INDIA: Drama therapy research covered in Telangana Today
Recent psychology graduate Aptana Gupta and Assistant Professor of Psychology Moitrayee Das from the FLAME University in Pune, India, shared the current research findings on how drama therapy could benefit bullying prevention programs. As they conclude, "using drama to explore inner self allows one to experience hidden emotions and identify new ways of finding solutions."
In their article, the authors share different research studies that support the beneficial role of drama therapy in working with children.
"According to Bhukhanwala (2014), role-play can be therapeutic because it gives participants a forum to express their views about bullying, how to deal with it, and how they perceive it. The main purpose of role-play is to have children create characters. These characters could be inspired by real life or they could be fictional. In the case of bullying, children are required to improvise in hypothetical situations presented to them which are closely linked to their real life. Through critical thinking and sensitivity, the child takes the role of the other and tries to look at the situation from a different perspective. This merging between self and others facilitates discussions, sharing experiences, and sympathy.
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In a study conducted by Kalie Rae (2009), she researched different drama therapy models used in schools. The main five steps in all of these are warm-up, dramatic presentation, discussion, audience enactment and closure. (...) The dramatic projection has also yielded successful results in children with psychosocial problems. This includes externalising problems like hyperactivity, impulsivity and assertiveness.
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Nicole Ventura (2021) suggests that the establishment of school-based assistance enables students and families to access free care without having to worry about transportation or parental supervision. Practitioners’ access to in-person implementation has been restricted as a result of the Covid pandemic. YouTube videos for the same subject could help with this. Another study by Kalie Rae (2009) concludes that these kinds of programmes can help students develop effective communication and problem-solving skills and may even lessen bullying behaviours when they are regularly taught as part of the curriculum. These interventions can help children act on their feelings and take charge of their behaviours. However, to determine the effectiveness of such programmes, more research is required."
To learn more, read the full article by Aptana Gupta and Prof. Moitrayee Das on Telangana Today.
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