Drama Therapy
A different way to explore what you're experiencing—without having to find all the right words.
Sometimes talking about what's going on can be difficult. You might not know how to explain what you're feeling, or you may understand something in your head but have a hard time putting it into words.
Drama Therapy is an active, creative approach to counselling that uses drama and theatre-based processes as part of the therapeutic process. This can include storytelling, role-play, movement, metaphor, improvisation, and other creative ways of exploring experiences.
And no—you don't need to be an actor, creative, or comfortable performing. Drama therapy isn't about putting on a show. It's about finding ways to explore what's going on that feel accessible and meaningful to you.
At Sholinder Counselling Collective, we use drama therapy and response-based approaches to offer young people different ways to explore their experiences and express themselves.
Kim Sholinder’s background in this area includes graduate research developing an eight-week Response-Based Drama Therapy group for youth experiencing anxiety.
What Is Drama Therapy?
Drama therapy intentionally uses drama and theatre processes within a therapeutic relationship to support emotional, social, and psychological change. It is an active, experiential approach, meaning that we sometimes explore an experience by doing, creating, imagining, or experimenting rather than only talking about it.
This might mean telling a story, exploring a situation from another perspective, using metaphor, trying out a different role, or creating something that helps you express an experience that is difficult to put into words.
You are always in control of how much you participate. Drama therapy can look different for each person, depending on your comfort level, needs, goals, and interests.
How Can Drama Therapy Help?
Drama therapy can offer another way to explore experiences, emotions, relationships, and ways of responding.
Together, we might use creative or experiential activities to:
Express difficult feelings — finding ways to communicate experiences that may be hard to put into words.
See things differently — exploring a situation, relationship, or experience from another perspective.
Explore identity — trying out different ways of understanding yourself and the roles you hold in your life.
Practice new responses — safely experimenting with different ways of communicating or handling a situation.
Build self-awareness — noticing thoughts, feelings, behaviours, and relationship patterns as they happen.
Develop coping skills — exploring strategies for managing emotions and navigating difficult situations.
Research with children and adolescents has found promising effects of drama therapy across areas including psychosocial difficulties, social functioning, coping and regulation, social identity, and cognitive development, although researchers note that more high-quality research is still needed.
What Can Drama Therapy Help With?
Drama therapy has been used with young people experiencing a range of emotional, behavioural, and social difficulties.
It may be incorporated into counselling when you're experiencing:
Anxiety and stress
Depression and low mood
Trauma and difficult experiences
Emotional regulation difficulties
Relationship and social challenges
Identity and self-esteem concerns
Difficult life transitions
Experiences that are difficult to express through conversation alone
The research in these areas is still developing, so drama therapy isn't a one-size-fits-all treatment. Whether it is a good fit depends on you, what you're experiencing, and what you're hoping to get from counselling.
What Does Drama Therapy Look Like?
There isn't one way to do drama therapy.
Depending on what feels comfortable and useful for you, sessions might include:
Storytelling or creating stories
Exploring characters or different perspectives
Role-play
Improvisation
Metaphor and imagery
Movement or other forms of creative expression
Exploring real-life situations in a different way
Sometimes these activities might be a central part of a session. Other times, they may simply be one tool we use alongside conversation and other therapeutic approaches.
You are never expected to perform or put on a show. We can find a level of participation that feels comfortable for you.
What We Like About Drama Therapy
One of the things we love about drama therapy is that there isn't always a right way to talk about what you're experiencing.
Young people are often expected to explain how they feel, why they feel that way, and what they need—all while they're still figuring those things out themselves.
Creative and experiential approaches can give us another way in.
Kim Sholinder’s graduate research explored the use of Response-Based Drama Therapy with youth experiencing anxiety, which strengthened her interest in approaches that give young people opportunities to express themselves and explore their experiences in ways that don't rely entirely on traditional talk therapy.
Is Drama Therapy Right for Me?
Drama therapy may be a good fit if traditional talk therapy hasn't felt quite right, or if you find it easier to explore your experiences by doing, creating, imagining, or looking at things from a different perspective.
You don't have to consider yourself creative. You don't have to be comfortable performing. And you don't have to know what you want to do before you come in.
We'll start with what feels comfortable and work from there.
Curious about Drama Therapy?
If you're wondering whether Drama Therapy might be a good fit, you're welcome to book a free 15-minute consultation. We can talk about what you're looking for and see whether our approach feels right for you.