history' - Bereavement Care 'The Social Symbolism of Grief and Mourning is a complex study of death from the perspectives of drama, psychology, anthropology, and working pastoral practice. Roger Grainger ties his study to ancient and current funeral practices, and examines the beliefs about death implicit in our social behaviour; but more importantly, he had understood and can communicate, the absurd quality of death and its religious nature. By its very nature, death is paradoxical: it cannot be contained by words or rites, but that is just what we seek to do, must do, to make sense of it. In doing this, we make sense of life. The important bearing on changing funeral practices, but more pressingly on the way we speak and preach (if we do) about death.' - Church Times 'Roger Grainger's book is a refreshingly new approach to a wide range of theory and practice regarding attitudes towards death, dying and the dead. Most of the material cited was collected presumably for his PhD in the 1970s and the only major criticism relates to the absence of contributions of contemporary philosophers and commentators such as Foucault, Levinas, Primo Levi and Elias. However, this is more than compensated for by a fresh look at the work of some of the late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century anthropologists as well as eastern works, such as the Tibetan Book Of The Dead ... Grainger cites sources which deplore the current state of British funerals and promotes the charter of the National Funeral College. In concluding the book with a chapter entitled The Rite of Passage, he conveys, with good supporting evidence, the importance of sustaining these rites in order to support bereaved people in what can be seen as a mythical experience which is also practical and rooted in reality. I recommend this book not least because of its exhaustive research which provides an excellent resource for any further study in this area.' - Progress in Palliative Care

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.

This book is derived from the authors' experiences of working with dramatherapy in a range of different situations. It focuses on the flexibility of the applications of dramatherapeutic principles. The book provides an account of the history, theory and practice of drama and its therapeutic use. The authors explain the shape of a session, hwo dramatherapy works, and how it can be interpreted via myth, symbol and psychological theory. Work with individuals and groups is described, as are sessions with masks, improvisation and use of scripts. The reader is encouraged to incorporate dramatherapy skills into a variety of existing ways of working: for example, in social skills groups, assertiveness training and anger management. The book highlights the potential scope of dramatherapy and provides practical examples and advice.

Writing from a dramatherapist's perspective, Roger Grainger looks at methods of researching the arts therapies, and how particular definitions of research affect our understanding and practising of arts therapies. He places approaches to research in four categories: quantitative research (which seeks to demonstrate), qualitative research (which explains by describing), action research (which explains by experiencing) and art-based research (which aims to document in an appropriate language, in this case art). Grainger evaluates all of these approaches, arguing that our theoretical or philosophical understanding of what research actually is has an effect on what we think research can be used for. Grainger argues that research always involves a trade-off between two kinds of inaccuracy, numerical and experiential, which correspond to the imprecise fit of the way we think about life and life itself. A range of research paradigms is useful because each regards the world in a different way. Taken together they provide a range of ways of increasing our understanding.