Short testimonial about the integration between response-based practice and drama therapy:

By Flow Gall

Drama therapy already has a lens which consider that ‘traditional talk therapy’ is not enough – the talk
therapy might feel for some people like an extension of power dynamics: where, for example, people
that work better with words, are more understood than others. In drama therapy, different person can
feel a sense of home, honoring the way each has a different way of making sense of the world (by
drawing, moving, making sounds, etc.).

Response-based also has this lens that something is missing in the ‘’traditional talk therapy’’. Some
persons, or some victims, or some marginalized folks, are not held in the right way, and needs to be
validated more in their natural way of responding or making sense of their context. Response-based
practice is a realm where mental, emotional, physical and spiritual responses are honored. Even when
used with words, this is a practice that permits to feel deeply validation of natural responses, and their
dignity.

For systemic marginalized folks, drama therapy and response-based practice can also be a space where
spirituality can regain an important place in their therapeutic process. In fact, drama therapy permits
the presence of important symbols, stories, characters, etc. to exist, and sometimes to even talk in a
more mythological way. Response-based practice permits a place where these symbols, stories,
characters, etc. are respected and where spirituality is an important part of individual responses. For
some individuals, this way of doing therapy might feel more validating and culturally safe.
Response-based practice offer a non-violent, non-oppressive vocabulary, while drama therapy can offer
rest or emotional safety within a diverse choice of expressive possibilities. Both therapeutic approaches
seem to complete each other in that way.