Drama Therapy In Reduction Of Vicarious Trauma Psychology Essay

turn Therapy In Reduction Of petty(a) psychic psychic wound Psychology Essay turn therapy is defined as an intentional and regular application of childs play/ theater offshootes, products, and associations towards achieving therapeutic goals of symptom relief, emotional and fleshly integration and individual/personal growth. at that placefore, the goals of free rein therapy be established from psychformer(a)apeutics and the tools to achieve these goals ar derived from theaterChildren use swordplaytic play as therapy spontaneously, with no outside direction or pre-imposed structure. Dramatic fit is the childs method of symbolically expressing and resolving internal conflict assimilating honesty releasing confine emotions learning to dictation latently destructive nervous impulses with and through fantasy expressing unaccepted graphic symbols of the self exploring problems and discovering resolutenesss expressing hopes and wishesand developing a sense of iden tity (cited in Emunah, 1994, p.4).These complete spectacular forgather expires in childrens lives ar too pertinent to everybody regardless of age towards building psychological growth and counter qualify. These plays help knob to tell his or her story to solve a problem, achieve catharsis, spread the depth and breadth of inner jazzs, understand the meaning of images, and strengthen the might to observe personal billets while increasing flexibility between roles (Emunah, 1994) The experience by psycho healers of failure of traditional verbal therapy to confront and achievement through node discomfort led to the evolving of period of play therapy. The balance of verbal and non-verbal elements of play therapy together with its language of metaphor enables individual to work effectively indoors a therapeutic session.Trauma experiences that m some other been proved to be ototoxic to peoples feel heap be recapitulated to workers who ar supposed to be aid the detrim enttized guests. This has detrimental impact on the leaf nodes and also bay window assume to demoralization of help givers and wastage of resources. It back also lead to the belief that the clients receiving the help ar the cause of the problem and that the clients condition is hopeless and they cannot be assisted or helped. This transfer of trauma from the client to the cargon giver is known as vicarious traumatization (Kellermann, 1992). Vicarious trauma is inevitable while dealing with clients who acquire suffered major(ip) expirationes or suffered terrible final expirations. It cannot be avoided except can be modified or reduced through drama therapy (Jones, 1996).Vicarious TraumatizationVicarious traumatization also known as secondary traumatization is the impacts of working with clients who wee-wee experienced trauma through the narration of their story roughly the experiences. It is called secondary because the person affected by the trauma has no direct come to with the event that led to the trauma nevertheless experiences the trauma indirectly through their client (Andersen et al, 2000). A good example is of workers helping the refugees. Since the refugees imbibe suffered major losses and disembodied spirit-shattering events, those working with refugee such as teachers, medical doctors, and immigration workers among others leave alone be subject to vicarious traumatization and its impacts. Vicarious traumatization is usually a slow, accumulative shape that takes place in the course of hearing many stories of loss and pain (Emunah, 1994 Axline, 1947). This makes it difficult to detect its impacts on the care givers lives. In some cases the care givers do not realize that they are woe from vicarious traumatization until when it is too late and they set about burned out. The impact of vicarious traumatization corresponding the impacts of trauma itself is serious and can be permanent. It interferes with the care givers/workers abi lity to do their work effectively and this highlights the need to recognize, monitor, and minimize the effects of vicarious traumatization on workers lives (Kellermann, 1992).Understanding Vicarious Traumatization and Its ImpactsAs defined above, vicarious traumatization is the experience of trauma related stress that is often caused by working closely with trauma victims. Trauma in definition is any experience involving serious menace personal harm or harm to others and excessive negative emotions analogous fear, helplessness, rage, and grief. These experiences can happen at any time of the life of individuals who guide gone major losses or suffered terrible occurances for instance in a refugee life it can occur during resettlement process or any other phase of a refugee life (Jones, 1996).It is not thinkable to hear stories of tragic losses, humane brutal harassments, gross injustice, and needless suffering and remain unimpressed by such stories by workers who encounter huma n suffering on daily basis. The only personal manner to remain unaffected is only by choosing to be numb by blocking our senses tho this most often leads to ineffectiveness in service delivery and can also lead to depression and other associated problems(Jones, 1996). The fact is that we are changed by the nature of our work usually in ways we do not want. For example a volunteer who is optimistic on him/herself towards helping refugee whitethorn change drastically and become increasingly cynical and discouraged because of the unmatched stress emanating from his/her job (Andersen et al, 2000).Vicarious traumatization can take confused forms which are determined by an individual and the work environment. The fact that people repartee to stress are different, there is no single symptom or set of signs that lead absolute evidence of vicarious traumatization or an consummate(a) list showing all the signs and symptoms. Nevertheless, many of the impacts of vicarious traumatizatio n are resembling to the impacts of the trauma itself. Some of the signs and symptoms of vicarious traumatization include fatigue, depression, withdrawal from other or from activities, loss of trust, demoralization, cynicism, disillusionment, lack of sleep, loss of sense of humor, lack of emotional control and strong emotional reactions to minor