1Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment ... Research and Treatment ... Consisten
Drama and Drama Therapy: A Novel Aphasia Group Experience Ann Oehring1,2, Keith Whipple3, Ted Rubenstein3,4, Leora R. Cherney1,2,5 1Rehabilitation
Institute of Chicago, Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment University, Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders for Therapy through the Arts; 4Chicago School of Professional Psychology; 5Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine 2Northwestern 3Institute
RIC Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment
Mission Statement
Promote
the development and implementation of rehabilitation practices that enhance the communication skills of individuals with aphasia and facilitate their engagement in life activities
Aphasia Community Groups
To
respond to the challenge of “living with aphasia.” with the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA)
Consistent
Life Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA)
General philosophy and model of service-delivery Consumer-Driven: empowers the consumer to select and participate in the recovery process and to collaborate on the design of interventions that aim for a more rapid return to active life. Explicit goal is enhancement of life participation strengthening daily participation in activities of choice The LPAA Project Group - Roberta Chapey, Judith F. Duchan, Roberta J. Elman, Linda J. Garcia, Aura Kagan, Jon Lyon, and Nina Simmons-Mackie
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/LPAA.htm
Social Practice Principles and Aphasia
Equalizing social relations Creating authentic involvement Creating engaging experiences Establishing user control
Byng, S., Duchan, J.F. (2005) Social model philosophies and principles: Their applications to therapies for aphasia Aphasiology, 19,906-922
Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment: Class Examples Conversation Group Book Club Topic Specific Groups
Examples:
Humor Music Travel What’s in the News / Controversies Biographical Writing Movies The 50’s: A decade in depth
Definition of Drama Therapy The systematic and intentional use of drama/theater processes, products, and associations to achieve the therapeutic goals of symptom relief, emotional and physical integration and personal growth. Drama therapy is an active, experiential approach that facilitates the client's ability to tell his/her story, solve problems, set goals, express feelings appropriately, achieve catharsis, extend the depth and breadth of inner experience, improve interpersonal skills and relationships, and strengthen the ability to perform personal life roles while increasing flexibility between roles.
Drama Therapy is not… The same as creative drama Drama for therapists Therapy for dramatists Doing a play for or with individuals with special needs
Drama Therapy is…
An interactive experience Focused on solving problems A way to include all people in all aspects of life About individual change, group change and social change All about change Informed by and mediated by scientific and scholarly research.
Overall Approaches
Therapeutic work Adaptive Art
The Umbrella of Drama Therapy
Role play Revelatory Storytelling Performances Sociodrama
Developmental Transformation
Theatre as Therapy
Psychodrama
Playback
Process Start of session Central Concern
Individual Concern
Working from the outside in.
Distance
Distance helps the protagonist see and reflect behaviors, feelings and beliefs while preserving needed defenses
Prevailing models of Drama Therapy Role Theory (Landy, Emunah, Sarbin) Developmental Method (Johnson) Psychodrama (Moreno, Blatner) Constructivist Cognitive Approach Direct Problem Solving - Rehearse behaviors and scripts for upcoming events - stress inoculation and self-efficacy.
Metaphor allows the individual to bridge the gap between What is and what should be…Pearce, 1996 p. xiii
Moving Thought into Action through Metaphor Coles, 1989; Cameron-Bandler, 1978 Metaphors offer us other eyes to point us in new directions It can give us an experience we have never yet had but one that we need to actually live Metaphors contain solutions or sets of solutions which can point to new solutions.
The action of metaphor Metaphor as a redefinition The parabolic experience of metaphor
Metaphor as culture Transformative texts, Bruner Malinowski (1936), Functionalist metaphors Kluckhohn (1942) Cultural sustainability Rosaldo (1986) commonality through allusion – telegraphic shorthand
The use of image and speech, thought and deed
Drama therapy emphasizes the interplay between thought and speech Communication of idea through non-verbal and verbal means The act and the image combine into a theatrical moment, allowing the invisible to become visible Theatricality in all its forms allow for shared meaning of metaphor and communication
“Waiting on the Words”
An Original Play
Written, Staged, and Performed by participants in the Theater Group Class
RIC Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment, Chicago, IL Institute for Therapy Through the Arts, Evanston, IL
Theater Experience
“Theater Experience – Join us for an innovative new group! Use improvisation techniques to develop and create your own material. The group will culminate in a multi-media production in June for our Aphasia Day. If you don’t feel comfortable being on stage, there are many things you can do ‘backstage’… Just bring yourself and your interest!”
