In/visible faces: Dramatherapy as a tool for creating a space of possibilities with refugees

Between June and October 2017, Serbian NGO Talas Creative Therapies conducted dramatherapy workshops with eight male refugees between the ages of 14 and 30 in Belgrade, Serbia. They came from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, and were attempting to reach Western Europe by crossing through the Balkan Route. Through the use of fictional characters, dramatic enactment, poetry, art and music, we focused on the healthy components of people’s personalities and helped them to cope with life struggles. The dramatherapy method helped to facilitate the processes of healing, integration, and growth, and to restore communication through creative and often non-verbal means. This article will examine the potential of the dramatherapy method when working with refugees, while exploring three key aspects of our process: the development of a model of dramatherapy with refugees in Serbia; lessons learned; and the outcomes of the work seen through the development of the participants.

The Creative Healing Shift

Review of creative therapies to help manage chronic pain. The use of alternative therapies to provide relief to patients suffering from chronic pain, severe depression, and anxiety. Useful tools for psychotherapists and counselors who help clients that have chronic pain and dysfunctions.

The Creative Healing Shift

Review of creative therapies to help manage chronic pain. The use of alternative therapies to provide relief to patients suffering from chronic pain, severe depression, and anxiety. Useful tools for psychotherapists and counselors who help clients that have chronic pain and dysfunctions.

THE USE OF CREATIVITY WITH CLIENTS WITH DEMENTIA TO ENHANCE STUDENT LEARNING AND POSITIVE PERCEPTIONS

Funding and productivity demands combined with curative approaches of medicine can make working with older adults less appealing to health professionals (Samra et al, 2013 George et al, 2013). It is essential to recognize and address such perceptions to promote the provision of quality, humanistic healthcare. Educators can impact perceptions by facilitating innovative opportunities for interaction with older adults, especially those in dementia care. Creative therapies, such as art, music, and storytelling provide opportunities for reminiscence and self-expression and have been proven to yield potential psychosocial benefits for people with dementia including enhanced well-being, lessened cognitive decline, decreased anxiety and depression, and improvements in memory, social interaction, orientation, and cognitive functioning. (Phillips et al, 2010; Subramanium, Trentham, n.d.; Woods, & Whitaker, 2013). Similarly, these interventions yield benefits for facilitators such as increased comfort and higher levels of humanistic care for clients with dementia (George et al, 2013, & 2014). The proposed presentation will provide evidence related to the benefits of creative therapies for people with dementia and highlight methods for integrating this into healthcare curricula in addition to supporting evidence and positive outcomes.

TeaH (Turn ‘em around Healing): a therapeutic model for working with traumatised children on Aboriginal communities

Aboriginal children in Australia are over-represented in both the child protection and juvenile justice systems. Using Western therapeutic models of practice with Aboriginal people who live in remote communities can be highly problematic. Moreover, the historical legacy of past and present legislation, government interventions and racist service provision needs to be acknowledged and addressed prior to any service implementation. This paper presents a therapeutic model of practice that incorporates Aboriginal concepts of healing and spirit within a creative therapeutic framework. It will demonstrate how the model works through principles of community engagement and capacity building, enabling the provision of a culturally derived therapeutic intervention that involves a synergy of both Aboriginal- and Western-based healing practices. The findings from the implementation of the TeaH model affirm the need to incorporate Aboriginal concepts of healing, spirit and creative therapies into mainstream practice with Aboriginal people.

Using Altered Art for Children Who Language Broker: Navigating Roles and Transitions

This article will provide counselors with creative skills and techniques to use when working with children who function as language brokers. Children who language broker are utilized by their family to interpret and translate information within a new culture. Narrative therapy could appropriately be used with individuals who have undergone such a life transition; however, children who language broker may find it difficult to express their feelings through words. Therefore, incorporating creative therapies into the counseling process can be valuable in aiding expression. Utilizing creative therapies in conjunction with narrative therapy helps children tell their stories more clearly, thus raising their awareness and ultimately encouraging improvements in familial relationships. This paper will outline the use of mixed media to create “altered art,” which involves taking an object and modifying it in an artistic way as a form of self-expression. This specific process used shoes as a symbolic medium, to facilitate the ability of children who language broker to tell their stories and to navigate their roles and transitions. This article is limited to a review of literature and a single group case study of refugee children who function as language brokers. Further research is needed with formal measurements and within other cultures and environments.