Intersecting modes of aesthetic distance and mimetic induction in therapeutic process: Examining a drama-based treatment for military-related traumatic stress

Can Shakespeare be a treatment for posttraumatic stress in military veterans? This is the question that our research team has been examining through the empirical investigation of the DE-CRUIT program. DE-CRUIT uses Shakespeare’s verse to help veterans with the articulation, sharing and processing of trauma. In this article, we focus specifically on the therapeutic process of the program that involves various modes of aesthetic distance in combination with mimetic induction, a treatment technique in which fictionalized narrative reflects the real-life experience of trauma. After describing that process, we illustrate these various intersecting therapeutic components through the case of ‘D.’, a military veteran who took part in DE-CRUIT after many years of living with a secret, non-disclosed trauma.