Theatrical Model
Producers Director Stage Manager Cast Tech Crew Artistic Staff
Writers
Structural Overview 18 weeks Once weekly, 90 minute meetings 3 additional weeks of rehearsal Dress rehearsal Staged, Multi-Media Performance
Additional Logistics Each session audio and video taped Each tape transcribed Meetings:
Administrative
Development
Support material creation & distribution
Participants
14 participants with aphasia (9M; 5F) Age: 31 yrs – 76 yrs (Mean=55.85 yrs) Etiology: 13 stroke; 1 GSW Time post onset: 11 mnths – 27 yrs (Mean=6.1 yrs) Severity and type of aphasia – varied (formal testing not required for participation in aphasia community groups)
Ethnicity: 12 White; 2 Black Vocation: Varied (E.g., surgeon; history professor; janitor; businessman; musician, actor; real estate agent; retail store owner; housewife; lawyer; physical therapist; actuary)
Stages of the Drama Process Encountering the Drama/Theater Experience Games and Exercises
Exploring the Drama/Theater Experience Improvised Storytelling, Fluid Sculptures, Sociogram/Spectrograms Psychodrama, Playback Scenes
Elaborating the Drama/Theater Experience Improvised Scene Rehearsal, Script Generation & Revision, Rehearsal of Scripted Material
Preserving the Drama/Theatre Experience Performance
Encountering the Theater Experience:Initial Sessions
Establish
A
safe and welcoming environment communication
Full inclusion
Equal
Skills are developed in the fun and excitement of playing theater games Point of focus
A
manageable task that commands attention and diverts anxiety
Theater Games
Stimulate the desire and encourage our ability to communicate, which precedes our facility with words
“The actuality of communication is more important than the method.” Viola Spolin
Sample Theater Games
Playing “ball” in the circle Introduce yourself with a sound and a movement Pass-Repeat-Pass sound and movement around in circle Selection of theater games is determined by the individual’s involved Adaptive process
Exploring the Drama/Theater Experience: Development Sessions
Use every group member’s contributions As the desire to share personal biography began to be expressed it became important to use a variety of drama therapy techniques to frame experiences and provide the opportunity for group connection and expression of personal material
Choosing the Amount of Distance
Sample Techniques
Past and Future Projections
Recreating
scenes from the past, or portraying scenes that have yet to occur
Sociograms/Spectrograms
Group
members stand individually where they feel they fit given a range of choices laid out in the physical space, and notice the choices and proximity of others in relation to themselves
Sculpt
Taking
an emotional experience & giving it a visible shape, a physical expression
Inclusion
Scripting the verbal and non-verbal
Make
a concrete experience of feelings and ideas
Try many ways to do and say the same thing Practice exaggeration, association, metaphor, and the wearing of other people’s shoes
Example
The
group explored many ways to relate to others what it is like to have aphasia
Concrete physical metaphors were most useful for those who could not verbally express their experiences
Elaborating the Experience: Setting the Script and Rehearsal Sessions
Having discovered together that they wanted to communicate and what they wanted to communicate, they moved to how they wanted to communicate Example:
The
Past, Present, Future exercise gave the show a working structure
Parts were retained from improvisation that allowed both more verbal and less verbal members to have an active role in the show
Editing
Negotiating
Shifting leadership roles
Participating in the experience with the audience
Practice
Preserving the Drama Theater Experience: Concluding Sessions
Individualized “line” revisions
Performance
Check
our website in a few weeks: www.ric.org/aphasia
Feedback: Email from a participant
“Thank you very much. You know, with the play, I was exited. I can sharpen my sensory memory. Keith suggested that I write some music score. I was hesitant. I only want my lines…memorize…and then rehearse with all the actors. I was focus on one thing. But, as my President Obama said, “I can do more than one thing!”… At the play…achieve this… It’s the story…..living, breathing story. The in result, the play. It’s the story that has to tell. -P