Skip to content
1981
Volume 38, Issue 2-3
  • ISSN: 0263-0672
  • E-ISSN: 2157-1430

Abstract

This article focuses on the use of role with two individuals in group dramatherapy treatment after active addiction. With current studies evidencing the success of the 12-step programme, this case study looks at psychodynamic dramatherapy after 12-step based primary treatment for alcohol and drug addiction. Once the role of the addict is removed, the symptom roles of ‘liar’, ‘failure’ and ‘the depressed’ are often left. Once a member of Narcotics Anonymous/Alcoholics Anonymous the role of ‘recovering addict’ is inserted and the individual is accepted into the recovery community. The multiple case study research focuses on methodology that enables improving resilience and self worth. The study uses the application of role in dramatherapy to identify, express and begin to reconfigure roles and sub-roles. It gives an honest account of personal challenges in relation to the (im)possibilities of brief therapy. Through two qualitative multiple case studies, the research focuses on two individuals in a group setting who differ in identity-related circumstances into addiction, the therapeutic process and how a psychodynamic dramatherapy role method can assist in the (re)creation of identity post addiction.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1080/02630672.2017.1340492
2024-06-06
2026-04-12

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. AA (Alcoholics Anonymous). 2002. Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism. 4th ed. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. AA. 2005. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. 44th ed. USA: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. AA. 2016. “The 12 Steps of AA.” Accessed 12 November 2016. http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/About-AA/The-12-Steps-of-AA
  4. Addictions and Recovery. 2017. Withdrawal Symptoms of Drug and Alcohol Addiction [online]. Accessed 7 July 2016. https://www.addictionsandrecovery.org/withdrawal.htm.
  5. BADth (The British Association of Dramatherapists). 2011. “Code of practice.” Accessed 10 January 2017. http://badth.org.uk/code
  6. Billington, H. 2014. 10 of the Most Drug Addicted Countries. Accessed 21 April 2016. http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/most-shocking/10-of-the-most-drug-addicted-countries/?view=all.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. BowlbyJ. 1969. Attachment and Loss. 2nd ed. New York: Basic Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. BowlbyJ. 1988. A Secure Base. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. CarruthB., and WallenJ. 2014. Addiction in Human Development: Developmental Perspectives on Addiction and Recovery. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. DaytonT. 1997. Heartwounds: The Impact of Unresolved Trauma and Grief on Relationships. Deerfield Beach, FL: Heart Communications,.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. DaytonT. 2000. Trauma and Addiction: Ending the Cycle of Pain through Emotional Literacy. Deerfield Beach, FL: Heart Communications.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. DemirA. M. 2011. “Academia.” Accessed 4 May 2016. http://www.academia.edu/1155672/Addiction_Is_Narcissism
  13. DingleG. A., CruwysT., and FringsD. 2015. “Social Identities as Pathways Into and Out of Addiction.” Frontiers in Psychology 6. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01795.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. DokterD. 1996. “Dramatherapy and Clients with Eating Disorders.” In Dramatherapy: Clinical Studies, edited by S. Mitchell. London: Jessica Kingsley.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. EriksonE. H. 1977. Childhood and Society. London, England: Paladin.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. FairbairnR. 1946. “Object-Relationships and Dynamic Structure.” Chap. 5 in 1994. Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality, edited by ScharffD. E., BirtlesE. F., and FairbairnR. W. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. FairbairnR. 1949. “Steps in the Development of an Object-Relations Theory of the Personality.” Chap. 6 in 1994. Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality, edited by ScharffD. E., BirtlesE. F., and FairbairnR. W. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. FinlayL. 2009. “Debating Phenomenological Methods.” Phenomenology & Practice 3: 1737. doi:10.1007/978-94-6091-834-6_2.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. FRANK. n.d. “Legal highs.” Accessed 6 May 2016. http://www.talktofrank.com/drug/legal-highs
  20. GadamerH. G. 2004. Truth and Method. 2nd ed. Cloucester: Interactive Sciences.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council). n.d. “Confidentiality.” Accessed 10 January 2017. http://www.hpc-uk.org/registrants/standards/confidentiality/
  22. HusserlE., 1931. Ideas: General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology. Translated Gilson W. R. B. New York: Humanities Press. Original work published 1913.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. JaanisteJ. 2008. “A New Beginning – A Dramatherapy Group for Participants with Co-Occurring Mental Illness and Substance Abuse in a Mental Health Setting.” Dramatherapy 30 (2): 1722. doi:10.1080/02630672.2008.9689747.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. JenningsS., ed. 1992. Dramatherapy: Theory and Practice 2. New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. JohnsonB. 1999. “Three Perspectives on Addiction.” JAPA 47 (3): 791815. doi: 10.1177/00030651990470031301.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. JohnsonD. R. 1990. “Introduction to the Special Issue on Creative Arts Therapies in the Treatment of Substance Abuse.” The Arts in Psychotherapy 17 (4): 295298. doi:10.1016/0197-4556(90)90048-u.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. JohnsonL. 1990. “Creative Therapies in the Treatment of Addictions: The Art of Transforming Shame.” The Arts in Psychotherapy 17 (1): 299308. doi:10.1016/0197-4556(90)90049-V.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. JonesP. 1995. Drama as Therapy: Theatre as Living. New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. JulliardK. 1995. “Increasing Chemically Dependent Patients’ Belief in Step One through Expressive Therapy’.” American Journal of Art Therapy 33 (4): 110, 10p.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. KarpmanS. 1968. “Fairy Tales and Script Drama Analysis.” Transactional Analysis Bulletin 26 (7): 3943.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. KleinM. 1946. “Notes on Some Schizoid Mechanisms.” International Journal of Psychoanalysis 27: 99110. [Republished in The Writings of Melanie Klein, Vol. 3, Envy and Gratitude and Other Works. London: Hogarth, 1975].
