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New Drama Therapy Concentration Strengthens Options for Students
 For Psychology graduate students like Holly Brewer, Antioch University Seattle's (AUS) new concentration in drama therapy, which is on track to become one of only three such programs in the U.S., strengthens the therapeutic options she will have as a clinician. "It's another tool I can use in mental health counseling that will allow me to help people and stay creative," said Brewer.
AUS launched the new specialization in the fall of 2009 with nine students all working toward an M.A. degree in Psychology. The students are seeking a dual specialization either in drama therapy with Mental Health Counseling (MHC) or drama therapy with Couple and Family Therapy (CFT). Drama therapy, like the AUS art therapy concentration, is an expressive therapy that clinicians can use to help clients achieve emotional and physical integration, personal growth and symptom relief. The curriculum at AUS can include improvisation, puppetry, role-playing, mask work, theatrical production, psychodrama and even community-based theatre.
The new program is the brainchild of Hee-Sun Cheon, Ph.D., RDT, and Janice Hoshino, Ph.D., ATR-BC, School of Applied Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy core faculty members. Cheon is a registered drama therapist and Hoshino is a registered and board-certified art therapist as well as chair of the AUS Expressive Arts Therapy Programs. The two faculty members are patterning the drama therapy specialization on the successful art therapy concentration that AUS initiated in 2003. Also involved has been Deb Pierce, RDT/BCT drama therapy associate faculty.
The other two U.S. drama therapy programs are in New York and San Francisco. The scarcity of opportunity for drama therapy training has strengthened Cheon and Hoshino's resolve to fill this unmet need. Even before the program took flight, they were receiving letters of congratulation from drama therapy field leadership in other parts of the country and internationally for launching the AUS program.
In fact, the Korean Drama Therapy Association invited Cheon to be one of three registered drama therapists at a two-week series of drama therapy workshops for therapists in South Korea who want to learn more about drama therapy. Maggie Yowell, a student in the new program at AUS, accompanied her on the journey.
After the first cohort of students graduate, AUS will begin the approval process for the program from the National Association of Drama Therapy. Drama Therapy is a three-year curriculum leading to licensing in MHC or CFT as well as registration as a drama therapist with this dual specialization. Graduates will have the skills they need to work in a variety of settings including hospitals, schools, community centers, prisons and private practice. These are also the settings in which AUS students will serve internships that will last a minimum of four quarters.
All nine students in this first drama therapy cohort have strong backgrounds in drama/theater and a passion for blending theater and therapy. For example Holly Brewer does commercial voice-over work and has worked at Theater Schmeater, the Seattle Shakespeare Company and has been part of the company, Strike Anywhere. She's particularly interested in working in a prison.
Brewer said she likes the method of teaching at AUS, the way faculty look at things from every aspect of how a person learns. "It's not just lectures and tests. They ensure you get the information whether you are a visual learner or a kinesthetic learner," she said.
Another student in the program, Mikel Moss, graduated from the New School in Manhattan, packed his bags and moved to Seattle to be in the new program in fall of 2009. "I came to AUS specifically for this program because of its broad focus and willingness to cover a variety of techniques and models. There isn't a 'tilt' to Antioch's program. Plus, I see that there is a lot of support at Antioch, a very big willingness to see the program succeed and I really appreciate that," he said. Moss is particularly interested in applying what he has learned with minority populations.
Lashon Watson entered the AUS program after completing his undergraduate work at an institution where competing for grades was a top priority. Watson said he is learning more about himself as a person at AUS as well as finding a way to apply his theater talents to a career as a therapist. He has done commercial work and has been involved in independent film-making in Seattle. "The drama therapy concentration will provide one more area of strength that I can rely on when I become a mental health counselor." While developing his own knowledge and skills in the drama therapy concentration, the AUS faculty is likewise developing and nurturing the talents that he has. "I feel seen at AUS, not just as a student but as a person. And, that's a really great feeling," he said.
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