Becoming a drama therapist?

Question

I want to become a drama therapist. I'm finishing my degree in Drama and will continue onto a Master's Degree in Drama Therapy.

What challenges will I face as a Drama Therapist?

Also can I go higher than a Master's Degree like say a Doctorate?

Answer 1

I had a drama therapist when i was in hospital n believe me, you face alot of challenges...I suppose it depends what client group you want to work with, but my experience was that alot of people did not enjoy it, or have the energy for it. I loved it though. I thought it was great fun, but then, i always wanted to be a drama therapist myself!

Also, what you do depends on your setting too.  The drama therapist in the hopsital i was in also took other groups like CBT, body image, anxiety management etc and she worked as a keyworker.  However, if you where working with adults with learning difficulties, you would not have these other duties.

I'm afraid i cannot answer your other questions as i don't know if there is a doctorate level, but good luck in the furture, and if you have any more questions that i might be able to answer for you, feel free to ask :)

Answer 2

Hello.  

1) I think the most difficult challenge you will face is getting clients to engage in drama therapy.  Many clients tend to be nervous, anxious, and self-concious at first, so they may not think they want to see a drama therapist.  When I was in the hospital, the drama therapist was liked only by the people who were completely manic or delusional.  Everyone else that was depressed did NOT want to be doing any type of drama or imagination work.  However, the manics loved it.

2) Perhaps you should consider getting a doctorate in clincal/counseling psychology because then you will be able to recruit a variety of patients using other techniques such as CBT or Psychodynamic and once the clients get comfortable with you, you can incorporate drama therapy into the sessions.  

I would be careful about getting too specialized in an area like drama therapy.  I think those techniques could be excellently incorporated into other work, but I do not know how many clients will specifically search for a drama therapist.