Drama Therapy is a form of individual and group psychotherapy, which uses dramatic metaphor, with the aim of change and healing. Through the acquaintance of the participant with different ways of movement, role playing, discussion, reflection, painting, use of voice, musical instruments and other art forms, she/he is given the opportunity to express all feelings in a safe environment, to face his fears and look for new ways in in order to make everyday life more harmonious.
Το Sesame, όπως διδάσκεται στο Central School of Speech and Drama, είναι μια μυθοποιητική προσέγγιση στη δραματοθεραπεία, που πήρε το όνομα της από την ιστορία του “Αλί Μπαμπά και οι σαράντα κλέφτες”, στην οποία το σύνθημα “Άνοιξε σουσάμι!” ξεκλειδώνει την είσοδο μιας σπηλιάς, αποκαλύπτοντας τους θησαυρούς που κρύβονται μέσα της. Ακολουθώντας τον συμβολισμό της ιστορίας, η Θεραπεία μέσω Δράματος και Κίνησης μπορεί να γίνει αντιληπτή ως το κλειδί για να ξεκλειδώσει την ψυχή του ανθρώπου και να επιτρέψει την πρόσβαση στον πλούτο της.
Jung asserts that individuation is the psyche’s lifelong opus to integrate its conscious and unconscious elements, into a well-functioning whole. Following that belief, within the ritualist structure of a Dramatherapy session, the participant embodies different types of roles, explores patterns of behaviour and develops functional ways of encountering life’s contradictions. Through role-playing, and the engagement with different forms and modes of movement, participants are allowed to experiment with alternative ways of behaving and dealing with situations in their lives. Within the safety provided by the use of the arts, in a non-confrontational psychotherapeutic frame, based on the knowledge that difficulties can be revealed through symbols and metaphors, the individual can express emotions and thoughts, in order to develop confidence, deepen self-knowledge and facilitate communication with others.
The fundamentals of the approach are:
* PSYCHE
- The idea that the psyche is a self-regulating system (like the body), which aims at its evolution and completion. The Sesame approach works with this idea and addresses the individual as an entity, without focusing on his pathology.
- Jung's theory of the self is important to Sesame. He believed that it includes the psyche, it sought completion and its goal into reach individuation. The Sesame approach can, in a sense, be understood as a discussion of the individual with itself.
- Jung believed that there are inherited ways of functioning within us that determine how we approach and experience life. He called them archetypes and are deeply subconscious. The Sesame approach works with archetypes, especially when myths are employed.
- To achieve a level of consciousness, we must endure conflict. Because life is full of contradictions, both externally and within our psyche.
- A symbol is not something that can be easily explained because it contains the properties of both the conscious and the unconscious world. Sesame uses symbols as a language of communication with the psyche. Thus effortlessly, the psyche will be able to incorporate the symbols into everyday life.
- Jung also argued that all of a person's experiences should be respected and taken into concideration.
- The two sides of personality are Persona and Shadow. The first is a functional set that exists for reasons of customization or personal convenience. It consists of the roles we play, the "mask" we wear when relating to others. Our social success also depends on the quality of our Personas. The Shadow contains the qualities that are perceived as undesirable, unacceptable or reprehensible and the person hides them.
* TOUCH (movement with touch and sound)
"As movement is a characteristic in which all the properties of the mind are strongly represented, studying the harmony of movement is perhaps the best way to deal with harmony itself. Harmony exists between things that have a specific relationship or affinity with each other. "Things that have no affinity are opposite and can only be harmonized with intermediate steps that lead to each other." Rudolph Laban
* PLAY
"At the best moment of the game, they do not care if they have an audience. It is very far in Chora. "Sometimes a gradual decrease is a sign that they are almost gone and we can see or feel them return to earth." (Slade 1954: 55)
* MOVEMENT
How do we move? Laban identified four qualities of motion as: Flow, Weight, Space and Time. Observe the external use of these four elements and use them as tools to work with the inner world.
* Flow is connected with emotions - it can befree or bound.Free flow moves endlessly and can be difficult to stop. Limited movement begins and ends, has a pizzicato feel and is much less spontaneous and more rigorous.
Weight is related to intent πρόθεση - it can befirm or fineThe energy or force used to do something can be related to the tight or subtle purpose.
Time is related to thought or intent - it can be direct or indirect and relates to the ways in which a person exists in the world and knows it.
Time relates to making decisions - it can besudden or sustainedand is related to the speed with which decisions are made.
"The amazing structures of the body and the incredible movements it can perform are among the greatest miracles of existence. "Every phase of a movement, every small weight transfer, every small gesture of a part of the body, reveal some characteristic of our inner life." Rudolf Laban
* DRAMA
Telling our story or what has happened to us can be an important part of the healing process. However, some events are so painful and some emotions so difficult that they can not be said. So how can we talk about something we feel unspeakable?
* RITUAL
The therapeutic use of structure within the Sesame approach:
A session lasts about an hour and the golden rule is that everyone is absolutely responsible for the degree and ways of their participation. Participants are encouraged to reflect upon than to analyze the reasons they chose a particular role or moved in a particular way.
The sessions evolve through Warm up, Bridge in, Main event and Grounding.
Warm-up
The time to come and focus first on the person and then on meeting others. We start with the body - we increase our awakening in terms of how our body stands.
Bridge in
Exercises that introduce the group / individual to the main event.
Main Event
The experience of working through improvisation of a myth or movement, using role-playing, guided imagination, painting, etc. The choice of myth, story, or fairy tale, reflects and supports the agreed aims of therapy.
Bridge out
Symbolic processes (rituals, exercises) that "close" the main event.
Grounding
The aim is to create time and space for reflection and return to the here and now.
Each session works through:
- offering a safe place to create and opportunity to play,
- providing a different way for people to meet and form relationships,
- using imagination and role-playing, to explore personal material,
- showing confidence in the healthy part of the personality, to seek solutions to difficulties.
Billy Lindkvist defines the purpose of the session:
"If the Sesame approach does not cure, what does it do? It helps people to come to terms with their difficulties by knowing themselves better. It is possible to create harmony where there is chaos. Helps to create an inner balance. We do this because our goal is for people to discover balance. Balance in motion, balance through the use of myths, balance in the Jungian sense, created by the intensity of opposites. It's part of the process. "