occurrences, and difficulty ,making decision among other symptoms (Kellermann, 1992). like water flowing over a excite in a stream, on daily basis nothing markms to be happening to the rock but several years later, have of the rock will be worn out. Similarly, vicarious traumatization is cumulative and on a day-to-day basis, we may hardly realize that we are experiencing stress. Eventually the vicarious traumatization wears us shoot and if not dealt with, it leaves us in an ill-defined position. Once in this exhausted position we are unable to think clearly, make rational judgments, hear carefully, or even help others effectively (Jones , 1996). In addition, attributes such as cynicism, disillusionment, despair among others becomes part of our permanent identities (Carey, 1990). These are serious and damaging impacts. Fortunately, such impacts can be reduced by taking an active role of reducing such stresses that are associated with working closely with trauma survivors. The offset printing step towards addressing vicarious traumatization is to accept that such trauma does exist and have an understanding of the contributing f musicians of vicarious traumatization (Sue, 1994).Management of Vicarious Traumatization through Drama TherapySome researchers argue that spectacular activities do encourage a removal from the reality which is an escapist way of beingness, relating to others, and relating to the military personnel. Others argue that theatre and life are farely different states and if they do relate, it is only within the confines of a theatre with its formal demarcation of performance and earreach areas. Some leaning view adult dramatization as being regressive returning to the experience of the child in play. Nevertheless, some scholars argue that drama and alert are virtually connected. As Evreinov wrote theater is a human impulse necessary to health living (cited in Jones, 1996). Drama therapy acknowledges that a part of this want and impulse can be employed in the nutrition of health and coping with emotional and psychological problems (De Dominico, 1988 Gil, 1994). The creation of world of fictions, play world, and the creative process itself does not need only to be seen in the positioning of an unhelpful retreat from the reality but rather be seen as an important part of living in the world. Creativity in drama therapy has a better, life-affirming aspect. The fantasies and the artistic daydreams help in conquering the vexing limits of existence. They also help in dealing with our basic conflicts (Carey, 2006).Over the erstwhile(prenominal) two decades, acknowledgeme nt of drama as a therapy has changed and this has led to the result of drama therapy as practiced today. These changes have two main aspects as observed by Jones that drama therapy session can deal with base processes come to in the clients change rather than being adjunct to other ways of working, such as psychotherapythat the root of this process is in the drama. Dram therapy is not viewed by those who support it as a psychotherapy group containing dramatic activities but rather the drama process contains the therapy itself (Jones, 1996).Drama therapy techniquesVarious elements of drama therapy combined together make drama therapy effective. These elements condone the way in which drama processes are therapeutic. These elements are not busyized to any drama technique but their focus is on fundamental processes within all drama therapy. The key areas of drama and theatre which are of essence to drama therapist includes the process of entry into playacting as a character, ent ry into dramatic state, dramatic communication, kinship between the dramatic frame and real life frame, performance processes, and the audience together with the process of witnessing in theatre. These drama elements are essential in developing the healing power of drama and theatre and out of them there emerges series of dramatic processes which are crucial towards making drama therapy effective(Carey, 2006, Sue, 1994).The first summation drama process is dramatic projection. Wilshire in his work Role Playing and individualism describes the human relationship between stage space and audience in a way that help us to see how drama projection relates to drama therapy. He observes that the constant attractions and the needs for theatre is that we see ourselves writ large (Wilshire, 1982cited in Emunah, 1994). According to this observation, seeing ourselves the way we are leads toward changing oneself according to the way we understand or see ourselves which may include a change in our perspective. In addition, as an audience, we may identify with some of characters on the stage through motivation, experience or attitude. This may also be accompanied with projection of our own motivations, emotional states and experience according to the direction provided by the actor. Drama content and action witnessed by the audience can lead to a shift of their relationship with the projected feelings during or after the performance. In turn, this may affect the way the audience understand and feel about part of themselves that have been engaged with the projection (Sue, 1997). This projection and assignment with the drama scene are not only to the clients that could be suffering from trauma experiences but also to the therapist who from the traditional verbal pattern may be a subject to vicarious traumatization because they are actively involved as an actor or audience and also the way the client expresses his or her inner feelings through acting has lesser vicarious traumatization impacts. though some theory such as classic freud sees projection and identification as a defensive process, the drama therapy sees it as an important process that develops important relationship between inner emotions and external forms and presences (Weber et al, 2005 Carey, 2006).The other core process of drama therapy is the therapeutic performance process. This process includes need identification, rehearsal, showing, and disengagement. There are two impacts within this process. The process enables the client to find sort for the poppycock to be worked on and the working means with the literal. During rehearsal and showing, client can shift their relationship to personal