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Imagination, Identification and Catharsis in Theatre and Therapy

On sale

1st April 1997

Price: £35

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Selected: Paperback / ISBN-13: 9781853024313

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This study examines the underlying theatrical underpinning of dramatherapy, which is firmly based on an understanding of processes which are fundamentally theatrical: imagination, identification and catharsis. It approaches the subject systematically, arguing that the hidden psychological mechanisms which make theatre work are the same as those which operate in dramatherapy. In other words, the authors argue, it is the theatricality of dramatherapy which makes it healing.

Reviews

Dramatherapy
...it certainly will be useful and challenging reading for students and other searchers who will appreciate the vast expanse of experience and wisdom that is shared with the reader and which encourages wider reading through helpful references and exploration of other works.
Self & Society
...this is a celebration of the power of theatre to move and heal us and to present to us the world of archetypal imagery in ways that enable us to both identify and distance ourselves. In this thesis, therapy is a special case of ritual, the whole project being one of achieving and managing transitions between worlds. A valuable addition to the literature.