Art and dramatherapists together consider a multimodal approach for supporting clients with complex trauma

Abstract

‘Creative arts therapies’ (CATs) is a combined term referring to therapeutic training in one or more arts modalities. Art therapy and dramatherapy are two of these CATs, each having stand-alone training. Our research shows how, as we investigated the experiences of members in a trauma-informed workshop at the ANZACATA conference in 2018 – where members were celebrated as CATs professionals for the first time – our initial qualitative grounded theory study changed to a more performative and practice-based one. An emergent theory indicates the importance of client and therapist safety, of embodiment, and of exploring the intersectionality of these two modalities