“Why Drama Therapy?”

“Oh wow, Drama Therapy? That’s so cool! But why DRAMA Therapy?”

“Oh wow, drama therapy? That’s so cool! But why DRAMA Therapy?” 

This is the most common reaction when someone finds out what I do for a living. “Why Drama Therapy?” Well the answer for me is simple: I wouldn’t be the person I am today without having the arts in my life. More specifically, theatre and music. 

I have been performing since I was five years old. School plays, after school programs, community theatre, internationally acclaimed training programs, college shows, choir concerts, musical productions, high school chorus competitions, back-up singing with a touring band, cabaret-style shows, and the list goes on. I can say that without a doubt, each and every one of these experiences has shaped me into who I am today and has given me so much knowledge about life, relationships, pain, suffering, and most importantly, healing. Before I even discovered Drama Therapy I didn’t realize the abundance of growth and healing that I was experiencing.

Before I even discovered Drama Therapy I didn’t realize the abundance of growth and healing that I was experiencing. 

For the longest time, I thought that I wanted to be a Broadway performer. I didn’t care if I was a lead or had the smallest role in the chorus, I just knew that I wanted to be on that kind of stage on a regular basis. As I spent several years after undergrad playing the role of “struggling New York actor,” and continued to audition while working several part-time jobs, and as I continued to say yes to several small but meaningful opportunities that came my way, I slowly started to realize that my goal was shifting. I kept feeling incomplete with the kind of work that I was seeing. I still loved performing, but it felt like something was missing from the process for me. I wanted more, I wanted to find an even deeper meaning. I wanted the work to have more of an impact. It was then when I started to feel lost. How could I have spent most of my life moving towards something that doesn’t even feel right anymore?

I consulted with my most loving and supportive confidants: my mother and father. About 10 years ago, we were sitting in my Greenwich Village apartment and as I was attempting to make sense of what I was feeling out loud with the two of them, my mom (who is a clinical psychologist) looked at me and said, “honey, you do know that there is such a thing as using theatre as a therapy modality right? It’s called Drama Therapy.” I couldn’t believe it. Of course, I thought, they have music therapy and art therapy, why wouldn’t they have drama therapy? So we began searching the internet to find as much as possible about how to become a Drama Therapist. I quickly found that there were only two (at the time) accredited programs in the United States and one in Canada. I felt inspired about all that I was seeing online about each of the programs. The classes and the overall scope of work that was being done was lighting a new fire within me that I didn’t know that I had. I dove right in. 

After a full year of prepping by taking some psychology courses so that I could be as prepared as possible for that portion of the work (and so I could make sure that I actually enjoyed learning about psychology!) I was finally ready to apply to graduate school. Auditions and interviews happened and I ultimately ended up moving to San Francisco to attend the Drama Therapy program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. It was in school where all of my feelings about the healing elements of the arts were not only making more sense to me, but I was given a language and processes to actually use them therapeutically. I was finally feeling fully present in who I was and who I wanted to be.

I was finally feeling fully present in who I was and who I wanted to be.

Even though it took me about five years between undergraduate school and graduate school to find this field, I know that it was still the theatre that helped me get there. It was the theatre that helped to build my confidence and to process what my needs were. It was the theatre that led me to believe in myself, even when others might not believe in me. It was ALL of the arts that still to this day helps me to see other people’s perspectives and recognizes that we all play several roles throughout our lives. These roles are sometimes relatable to others and are sometimes confusing or even threatening. But if we can find a way to sit in someone else’s shoes, just for a minute, then we may be able to see them for who they truly are and gain more empathy and understanding. We can lead with love and not hate. We can be up-standers instead of bystanders and we can simply want better for the world.

“Why Drama Therapy?” Because it saves lives.

Photo of me performing The Field by Jeremy Cone at a theatre in New York City.