All the World’s a Stage: The Implementation of Creative Arts Therapy Utilizing Psychodrama in Prison Populations

Abstract

Incarceration rates continue to increase in the United States every year. Federally, the FIRST STEP ACT was passed to assist in rehabilitative programming and to reduce recidivism rates. Psychology programs intervene in areas such as trauma, a highly prevalent concern amongst adults in custody, and utilize evidence-based recidivism programming. Creative Arts Therapies (CATs) have been implemented in prisons in the United States, while Psychodrama is a psychotherapeutic technique generally utilized in European and Asian countries. The World’s Stage (TWS) is a treatment modality that provides psychoeducation on trauma and trauma responses in a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy format and integrates the use of Psychodrama and Creative Arts for group and individual processing. By utilizing psychoeducation and Psychodrama in six initial sessions, creative arts therapy is implemented in the final four sessions for additional trauma processing with progress being observed, monitored, and recorded using the Ryff’s Psychological Wellbeing Scale and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Potential implications for TWS are improved psychological well-being, increased knowledge pertaining to trauma, providing a safe and supportive environment for inmates, posttraumatic growth, and reduction of recidivism