Fully [A] Live, National Association for Drama Therapy Conference November 6, 2008

This November, the Drama Therapy program at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) celebrates its 25th anniversary in conjunction with the 2008 National Association for Drama Therapy (NADT) conference in San Francisco. Co-sponsored by CIIS, the conference features a keynote lecture by Renee Emunah, Ph.D., a leading international pioneer in the field of drama therapy, author of the classic book on drama therapy, Acting for Real, and program chair of the Drama Therapy program at CIIS.

Drama therapy, which is one of the creative arts therapies, involves the intentional use of drama/theater processes for therapeutic change and psychological integration.

Practitioners work with groups, individuals, and families-not only in institutional settings, but also in private practice, schools, and prisons. For 25 years, San Francisco has been the home of one of only two approved graduate programs in drama therapy in the United States. Originally founded at Antioch University in 1983, the program has been housed at CIIS since 1989.

"When the program began 25 years ago, drama therapy was in regular use at only one Bay Area psychiatric institution," says Emunah. "Now drama therapy has become a mainstay at numerous mental health facilities-helping clients by re-awakening creativity, fostering interaction, enabling safe emotional expression, providing an embodied means of working through trauma, and engendering hope."

Drama therapy techniques-once used primarily clinical treatment-are now increasingly geared toward social change as well. One project of the CIIS Drama Therapy program, called "Theatre for Change," involves a multi-ethnic troupe of drama therapy students who create original performances aimed at raising consciousness about diversity at CIIS and other institutions of higher learning, highlighting the intricacies of cultural sensitivity and the dynamics of racism, oppression, and privilege.

Visit: http://www.ciis.edu/academics/pdt.html

$355 for three-day conference (NADT members); $385 (non-members).

Official Website: http://www.nadt.org/08conference.html