Depth-Oriented Drama Therapy: The Playful Soul in Action

People are born with a soul and the innate capacity to play. Depth-oriented therapists believe in the healing powers and wisdom of the soul. Drama therapists believe in the exploratory learning that embodied play offers. Depth-oriented drama therapy seeks to combine the wisdom of both fields. Employing both hermeneutic and alchemical hermeneutic methodologies, this paper puts drama and depth therapies in dialogue with one another in order to produce a more effective, embodied, and soulful form of therapy. The author also shares her process of finding a deeper meaning in her professional practice as a drama therapist. C. G. Jung saw playing as a primary way of personifying the unconscious; this thesis shows how the dramatic play of improvisation and role-playing can be understood therapeutically. The author outlines specific therapeutic interventions and explains the positive clinical implications of utilizing depth-oriented drama therapy.