Theatre as a Therapeutic Act: Transform Your Life through Autobiographical Therapeutic Performance

Theatre as a Therapeutic Act:
Transform Your Life through Autobiographical Therapeutic Performance

A 15-Week Group & Individual Drama Therapy Process
Live Online

Facilitated by
Armand Volkas, LMFT, RDT/BCT & Ornela Kapetani, MA, RDT

• Uncover your life script–the unconscious patterns that shape your personal narrative in both positive and negative ways
• Explore and embody new life-affirming narratives
• Create a solo theatre piece as a therapeutic act in a 15-week “rite of passage” process
• Perform your story to an invited group of reparative and trustworthy witnesses

Use theatre to recreate your life as a living, breathing work of art!

WHEN:
January 22 – April 22, 2023 Monday Mornings 9am – 12pm PST

Performances take place between:
April 15 and 22, 2024, TBA

WHERE: Live Online via Zoom

FEE:
$1,500 for a 15 Session Group (Payment plans available)

ADDITIONAL FEES:
Individual drama therapy sessions TBA with your drama therapist/director
$150 per 90-min session (Payment plans available)

No previous theatre experience required! Shy people are welcome!

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Armand Volkas, MFT, RDT/BCT armandvolkas@gmail.com 510.595.5500, ext. 11
Ornela Kapetani, MA, RDT (438) 821-3239 ornelakapetani@gmail.com

WHAT IS AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL THERAPEUTIC PERFORMANCE?

Autobiographical Therapeutic Performance (ATP) is an innovative short-term therapy approach that supports participants in identifying and transforming self-defeating “life scripts” through drama therapy processes. Life scripts are unconscious patterns that organize and shape personal narratives and identities in both positive and negative ways. ATP incorporates acting, improvisation, drama therapy, psychodrama, movement and Playback Theatre techniques. The theoretical underpinnings of ATP are informed by Transactional Analysis, Jungian Archetypal Psychology, Humanistic and Person-Centered approaches, as well as attachment theory. Participants will explore formative moments in their lives and identify self-limiting beliefs transmitted by family, society and personal traumas. Group and individual therapy sessions will include an inner journey through memories, images and emotions.

Through the creation of your ATP you will begin to rehearse and  embody new life-affirming narratives. The journey will culminate in a “rite of passage” performance presented to a group of your invited reparative and trustworthy witnesses.

In the creation of your ATP you will:
• Take courageous emotional risks in a safe and supportive environment
• Embark on, what Joseph Campbell called, “The Hero’s Journey” moving through the phases of a transformative therapeutic process
• Begin to embody a new life-affirming narrative

ATP is Performance as a Therapeutic Act!

Is the ATP process for me?
ATP is for anyone interested in exploring their life through theatre, metaphor, embodiment and myth and for those wanting to transform their lives through the dramatic arts such as psychotherapists, creative arts therapists, social workers, wellness and life coaches, human service professionals, educators and teachers, community leaders, spiritual guidance counselors, group facilitators, actors, theatre workers and activists.

What does the Autobiographical Therapeutic Performance involve?
*4 three-hour drama therapy group sessions
*A performance date between December 11 and 17.
*One 3 hour integration session on December 18.
*A small cohort of supportive group members accompanying you on your creative and therapeutic journey
*10 individual 90 minute drama therapy sessions are recommended with your drama therapist/director
*You will be matched with your drama therapist/director after the initial group session
*Individual sessions to be arranged based on your schedule
*Technical and creative design support for your theatre piece

ARMAND VOLKAS, MFA, MA, MFT, RDT/BCT

Is a psychotherapist and Registered Drama Therapist in private practice and Clinical Director of the Living Arts Counseling Center in Berkeley, California, where he directs a training program for students, interns and therapists who want to integrate drama therapy into their practice. Drama Therapy uses acting improvisation and Psychodrama as therapeutic tools. He is a Board Certified Trainer in this discipline with The North American Drama Therapy Association. In addition, Armand is Associate Professor in the Counseling Psychology Program at California Institute of Integral Studies. He has developed innovative programs using drama therapy and expressive arts therapy for social change, intercultural conflict transformation, reconciliation and intercultural communication.

Armand Volkas directs Healing the Wounds of History, a therapeutic approach in which theatre techniques are used to work with groups of participants from two cultures with a common legacy of violent conflict and historical trauma. Healing the Wounds of History has received international recognition for its work in bringing groups in conflict together: Germans and Jews; Palestinians and Israelis; Japanese, Chinese and Koreans; Armenians and Turks; African-Americans and European-Americans.

He is also Artistic Director of The Living Arts Playback Theatre Ensemble. Playback Theatre transforms personal stories told by audience members into theatre pieces on the spot using movement, ritual, music and spoken improvisation. Sometimes a story becomes myth, sometimes a realistic enactment: some stories are tragic; others are funny or illuminating. The ensemble is in its 30th year of existence. At the heart of Armand’s work is a profound respect for the power of personal story to build bridges between people and cultures..

Contact: (510) 595-5500 | Ext 11 | armandvolkas@gmail.com

ORNELA KAPETANI, MA, RDT

Is a drama therapist and a professional theatre and film actress. She is a registered drama therapist with the North American Drama Therapy Association and with the HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council) in the United Kingdom. She is a clinically certified trau

ma practitioner. Ornela is currently training as a Transpersonal Regression Therapist with the Tasso International Institute in the Netherlands.

In 2009, Ornela obtained her MA in Drama and Movement Therapy (Sesame Approach) in London, UK at the Central School of Speech and Drama (University of London). Since then she has been continuously working as a drama therapist for the National Health System (NHS,UK), within mental health facilities, mainstream education settings, NGOs and with individuals, from diverse cultural backgrounds, who experienced trauma. She has extensive training in Jungian psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, humanistic and person-centred approaches to psychotherapy. She has an established private practice and works with people from all walks of life.

In addition, Ornela is a full member of the ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) in Canada. She is a multi award winning actress and she’s been the leading actress in numerous European film productions. As a theatre practitioner she’s had extensive training in various theatrical disciplines such as the Stanislavsky method, the physical theatre of Jerzy Grotowski, Jaques Lecoq and the silent theatre of Marcel Marceau.  From 2008-2015 Ornela was a performer with the multidisciplinary theatrical group PartSuspended, an art collective that aimed to bring together artists from various disciplines to address social issues through performance.

Ornela combines her experience as a clinician and professional actress, in a way where both the psychological needs and the artistic potential of the person are intertwined to create a transforming liminal experience.

Contact: (438) 821-3239 | ornelakapetani@gmail.com

Want to learn more about the process? Read Armand Volkas’s chapter on Autobiographical Therapeutic Performance from The Self in Performance:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GnFW4XQIBUUc0l60dddNKDbDf-zzgQwl/view?usp=share_link

FOR REGISTERED DRAMA THERAPISTS WHO ARE ON THE ALTERNATE TRAINING TRACK

This course fulfills the core drama therapy 3 unit (45 hour) educational requirement for Advanced Elective in 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.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Armand Volkas, MFT, RDT/BCT armandvolkas@gmail.com 510.595.5500, ext. 11 Ornela Kapetani, MA, RDT (438) 821-3239 ornelakapetani@gmail.com