material by playing different role in the enactment or by directing alternative ways of the play. The focus here is to explore the content displayed by the client (Emunah, 1994). Clients and therapists may become role player or an audience member for a while. Taking these roles may be therap eutic for both(prenominal) the clients and the therapist for it provides an opportunity for a change in the link with the material or shift in perspective concerning the expressed material. The client and therapist involvement with the medium of drama through acting may quit them to experience their own creative thinking. Eventually they may be able to take in this creativity to bear upon the problem being focused within the action. This creativity may necessitate a change as the client and the therapist is able to address the problematic material from various perspectives (Sue, 1994). For instance, outside drama therapy session, a client or therapist may be stuck with a problem but they may feel capable of finding the solution through creatively engaging and experimenting new alternatives in the drama (Miller, 1994).Empathy and distancing which are other processes within drama are often two contend powers within theatre and drama therapy. But it would be beneficial if we see bo th as part of any reaction that result from a dramatic phenomenon either in a theatre or therapy. wiz may be established more strongly than the other but it is irrational to describe a response as being on the whole distanced or empathized. Empathy and distancing are associated to mediation and the ways in which an individual interact with others and happenings in life. As Landy observes, healthy functioning requires a balance of feeling and thought (Landy, 1986, 98 cited in Emunah, 1994 ). Empathy creates a bond between the actor and the audience. It is determined by the capabilities of the audience to identify with and engage their emotions with the character. It can also be evident within the character themselves through the role they are acting with. On the other hand, distancing is where the character does not allow total change on the stage into the character he is acting (Miller, 1994).Empathy discipline in dramatic activities is therapeutic in itself. For instance clien ts may have a problem of establishing relationship due to lack of abilities to empathize with other. empathetic responses during therapy sessions encourage the client to empathize with others outside the drama therapy. On the other hand, distancing encourages participation that is more focused towards thought, reflection and perspective. This means that the client function as a reader to the material without being disengaged from the material but involved with it from a different angle (Allen, 1988). This helps the client to develop perspective on themselves or an event. The degree of response, of empathy and distancing within an action can be used as an instrument in the assessment of clients relationship with the material they present (Emunah, 1994).Drama representation is described as the means chosen to express material within a drama session. Two particular elements common within drama practice are personification and impersonation. incarnation is representing a person quality using objects dramatically. Impersonation on the other hand refers to role playing of an imaginary person (Miller, 1994). These two elements provide the client or the therapist a given focus of expression and exploration of problems and concerns. It enables the client to have a taste of what it is to be another(prenominal) (Emunah, 1994). This links the process of developing empathy and eventually developing the ways a client interacts with others. It can also help in the process of covering a problematic circumstance from the point of view of another person. intimacy of fictional material through personification and impersonations can develop opportunities to change and explore the concern in a new direction. This fictional world enables client explorations which the client might deny in the normal life circumstances.Play activities which is another process in drama therapy is described as the expressive language in the therapeutic sessions. In early stages, a play usually conta ins games and warm up activities. A state of raillery is developed and the client enters into a special playing state. This playful session has a link with reality. The links are exhibited by a more creative, flexible attitude towards action, impacts and held ideas. This allows the client to adopt a playful, experimenting direction towards themselves and their life encounters (Miller, 1994).. This makes play to be seen as part of an expressive continuum using special language such object play, toys, and games among others which is seen as part of hoe the client explores material in drama therapy (Weber et al, 2005)..ConclusionIn many occasions, work in drama therapy involves a direct dramatic representation of reality for instance playing a role of real life event or an improvised experience. At other time it is indirect relationship with real life event. Many activities give a number of various types of connection simultaneously. For example a realistic role play of relationship between a client and her mother, exploring unaddressed problem may have various importance. To the client presenting material, to the other actors and audience, the relationship, may symbolize a seek between self and personified by the mother and daughter (Miller, 1994).. The process of being involved in drama activities and the potential creativity of enactment can bring transformation in a persons life. This is as result of transformation of identity- the artist in the client is established within drama therapy. The developing of dramatic products, the participation in dramatic process can result to a combination of thinking, feeling and creativity (Sue, 1994). This combination has a potential to transform different aspects of clients way of understanding and responding to themselves and the world. The interactions which the client forms in the drama therapy can be transformative experience. Past interactions, events and ways of addressing them cab be brought into the underway drama therapy and be reworked within the drama.