Principles of Drama Therapy:
Healing Through Action with Armand Volkas (36 CEs)

A 14-Week (45 hr) Drama Therapy Training Group – Live Online

Facilitated by
Armand Volkas, LMFT, RDT/BCT

• Are you a licensed psychotherapist, MFT Trainee, Associate, social worker, student, life coach, teacher, trainer or group facilitator?

• Do you want to learn how to facilitate drama therapy processes with individuals, couples, families and groups?

• Are you interested in enlivening and enriching your practice by crafting effective and creative interventions through action methods?

WHEN:
September 8 – December 15, 2023
14 Friday Mornings
9 am to 12 noon
No meeting on Thanksgiving, November 24

WHERE:
Live Online via Zoom

FEE:
$1050

Shy clinicians welcome!
No previous drama or theatre experience required.

Drama therapy can be a powerful tool in working with high functioning adults as well as special populations such as emotionally disturbed children, prison inmates, people with eating disorders and those in psychiatric settings. Therapeutic theatre techniques can also be used to work with depression, anxiety, substance abuse, as well as exploring existential and spiritual questions.

This training will provide participants with an experience of being in a drama therapy group. A variety of drama therapy techniques will be utilized, including improvisation, acting techniques, psychodrama, Playback Theatre and other action methods. The experiential portion of the training will focus on the application of drama therapy as a powerful tool in working with individuals, couples and groups. The didactic portion of the training will offer a theoretical basis and rationale for the use of drama therapy in multiple clinical situations.

Teachings are appropriate for healthcare professionals as well as the general public. Upon completion of this course, healthcare professionals will be able to incorporate the tools and practices offered in this program in ways beneficial to their clients.

REGISTERED DRAMA THERAPIST ALTERNATE TRAINING

This course fulfills the core drama therapy 3 unit (45 hour) educational requirement for Principles of Drama Therapy in the Alternative Training Program with the North American Drama Therapy Association when combined with additional required coursework. An additional $50 administrative fee will be added to your course fees due. See below for an outline of course learning objectives. Contact Armand Volkas for more information.

• 36 Continuing Education (CE) Credits are available for Psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs and LCSWs for an additional $75 fee.

Information on Continuing Education Credit for Health Professionals

• CE credits for psychologists are provided by the Spiritual Competency Academy (SCA) which is co-sponsoring this program. The Spiritual Competency Academy is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Spiritual Competency Academy maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

• The California Board of Behavioral Sciences accepts CE credits for LCSW, LPCC, LEP, and LMFT license renewal for programs offered by approved sponsors of CE by the American Psychological Association.

• LCSW, LPCC, LEP, and LMFTs, and other mental health professionals from states other than California need to check with their state licensing board as to whether or not they accept programs offered by approved sponsors of CE by the American Psychological Association.

• SCA is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN Provider CEP16887) for licensed nurses in California. RNs must retain their certificate of attendance for 4 years after the course concludes.

• For questions about receiving your Certificate of Attendance, contact Center for the Living Arts at (510) 595-5500, Ext 11, [email protected].

For questions about CE, contact Spiritual Competency Academy at [email protected].

CONTINUING EDUCATION LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of the program, participants will be better able to…
• Apply the 5 phases of Emunah’s drama therapy model
• Explain Robert Landy’s Role Theory and Method
• Discuss David Read Johnson’s developmental transformations approach and its application to working with trauma
• Describe the terms “under-distanced”, “over-distanced” and “aesthetic distance” in drama therapy
• List the 4 primary elements of a psychodrama
• Describe the 3 phases of a psychodrama process
• Describe the difference between psychodrama and drama therapy
• Discuss the difference between sociodrama and psychodrama
• Explain sociometry
• Explain Jacob Moreno’s psychodramatic concept of “tele” versus “transference”
• Utilize doubling in working with individuals, couples and groups
• Apply the technique of “role reversal” in clinical practice
• Describe the psychodramatic technique of “mirroring”
• Design and describe a drama therapy progression of exercises and techniques with a group
• Analyze the “warm-up” or readiness of a group to move into action methods
• Apply a foundational understanding of drama therapy theory and practice to the development of a treatment plan for a selected clinical population
• Describe how drama therapy integrates and applies theoretical constructs from the realms of theatre, drama, clinical psychology, and sociology to clinical practice with different populations
• Describe specific drama therapy interventions appropriate for different children
• Utilize the elements of Playback Theatre as a frame for healing
• Demonstrate a basic group Sociodrama exploring a theme or social role
• Describe how autobiographical therapeutic performance can be an effective form of short term therapy
• Explain the therapeutic rationale of the Healing the Wounds of History drama therapy approach in working with generational, collective, ancestral and historical trauma
• Apply the “Map of Messages” technique to uncover positive and negative spoken and unspoken messages inherited from ancestors, culture and social institutions through psychodramatic sculpting
• Utilize psychodramatic sharing during the post enactment phase of a psychodrama helping the protagonist and group members integrate feelings stirred up during the drama

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Armand Volkas, MFT, RDT/BCT
[email protected]
510.595.5500, ext. 11