Drama is at the heart of humanity. Pre-dating the written word, it’s a powerful medium for storytelling and self-expression that helps us build connections with others, the world around us, and with ourselves.

An important creative outlet, the many elements of drama support us to express ourselves without words.

For many people, it’s a therapeutic tool for slicing through layers of trauma, moving away from the sharp edges of pain. Wrapping us in a more comfortable understanding of who we are, Dramatherapy can support us to recognise our emotions and validate them as a vital part of who we are.

This is the case for many of the people we support with brain injuries. Dramatherapy – a form of Psychotherapy infused with creative, dramatic elements and storytelling methods – often plays a vital role in their expertly created rehabilitation pathways.

Designed to support complex psychological needs and some physical needs, our Dramatherapy sessions are delivered by professionally trained, experienced Health Care Professionals Council (HCPC) registered Clinical Therapists, like Thumb Print Therapies. Enhancing our rehab provision for people with brain injuries in the Northwest of England, our therapy partners deliver cooperative, compassionate sessions underpinned by evidence-based research and proven clinical methods.

Through this expert delivery of Dramatherapy, the people we support are empowered to address complex emotions, rebuild relationships, and understand who they are following their brain injuries.   

Dive into Dramatherapy

Many visual and creative therapies are used as supportive tools for a range of mental health conditions and neurological disorders, including brain injuries. Often, people with brain injuries may have experienced poor mental health throughout their lives or be forced to navigate additional emotional changes after suffering their brain injuries.

Rooted in Psychotherapy, Dramatherapy delves deep into the emotional self. Through the application of a range of drama methods, like storytelling and the use of props, and EPR (Embodiment, Projection and Role), an aesthetic distance is created, allowing the individual to access their feelings and adopt a stance as a witness to those emotions. Through this process, they are safe from evolving themes within their sessions.

Dramatherapy supports individuals to access and express complex thoughts, feelings, and emotions in new ways – free from the boundaries they might face when verbalising how they feel.

Using other techniques like writing poetry and creating characters, Dramatherapy enhances emotional development and supports individuals to understand past traumas, behaviours, experiences, and the feelings that orbit those accounts.    

In brain injury rehabilitation, Dramatherapists like Andrea Neary, Founder of Thumb Print Therapies, use specialist, evidence-based neurological techniques. Adapted to meet the complex needs of people with brain injuries, this approach provides many psychological rewards, cognitive development, such as learning new information, and enhances executive functions, like problem-solving and decision making.

For people with brain injuries, Dramatherapy also supports them to: 

• Make sense of concepts and information about the world. 
• Be authentic in a safe space, free of judgement.
• Establish new ways to look at situations and problems.
• Build relationships with others.
• Engage the body to promote coordination and develop motor skills.
• Reestablish their identity and improve self-perception.

Dramatherapy is a powerful and unique therapy. Unlike other psychotherapies and talking therapies, it encourages individuals to use their own concepts, thoughts, and feelings as resources to work with.

Instigating profound change, Dramatherapy lifts the lid on how people see themselves and the limitations they project on their lives. Shining a light on their capabilities, Dramatherapy cultivates positive impressions of life, and all its possibilities, beyond a damaged sense of self.

Thumb Print Therapies

Following an esteemed career as a professional actor, Andrea is not one to shy away from new challenges. Before training as a Dramatherapist, she filled the shoes of famous characters on stage and screen, as well as turning her hand to writing and directing.

After 20 years in the industry, she felt a calling for more value in her creativity, longing to use her impeccable talents to help others. Seeking out new opportunities to blend her artistic passions with a deeper purpose, she pursued an opportunity to teach drama to people with learning difficulties and disabilities.

With compassion and empathy, Andrea designed a rich curriculum tailored to support each students’ unique needs, successfully supporting them to develop many important life skills in new, creative ways.

Witnessing the therapeutic impact this had on them, Andrea reached a pivotal point in her career. With a desire to continue applying drama therapeutically, she enrolled at the Northern Trust for Dramatherapy at Manchester University, and studied to become a Dramatherapist.

Graduating in 2006, Andrea established Thumb Print Therapies, named in homage to the inherent individuality that is part of each of us. From many years of playing a variety of different characters and roles, Andrea understood the importance of self-identity and how the events of our lives shape and mould who we are.

Coupled with her professional training as a Dramatherapist, she knew how fragile these connections with ourselves can be, the many factors that might shatter someone’s sense of self, and the importance of repairing this relationship.

Scripted for success

Many of the people we support who engage with Dramatherapy suffer from a disconnected sense of self. This might stem from the events leading up to their brain injury or after their injury as they navigate significant physical and emotional changes.

Each session Andrea delivers is tailored to meet the individual needs of the people we support with brain injuries. Even though she guides them towards overarching goals, her sessions remain elastic, meeting individual needs in the present moment. Anything can happen in a day, so Andrea remains flexible, using her expertise to accommodate unexpected needs and emotions.  

During sessions, Andrea and the people we support engage with a variety of creative accessories to channel emotions. Using the body and other tangible items – like puppets and masks – supports Andrea to identify hidden themes and patterns in messages and behaviours. This provides valuable insights into the individual’s true emotions, which are often concealed as they struggle to accept their feelings and the role they play in their identity.

Observing with experienced eyes, Andrea guides an initial assessment period, from which she can build a bigger picture of what might be residing inside someone. From developing this understanding of their emotions, she can cascade efficient therapy delivery and meet their deeper needs.

