Upcoming Fall Semester 2022
The Drama Therapy Institute of Los Angeles
All classes are on zoom and some classes are Hybrid.
Core Drama Therapy Classes
Principles of Drama Therapy (3 units)
Dates: (Fridays) Sept. 2, 9, 16, 30; October 7, 14, 28.
Time: Fridays: 11 pm to 4 pm (Pacific Coast Time) Saturday September 24 (1 class only) 9:30 to 2:30 pm (Pacific Coast Time)
Note: Class will not meet on September 23.
Cost: $899
Instructors: Pam Dunne, Ph.D, RDT-BCT,NT, Renda Dionne Madrigal, Ph.D, RDT, NT, Kamran Afary, Ph.D, RDT, NT
Participants will explore drama therapy approaches of Role Theory, Narradrama, Integrative 5 Phase, Transpersonal, Insight Improvisation, Ethnodrama, and DVT, etc. as well as related approach of Theatre of the Oppressed. Through experiential exercises involving psychodramatic and projective techniques, participants will discover ways to creatively utilize masks, puppets, life size dolls, objects and other projective materials as well as participate in integrating and expanding techniques of role reversal, doubling, interviewing and mirroring. Dynamic training videos from founders in the field will provide additional methods of learning. Course will be taught from the perspective of three different presenters with contrasting ethnic and cultural backgrounds, adding a unique dimension to the class.
One to Three Day Classes
Poetry Therapy and Multi Modal Methods with Grief and Loss; New Class ( 7 hours/CEs)
Date: Sunday, September 25 and October 2
Time: 9:00 am to 12:30 pm (Pacific Time).
Cost: $ 169
Instructor: Terhi K. Korkiakangas, Ph.D, CL. Hyp
Discover how poetry and expressive art therapeutic methods help to explore grief and loss in a range of contexts, such as the death of a loved one, critical illness, miscarriage or loss of a child, divorce or end of a relationship, and other significant losses. Learn about the five stages of grief (Kubler-Ross, 1970), and the more recent paradigm of continuing bonds (Klass, Silverman, & Nickman, 1996), and how the poetic exploration can facilitate coping in the grieving process. Actively participate in creative, multimodal exercises to experience the therapeutic, strength- based benefits of poetry and arts focused on making meaning out of and transforming grief while adapting to loss.
Utilizing Drama Therapy with People Affected by Behavioral and Substance Addictions: New Class (7 hours/CE’s)
Date: Saturday, September 24
Time: 10:30 am to 6:00 pm (Pacific Time)
Cost: $169
Instructor: Alexis Moran, MA, RDT-BCT, RADT
Explore different methods of using drama therapy processes with various forms of addiction including addiction to social media, sex/love addiction, gambling/gaming addiction, shopping addiction and substance abuse. The recent pandemic has shifted the amount of online presence that we engage in on a day-to-day basis which has created a large increase in behavioral addictions that promote instant gratification. As people have become more physically isolated the need to connect has become more prevalent and so society turned to the internet to assist in creating a sense of community, which has also led to increase in social media and is therefore affecting our overall mental health. This course will teach various drama therapy techniques to help clients confront their behavioral addictions and work towards using more balanced and healthy coping mechanisms.
Clinical Use of Narradrama: Transformational Stories (14 hours/CE’s)
Date: Saturdays-November 12, 19 and Dec.3
Time: 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM (Pacific Coast Time)
Cost: $338
*Required for Narradrama Training
Instructor: Pam Dunne, Ph.D, RDT-BCT, NT
This dynamic class focuses on the use of story in Narradrama in a transformational way and looks at the following kinds of stories: unique outcome, identity change, healing relationship, possibility, silenced and power story. Participants explore through experiential exercises ways to expand and develop transformational stories and move from problem- saturated stories to more preferred ones through a restorying process.
*Psychology Core Classes
Developmental Psychology (3 units)
Dates: October 21, November 11, 18; and December 2, 9 and 16
Time: 12 pm to 6 pm (Pacific Time)
TBA: Film Hours
Cost: $899
Instructor: Terhi K Korkiakangas, Ph.D, CL. Hyp
This course explores growth and change though the lifespan, unfolding before birth to old age. The development of human behavior, thinking, feeling, and relating will be explored, with specific focus on prenatal phase, childhood, and adolescence where most changes occur. Participants will study biological, social, emotional, and cognitive processes, and learn about the current critiques and debates in the field, including biomedical versus socio-cultural views on atypical development and psychopathology. Through integrating theory, experiential exercises, pertinent videos, and other creative approaches designed for self-reflection and discovery, participants will experience a hands-on creative approach to developmental psychology.
Narradrama and Mindfulness (7 hours/CE’s)
Date: October 23, 2022
Time: 10:30 am to 6:00 pm (PDT)
Cost: $169
Instructor: Renda Dionne Madrigal, Ph.D, RDT, NT
Participants will explore the fundamentals of mindfulness practices integrated with
Narradrama through a series of exercises and applied to a variety of educational and
therapeutic settings. Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we are doing and Narradrama offers an opportunity to experience that kind of presence through authentic stories and actions invited by that awareness.
Drama Therapy for Transformative Justice
Dates: December 11, 2022
Time:10:30am to 6:00pm (Pacific Time)
Cost: $169
Instructor: Kamran Afary, Ph.D
This workshop will cover performance and creative expression as forms of healing and their effects on resilience, gender norms, race, and rehabilitation in carceral settings. Recent creative work by drama therapists such as Zeina Daccache’s Blue Inmate Video Documentary and other works in the US and Canada will be covered.
Acting for Evolution (14 hours) Not for CE’s or Units- Acting Class
Dates: Mondays, September 12th-October 17th
Time: 6 pm to 8 pm (Pacific Coast Time)
Cost: $244
Instructor: Cynthia Kelvin, PsD, RDT
Acting for Evolution is a method of acting that focuses on different stages of personal and social evolution. Participants will engage in traditional acting methods alongside applied theatre processes, in order to break through barriers to confident self-expression. This method also supports the cultivation between performers and the community by embracing the foundations of the relationship between the actor and audience in creating social change through performance.