Creative therapy

During my professional career, as a trained psychotherapist running drama projects with vulnerable people, I was often asked about the effectiveness of theatre work in a social setting – many people felt my professionalism would have been better used offering these groups more traditional behavioural therapy.

I believe theatrical work is important, because I believe Natalie Rogers, who puts my personal emotional experiences into words when she writes: “What is creative is frequently therapeutic. What is therapeutic is frequently a creative process.”

During many hours of psychology training – clinical and health psychology, psychotherapy, clowning, acting and dancing – I realised that psychotherapeutic sessions and groups were not the only way to enable self-reflection. In dance and theatre I did not reflect on a rational level, but surprised myself and often found myself in the middle of an emotion that I did not expect. Suddenly I was in the middle of a process; discovering a vulnerable side to myself. I felt my own potential for development, but also my own boundaries. In these situations I have always wished there was a psychotherapist present, who could accompany and support the process, the healing and finally the integration of the experience.

I could see the power in approaching the self through creativity, but also the need that this be assisted by a professional psychotherapist. It was in 2001 that I was first asked to run a therapeutic-theatre project with a group of young asylum-seekers; the participants were 16 to 25 years old and came from different parts of the world (Afghanistan, Giorgia, Ghana, Nigeria). They were all attending a program called ‘Cheets’, which aimed to improve their language and numeracy skills, with a view to gaining a secondary school diploma or entering the job market.

I was thrown into this new experience without any preparation. I had some vague ideas about their situation – I had worked with asylum-seekers during work in prisons – but no idea what they would expect or hope for. I started the work with good will and a positive attitude, and I was surprised how easy it was for me to form a good connection with these young people. They were very open and engaged. They enjoyed most of the games and exercises that I brought in – mostly from improvisational theatre. The games were meant to improve perception of self and others, attention, concentration, confidence, coordination, to play, have fun and of course to initiate teambuilding. Some of the games turned out to be “all time favourites” that were always asked for by the participants, and even played on the street, in breaks and at the very formal graduation ceremony, when they got their diplomas. It seemed like they became a symbol of identity for the group.

Other games I introduced with a lot of caution. Some of these young people had gone through traumatic experiences in the past and I have, unfortunately, seen incidences occur during artist-led projects in prisons – when the artist had no psychological or psychotherapeutic training – when participants were re-traumatised. It is incredibly important that anyone undertaking work in a social environment with very vulnerable people, or people in difficult situations, has a basic understanding of the dynamics of the system they are working in and the psychology of the people they are working with. All exercises that involved trust were quite a challenge for some of the participants, so I always offered different ways of doing the exercise, for example keeping their eyes open, or opening their eyes when they no longer felt safe.

Motivation was not a problem for most of the group games and exercises. But it was much more difficult to get them on stage, to do improvisation or work on scenes. There were a few students who were very confident and always ready to perform, but many more were shy, and it took a long time to make them feel confident on stage.

Time was one thing we didn’t have. So I questioned my idea for a final public performance. Who would benefit from that? Perhaps some of the more self-secure students and perhaps me, in being publicly recognised. But was that really the best thing for the whole group? I did not think so. So I decided to drop the idea of a public performance and focus on the collective here and now. I felt the most healing experience of all was the joy and fun they shared in the time they spent together. And I sensed that my main task was to create a safe environment, a place of emotional home for these young people, some of whom had experienced incredible pain, loss and trauma in their young lives – a space where they could live some unburdened, joyful youthfulness.

I believe, when doing creative arts projects in a social environment, the artistic outcome must always come second. The first priority is the wellbeing of the people we are working with.

It was a great honour and an incredibly enriching experience for me to meet these young people, who had so many stories to tell that really moved and touched me. We experienced some magic moments, ones that were not meant to be on a stage, but so important to share.