Drama Therapy Review - Volume 3, Issue 1, 2017

This article highlights the clinical implications for integrating Robert Landy’s role and distancing theories with John Bowlby’s attachment theory. Theoretical underpinnings of these approaches are presented as authors explore parallels and divergences between them. The authors provide case material illustrating the implementation of Role Theory in attachment-based interventions and the use of distancing theory in attachment-informed psychotherapy. Benefits of using the theories in a mutually informed practice are discussed in an aim to encourage integrative treatment.

This article presents an account of Dr Robert Landy’s influence on the evolution of drama therapy in Taiwan and at the National Taiwan University of Arts. It includes case examples of two therapeutic theatre projects, which led to important insights into the use of the Role Method to develop and organize a therapeutic performance. The inclusion of a therapeutic theatre project in the training of drama therapists is now a part of our standard practice.

This article examines drama therapy pedagogy through Landy’s four-part model of educating drama therapists that looks at the education of the ‘self’ as well as teaching about populations, techniques and theory. Applying the lenses of constructivist, situated, psychodynamic and enactive theories of experiential learning it expands on Landy’s ideas, advocating for a more complex and dynamic view of learning, challenging the field to engage in more dialogue and exploration regarding theories of learning and pedagogy.

This article analyses the ‘Case of Michael’, examining its contribution to the knowledge base for drama therapy. Its approach draws on the use of the analysis of case studies to gain insight into a particular theory and how it may practically be applied. The article uses a broad frame to examine the Case Study in relation to Landy’s generic perspectives on role and drama therapy: offering general insights into his theory and method. It also uses the notion of a particular frame to consider the value for the field in understanding the ways in which Landy and Michael’s work together is particular, irreplicable and cannot be generalized.

In this article I explore the influence of Robert Landy’s concept of role upon my own vision of drama therapy. I recount how my encounter with his seminal book Persona and Performance (1993) provided me with guidance in my challenging quest. I propose that our innately human tendency for relationships relies on an inner core which cannot be subsumed under the notion of ‘self’ but can be described in terms of an innate relational potentiality that drama therapy has the power to revive.

Professionals working in mental health care and addiction treatment systems may unknowingly adopt, reflect and mimic the symptoms of their clients. This parallel process, combined with the vicarious trauma encountered within the system, can lead to staff compassion fatigue, burnout and unethical practices, all contributing to a breakdown in client care. Using the lens of Landy’s (1993, 1994, 2008, 2009) drama therapeutic Role Theory, along with Wegscheider-Cruse’s (1981) Family Roles, this article examines possibilities that exist for an embodied understanding of vicarious trauma and parallel process found at the systems level, in an effort to offer direct care workers a better understanding of the implicit and disembodied roles they play.

This article explores the need for a Relational-Roles Assessment Protocol that can be applied to clinical practice. Relationship is embedded in the work of therapy and this article proposes a self-assessment protocol that might be used in clinical practice and/or clinical supervision. The purpose of this protocol is to support ethical practice through deepening self and relational understanding within the therapeutic process.