Often, people with brain injuries look at life from behind a smoke screen. Once they free themselves from the attachment to their pasts, the mist lifts and they start to see a clearer picture of who they are and what their future might look like.

The methods and techniques Andrea uses in Dramatherapy gently empowers people with brain injuries to comfortably narrate their past experiences in creative ways, supporting them to accept the past, unclog stuck emotions, and move forward with their rehabilitation.

Embodying change

Dramatherapy is unique, and each therapist naturally develops their own approach to choreographing sessions. For Andrea, her approach is steeped in solid experience as a professional actor. Through this branch of her career, she has greater insight into the steps involved in acting and moving in and out of different characters and roles.

This important knowledge extends to how her clients with brain injuries and additional mental health conditions might experience Dramatherapy:  

“I understand we’re never in the same mental or emotional spaces at any moment. If we do a body of work in an enactment space, it’s important to de-role and step out of that character. Then, we can move into the reflection space – a bit like actors doing a critique of their own performance. Reflection is key to magnifying quiet thoughts and hidden feelings.”

Embodiment is an acting process frequently used in Andrea’s Dramatherapy sessions. Through embodiment, people can ‘try on’ new roles and characters, and step outside themselves. A valuable tool for deeper self-discovery, embodiment can be particularly beneficial when people with brain injuries are struggling with self-perception and accepting how their lives have changed. Embodiment can also be useful for identifying how mental health problems affect the physical body, building confidence along the way.

As well as driving a deeper sense of self through a journey of enactment and embodiment, Dramatherapy allows people to use their imagination in a safe space by creating and telling stories, mirroring, creating fluid sculpts, psychodrama, or performing mimes to convey complex emotions and process past trauma.

Small worlds, big stories

Not all Dramatherapy activities involve talking or using the body as a creative tool. After a brain injury, some people might not be able to use verbal communication or may feel uncomfortable in their bodies because of physical changes. Dramatherapists like Andrea use a variety of creative vehicles, like puppets, masks, and small objects for people to express themselves with – a process known as ‘projection’.  

Often, people with brain injuries internalise how they feel, and struggle to find the words to express their thoughts and emotions. Using objects and external props offers them a way to safely communicate these concepts.

Small figurines and models – known as ‘curious figures’ and ‘small world objects’ – create mini worlds for individuals. Within these small spaces, the objects are used in several ways.

Small world objects might reflect how someone is feeling, or they may support someone to recall important memories and events. People with brain injuries might also hold back when invited to discuss their thoughts and feelings.

Due to changes in their brains, they may experience the world differently and react in a way they don’t recognise or understand. Figurines and objects bring these feelings and thoughts into physical existence and help individuals understand, communicate, name, and accept them.  

Power of art

In her sessions, Andrea also works with imagery-based exercises and other artistic mediums, such as textiles. Offering a tangible medium, textiles and materials – like scarves and lengths of fabric – are used in a variety of ways for people with brain injuries – like creating safe spaces.

Navigating the world after brain injury is daunting for many reasons. Impaired cognitions, altered perceptions, and additional mental health problems are just a few reasons someone might need to create a temporary shelter from the world around them. These separate sanctuaries offer a nurturing nook for individuals if they’re feeling chaotic, anxious, unsafe, or nervous. Nestled within their retreats, they are offered a chance to pause the world around them and be with their thoughts and feelings.  

When someone is ready to leave their sanctuary, Andrea is on hand to gently guide them through a period of reflection. Together, they look at the emotions connected with stepping out of the chaos and into the peace of their installation – and vice-versa. An extension of the embodiment method, this exercise supports individuals to address their feelings at a safe distance, with an invitation to consider the physical aspects of their emotions.

Immersive art-based exercises, like constructing safe spaces, can influence both emotional and physical changes as emotions arise. Adding a sense of power and autonomy within the self, this is particularly beneficial to people who have suffered brain injuries and experienced physical changes.

Negative emotions stemming from physical changes, like shame, fear and anxiety, can hang a heavy weight within the heart, mind, and body. Gently releasing these feelings can have a profound effect on how someone feels in their own skin, how they approach their health, and what they might achieve in other areas of their rehabilitation pathway.

A creative support solution

People with brain injuries often have heightened creativity. As the brain adapts to changes from the injury, it opens avenues to exercise creativity when navigating daily life.  

This creativity is essential to supporting the additional emotional needs of the people we support with brain injuries – particularly when approaching concepts around identity and sense of self.

Guided by Andrea, those with brain injuries – like the people we support at our 21 dedicated rehabilitation services – draw on that creativity and begin a powerful process of re-establishing their identity and finding their feet in the world around them.

Processing difficult or stuck emotions, Andrea and her clients consider the deeper meaning of the individual’s identity, explore what might be missing from it, and what they would like to reintroduce.

Working towards acceptance of the past and the changes to the self after brain injury, they examine what the future could look like with the right support.

For Andrea, the biggest reward of supporting people with Dramatherapy is witnessing first-hand their progress and watching the therapeutic relationship build:

“People often walk into their sessions with huge barriers. To support them to overcome them and grow and develop through their Dramatherapy is hugely rewarding. And once they’ve tapped into their creativity and can safely show how they’re feeling, there’s a moment where they reconnect with themselves and it’s powerful to witness.”

Find out more!

Dramatherapy, guided by experienced professionals like Thumb Print Therapies, is one of the many valuable tools we incorporate into our specialist brain injury rehabilitation. To find out more, fill out our quick and simple enquiry form and a member of our friendly team will be in touch.

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