Intercultural Dramatherapy: Imagination and Action at the Intersections of Difference

289 Pages·2022·2.508 MB·English

by  Ditty Dokter, Nisha Sajnani

Intercultural Dramatherapy
The first overarching work on dramatherapy intercultural practice and
research, this book explores the therapeutic encounter between therapists
and participants as an intercultural space, highlighting how attending to cul-
tural differences informs care.
Drawing on international voices of practitioners and participants, each
chapter seeks to explore how social and political struggles, such as rising
global conservatism, nationalism, climate crisis, increasing displacement and
the coronavirus pandemic, are experienced in dramatherapy. Main themes
covered include the development of intercultural good practice guidelines,
therapist transparency – especially through self-disclosure and transference
issues for the therapist – and the negotiation of power relationships across
identity differences. The book concludes with a section on recommendations
for training, supervision and practice.
A resource from which new practice and research can emerge, this book
will be valuable to dramatherapy educators, practitioners and students, spe-
cifically those interested in intercultural practice.
Ditty Dokter, PhD, has worked clinically in adult and young people’s mental
health and refugee care. Academically she led two masters programmes in
dramatherapy and one in dance movement therapy. Her research and pub-
lications focus on intercultural arts therapies practice, training and research.
Nisha Sajnani, PhD, RDT-BCT, is the director of the graduate programme
in dramatherapy and the theatre and health lab at New York University. Her
body of work explores the unique ways in which aesthetic experience can
inspire care, equity and collective human flourishing across the lifespan.

