I am a trauma-informed HCPC registered Dramatherapist and clinical supervisor with 15 years of experience of working with adults and young people within in-patient psychiatric hospitals, forensic services, and private practice. I trained in the Lifespan Integration method (LI) in 2018 to be able to offer trauma focussed interventions, within the embodied nature of dramatherapy.
Whilst my core modality is dramatherapy, I also offer pure Lifespan Integration work, and work in accordance with the client need, referral, and reason for coming into therapy.
In my experience of working within in-patient settings, alternating creative processes with the more direct narrative or processing work, can mitigate feelings of shame that cause a patient to disengage from the intervention; dissociate, or become hyper-aroused in the process; whilst it also provides a way of titrating the process, recommend by specialists in the field.
Integrating creative processes used in dramatherapy into trauma focussed interventions using the LI method, means that clients have been able to work at their own pace. This evolves through the preparation for timeline work, or during the overall intervention – by alternating the approach in support of the development self-expression, choice and autonomy within creative acts.
My approach is underpinned by the belief in our capacity for transformation and healing, using creative and therapeutic processes with gentle courage and compassion, to enable people to develop a stronger sense of themselves and their capacity to imagine life beyond trauma.