    [Google Scholar]
  32. KoobG. F. 1992. “Drugs of Abuse: Anatomy, Pharmacology, and Function of Reward Pathways.” Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 13: 177184. doi:10.1016/0165-6147(92)90060-J.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. KoobG. F., and SimonE. J. 2009. “The Neurobiology of Addiction: Where We Have Been and Where We are Going’.” Journal of Drug Issues 39 (1): 115132. doi:10.1177/002204260903900110.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. L’AbateL. 2009. “The Drama Triangle: An Attempt to Resurrect a Neglected Pathogenic Model in Family Therapy Theory and Practice.” The American Journal of Family Therapy 37 (1): 111. doi:10.1080/01926180701870163.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. LandyR. J. 1993. Persona and Performance: The Meaning of Role in Drama, Therapy, and Everyday Life. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. LandyR. J. 2008. “The Dramatic World View Revisited: Reflections on the Roles Taken and Played by Young Children and Adolescents.” Dramatherapy 30 (2): 313. doi:10.1080/02630672.2008.9689745.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. LarkinM., and GrittithsM. D. 2002. “Experiences of Addiction and Recovery: The Case for Subjective Accounts.” Addiction Research and Theory 10 (3): 281311. doi:10.1080/16066350211866.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. MaslowA. H. 1943. “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Psychological Review 50 (4): 370396. doi:10.1037/h0054346.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. MeldrumB. 1994. “Historical Background and Overview.” In The Handbook of Dramatherapy, edited by JenningsS., CattanachA., ChesnerA., and MitchellS. New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. MeldrumB. 2005. “A Role Model for Dramatherapy and Its Application with Individuals and Groups’.” In The Handbook of Dramatherapy, edited by JenningsS., CattanachA., MitchellS., ChesnerA., and MeldrumB. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. MerriamS. B., TisdellE. J., and IvonneP. 2015. Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation. San Fransisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. MillerW. R., and WilbourneP. L. 2002. “Mesa Grande: A Methodological Analysis of Clinical Trials of Treatments for Alcohol Use Disorders.” Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions (CASAA) 97 (3): 265277.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. MitchellS. 1994. The Handbook of Dramatherapy. Edited by S Jennings, A Cattanach, A Chesner, and S Mitchell. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. MKT (Melanie Klein Trust). 2016. “Furthering the psychoanalytic theory and technique of Melanie Klein. Accessed 7 January 2016. http://www.melanie-klein-trust.org.uk/theory
  45. MohanB., 2011. “An overview of Heinz Kohut’s self psychology and object relations theory.” Accessed 4 May 2016. http://www.practicalphilosophy.net/?page_id=426
  46. MoosR. H., and MoosB. S. 2006. “Participation in Treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous: A 16-Year Follow-Up of Initially Untreated Individuals.” US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health 62 (6): 735–750.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. MorenoZ. T. 1978. “The Function of the Auxiliary Ego in Psychodrama with Special Reference to Psychotic Patients.” Group Psychotherapy, Psychodrama and Sociometry XXXI: 163166.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. NADTA (North American Dramatherapy Association). n.d. Drama Therapy with Addictions Populations. New York: North American Drama Therapy Association.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Narcotics Anonymous. 2008. Narcotics Anonymous. 6th ed. Van Nuys, CA: Narcotics Anonymous World Services.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. NewcombM. D., and BentlerP. M. 1989. “Substance Use and Abuse among Children and Teenagers.” American Psychologist 44 (2): 242248. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.44.2.242.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. NIAAA (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism). 1997. “Patient treatment matching - alcohol alert no. 36-1997.” Accessed 3 May 2016. http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa36.htm
  52. ParkerJ., and GuestD. L. 1999. The Clinician’s Guide to 12-Step Programs: How, When, and Why to Refer a Client. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. PowisP. n.d. “The drama triangle in addiction treatment – three walls of entrapment and how to get out.” Accessed 7 May 2016. http://www.breaking-barriers.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/drama-triangle.pdf.
  54. Public Health England. 2013. National Treatment Agency: Facts & Figures. Accessed 21 April 2016. http://www.nta.nhs.uk/statistics.aspx.
  55. Ruscombe-KingG. 1991. “Hide and Seek: The Psychodramatist and the Alcoholic.” In Psychodrama: Inspiration and Technique, edited by HolmesP. and KarpM. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Suffolk County Council. 2012. Demographic Profile. Suffolk: Business Development, SCC.
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Van Der KolkB. A., HostetlerA., HerronN., and FislerR. 1994. “Trauma and the Development of Borderline Personality Disorder.” The Psychiatric Clinics of Northern America 17 (4): 715730.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. WestM. 2007. Feeling, Being, and the Sense of Self A New Perspective on Identity, Affect and Narcissistic Disorders. London: Karnac Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  59. WinnicottD. W. 1953. “Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomenon.” Chap. 1 in 2005. Playing and Reality, edited by WinnicottD. W. 4th ed. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  60. YalomI. D. 1995. The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy. 4th ed. New York: Basic Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. YinR. K. 2014. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 5th ed. London: Sage Publications.
    [Google Scholar]
  62. ZografouL. 2011. “Dramatherapy and Addiction: Learning to Live with Destructiveness.” In Dramatherapy and Destructiveness: Creating the Evidence Base, Playing with Thanatos, edited by DokterD., HollowayP., and SeebohmH. London: Taylor & Francis.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1080/02630672.2017.1340492
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): addiction; alcohol; dramatherapy; drug; identity; recovery; rehabilitation; role
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test