Intercultural Dramatherapy
Imagination and Action at the
Intersections of Difference
Ditty Dokter and Nisha Sajnani
Designed cover image: Rael San Fratello, Teeter-Totter Wall.
American and Mexican families play on a seesaw straddling the
Mexican border with US at the Anapra zone in Ciudad Juarez,
Chihuahua State, Mexico. Photo by Ronald Rael.
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2023 Ditty Dokter and Nisha Sajnani
The right of Ditty Dokter and Nisha Sajnani to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechani-
cal, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library
ISBN: 978-1-138-36347-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-36348-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-43159-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9780429431593
Typeset in Times New Roman
by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive)
Contents
Endorsements vii
Foreword by Phil Jones xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Notes to Reader xiv
PART I
Framework 1
1 Introduction 3
2 Dramatherapy through an intercultural and
intersectional kaleidoscope 8
3 Developing intercultural good practice and cultural
response/ability guidelines for dramatherapists in
North America and the United Kingdom 24
PART II
Research on culture, identity and equity issues
in dramatherapy 39
4 Race and racism in the clinical space 41
5 Troubling gender in dramatherapy 56
6 Stigma and desire: sexual orientation in dramatherapy 71
7 Co-creating our future selves: age and ageism 83
8 Seeking a higher power: religion and spirituality in
dramatherapy 97
vi Contents
9 Found in translation: the role of language in dramatherapy 111
10 Money matters: the influence of social class in
dramatherapy 124
11 Borders in the therapy room? Nationality, migration
and refugee experiences 137
12 Beyond inclusion: dramatherapy and dis/ability 153
PART III
Implications for training, supervision and practice 169
13 Decolonising dramatherapy training within and across
borders 171
14 Illuminating intercultural considerations
through supervision 183
15 Supporting intercultural practice 201
16 Conclusion 218
References 226
Index 266
“My black body cannot be unseen. It is ever-present. Like all bodies. With
nuance and a kind of magic. As dramatherapists, we are concerned with
whole body experience and attunement. It has never been more impor-
tant than ‘here and now’, for us to learn how to navigate the uncomfort-
able terrain of institutions, intersectionality, and individual difference.
This book springs from the well of Dokter’s and Sajnani’s deep listening,
learning, and restorative action and practice, for ‘all’ bodies.”
– Samantha E. Adams, British Dramatherapist & Lecturer,
University of Roehampton, London, UK
“The field of Dramatherapy has long awaited this book, an artistry
of cultural responsiveness and candour, Sajnani and Dokter reveal
‘both the strengths and shadows of dramatherapy heritage.’ Situating
Dramatherapy within the various sociopolitical contexts in which we
live and work, this research illuminates how Dramatherapy can attend
to structural oppression and colonization within clinical spaces, affirm
cultural identities and work towards disrupting the systematic devaluing
and erasure of the experiences and cultural values of minoritized people.
A unique treasure and a must read for all Dramatherapy students and
seasoned professionals, it is books like these that make our profession a
better place.”
– Jessica Bleuer, PhD(c), RDT, Graduate Program Director,
MA Drama Therapy, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada & Past
Diversity Chair, North American Drama Therapy Association
“A timely book that will surely stimulate essential dialogue and self-exami-
nation in our field. The book is beautifully inclusive – in its exploration of
many facets of identity (race, gender, age, language, sexual orientation, reli-
gion, class, nationality, and ability), and in bringing together perspectives
from the North American Drama Therapy Association and the British
Association of Dramatherapists, along with vignettes from drama thera-
pists and clients around the globe. Written in a thoughtful, accessible, and
inviting manner, Intercultural Dramatherapy inspires cultural reflection,
humility, skill, and expanded awareness and action – for practitioners and
supervisors – especially in relation to working across difference.”
– Renée Emunah, PhD, RDT-BCT, Founder/Director, Drama Therapy
Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies
“An essential text for students, practitioners and teachers of dramather-
apy. This book offers both a theoretical orientation and practical start-
ing points for the intercultural practice of dramatherapy. It is written
with reflexivity and rigour and draws on consultations with drama ther-
apists across the world. While the book is aimed at those based in the
UK and USA, insights are adaptable to other contexts. The chapter on
viii Endorsements
decolonising dramatherapy is particularly relevant to those interested in
working in the global south responsibly and ethically.”
– Maitri Gopalakrishna, Dramatherapist, Counselling Psychologist and
Trainer Parivarthan Counselling Training and
Research Centre, Bangalore, India
“The authors share their own lived experiences of inequality, attending
then to disparity that can occur in dramatherapy practice more gener-
ally. They encourage co-creation, listening to client voices and signs of
their internalised oppression in a broadly white and privileged profes-
sion. Both writers model activism and cultural humility, addressing atti-
tudes towards dis/ability, racism, ageism, homophobia and further biases
which promote othering. Professional and student readers will gain
self-awareness through selected vignettes from practitioners and clients
combined with skilful questioning as chapters end. The authors subtly
guide the reader, enabling silenced voices to be heard and curricula to be
re-focused. A brilliant and timely book.”
– Joanna Jaaniste, PhD, Adjunct Fellow,
Western Sydney University, Australia
“An amazing book showing how dramatherapy practitioners cross their
geo-political boundaries, integrating, and internalizing Other cultures,
placing dramatherapy in an intercultural domain. The current complex
global scenario of migration, wars, poverty, and marginalization, makes
this a must read text, for all mental health professionals. This book con-
tains rich descriptions regarding the benefits of dramatherapy practice
within culturally diverse settings, enabling to view each individual and
the human society as Pluralist.”
– Ravindra Ranasinha PhD, Director, Research Centre
for Dramatherapy, Colombo, Sri Lanka
“This is an excellent book and essential reading for dramatherapists and
students who care about intercultural perspective communication in
relation to dramatherapy theory and practice, including supervision and
training. Invisible something has a voice!”
– Tae-Seung Lee, PhD, Lecturer MA Drama Therapy,
Yong-in University, So.uth Korea
“This book is a vast and thoughtful resource that explores and grap-
ples with experiences and complexities of intercultural dramatherapy.
Drawing from case studies, interviews, personal communications, liter-
ature, personal and professional narratives, it covers a range of intersec-
tional considerations and perspectives regarding dramatherapy training,
practice, and supervision. Each chapter offers the reader a relevant
set of questions that prompt contemplation and self-reflection at the
Endorsements ix
intersection of positionality and perspective. Dokter and Sajnani have
written an important text for dramatherapy students and seasoned cli-
nicians alike.”
– Britton Williams, Adjunct Professor, Program in
Drama Therapy, New York University, USA
“This book establishes for the reader salient concepts and praxis in
cross-cultural/intercultural dramatherapy. The clear structure of the
chapters, the balance of the findings from the research study in conver-
sation with practitioner interviews and current research and writing in
the profession, makes a thick and complex topic accessible. The book
also demonstrates where the gaps are in the current literature, in our
ever-changing world, and where more work and research need to be
focused. It will be an outstanding textbook for teaching and for drama-
therapists who wish to develop their capacities in centering difference in
their work, as it thoughtfully reminds us that all clinical practice may
indeed be intercultural work.”
– Maria Hodermarska, MA, RDT-BCT, CASAC, LCAT, Clinical
Associate Professor of Drama Therapy, New York University, USA
“Simultaneously personal and political, this publication draws out the
urgency of transcultural understanding in dramatherapy training and
practice. Vignettes are accompanied by scholarly comment, addressing
problems of inequality, intransigence, and implicit codes in training
and clinical contexts. There is disruption to dramatherapy tropes and
challenges to orthodoxy. It is an exciting and vital read and one which
prompts reflection and action – both in ourselves and our communities.
This is a core text for dramatherapists, arts therapists, educators and pro-
fessionals interested in the shadows and strengths of their practice.”
– Richard Hougham, MA Principal Lecturer,
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama,
University of London, UK
“‘What is foregrounded, made visible in dramatherapy, theory and prac-
tice and what remains invisible?’. This question posed in the introduc-
tion, supports the reader in making sense of the complexities of power
dynamics and the intersections of identity and how these may play out
in the therapy space. True to its title, ‘imagination and action’ are at its
heart, offering creative approaches and practical ideas to explore con-
tent so painful that it can easily be pushed aside. This book honours the
voices and multiple perspectives of a range of professionals and their
clients, exploring ways in which the power dynamics of race and racism,
age and ageism and social class for instance, can manifest in the therapy
room. It will help practitioners and clients create safer ways of initiating
important conversations which may otherwise have been avoided. The