8:00 AM - 8:45 AM PST

11:00 AM - 11:45 AM EST

Self Care Morning Session

NETWORKING SESSION (ALL CONFERENCE EVENT)

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT

No CEs will be awarded for this session.

9:00 AM - 10:30 AM PST

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM EST

(Concurrent Sessions)

Alternative Track Meeting

MEETING/INFO SESSION

ABSTRACT

The meeting for alternative training students aims to update them on AT training resources and objectives and to review some of the guidelines in the AT handbook. The goal is for the education chair to also act as a sounding board for students and to bring back needed information about training to BCTs who train them.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1.  To provide useful resources for students

2. To provide a sounding board for students on their training and mentoring needs

3. To create community amongst AT students in order to feel supported and heard

4. To introduce the new education chair to AT student body

PRESENTER/FACILITATOR

Mimi Savage, PhD RDT/BCT,  NADTA Education Chair

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT

No CEs will be awarded for this session.

Research Resources: Projects and Tools from the NADTA Research Committee 

WORKSHOP/FORUM

ABSTRACT

The NADTA Research Committee will review current projects and freely available research tools to the community in an effort to highlight resources that can support member research practices. These projects and tools will be contextualized within a larger research agenda and framed as an advancement strategy for drama therapy.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. More fully understand the scope and intention of current NADTA research projects 

2. Become familiar with the multitude of research resources available to members

3. Integrate knowledge of current NADTA research committee projects and tools with one’s own research interests 

PRESENTERS

Jason Frydman, PhD, RDT, NCSP, is a registered drama therapist, nationally certified school psychologist, and assistant professor of psychology at Lesley University. He sits on the editorial boards of Drama Therapy Review (NADTA), School Psychology Review (NASP), and Translational Issues in Psychological Science (APA). He is past Communications Chair and current Research Chair on the NADTA Board of directors.   

Chyela Rowe, MA, RDT, is a registered drama therapist, member of the NADTA research committee, and is pursuing a PhD in Expressive Therapies from Lesley University with a research focus on stress and burnout in healthcare. She leads the Arts Therapies and Well-Being Program at CHI Memorial Hospital, Chattanooga, TN through creative arts therapy program development, supporting internships for creative arts therapy master’s students, managing grant-funded health-equity and social justice projects, and providing support to physicians and clinicians on the frontlines of the pandemic.

Angelle Cook, PhD, RDT 

Julia Griffiths, MA, DT, has been a member of the NADTA research updating committee since 2020. She is a graduate of Concordia’s Drama Therapy program, and is currently working in Montreal, QC both in an elementary school and in private practice. Her work often plays with the gap between “what I am to myself” and “what I am to the Other”  as a contradiction that can be held therapeutically as a practice of growth. Julia primarily uses spontaneous story & play enactment, projection, and composite-self mapping to explore this state of inquiry.

Chelsi Kern, MA, is a graduate student at New York University pursuing their Master’s Degree in Drama Therapy. She is a student member of the NADTA Research Committee. She has completed internships at The Hetrick-Martin Institute, New York Creative Arts Therapists, and Spark of Play. They are currently working on completing a thesis that seeks to integrate sex therapy and drama therapy.

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT

1.5 hrs. RDT, LCAT, NBCC

Two Journeys into the Self - Autobiographical Therapeutic Performance in Film

PERFORMANCE

DESCRIPTION

 There is a long tradition of presenting Autobiographical Therapeutic Performances (ATP) and Self-Revs as a capstone of drama therapy programs, as this allows students to fully integrate the essence of the field. However, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this year, presentations were done online, and some performers decided to include cinematographic explorations in their pieces. As in McLuhan's famous statement “the medium is the message,” changing media is regarded as a therapeutic intervention in drama therapy. Hence, while limiting some of the classical tools, the shift into filming ATP’s also brought about a variety of possibilities, both in the process and in the final product, allowing for the exploration of new languages and techniques. This presentation shows two Autobiographical Therapeutic Performances in Film by graduates of two programs, Idalmis Garcia from NYU, and Ramón Guitart from CIIS. Both have immigrated to the USA from Spanish-speaking countries: Idalmis from Cuba, Ramón from Spain. Idalmis’s "Migrating to Myself" tells a journey of transformation, self-knowledge, self-excavation, and empowerment. Ramon’s "By Blood (Rv)" deals with transgenerational trauma, patriarchal society, self-understanding and ancestral connections. Their ATP process was facilitated by Susana Pendzik, Argentinian-born drama therapist, currently living in Jerusalem. Following the performances we will facilitate a discussion, addressing the topics elicited by films, as well as questions regarding the process of creating the pieces using cinematographic tools, and being accompanied online, across continents.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. To bring awareness to the experiences of people from diverse cultural backgrounds, specifically, Spanish- speaking in the U.S.A as they encounter the dominant culture.

2. To present an innovative approach to develop ATP’s in Film.

3. To share the experience and insights gained from the facilitation of ATP processes from a distance, entirely online, and across continents.

PRESENTERS

Susana Pendzik, PhD, RDT, Former Head of the Dramatherapy Graduate Program at Tel Hai College in Israel, also lectures at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Dramatherapy Institute in Switzerland, the Institute for Theatre therapy (Berlin), and the University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina. Susana has published numerous papers in the field, is a specialist in ATP, as well as a drama therapist and supervisor in private practice.

Idalmis Garcia, MA, is a Cuban-born Drama Therapist and artist living in New York City. She recently graduated from a Master in Drama Therapy at NYU. Ida is currently working at Cooke Summer Academy with kids with special needs. She worked with Girl Be Heard over the Summer of 2020 as a Drama Therapy intern and she also joined the organization as a Teaching Artist for the Sundays Workshop. Ida is a former member of the Big Apple Playback theatre company and has an extensive career working in theatre, TV, and cinema, both in Havana and New York. Within the Drama Therapy Community she was a cast member of the show Turbulence, directed by Britton Williams, at NYU Theatre and Health Lab. Her recent artistic endeavors are being the assistant director for the first cycle of Collideoscope Repertory Theatre Company (CRTC) at NYU and she is beyond excited to continue her creative journey with CRTC as a guest director for Slave Play, opening this March. She starred and wrote Angela, a short film that tells her experience as an immigrant in New York City (available to watch on Amazon Prime).

Ramon Guitart, MA, holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Human Services from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, PA. He is a recent graduate from CIIS. During his studies at CIIS, he wrote and directed The Latinx Experience, a play about visibility, social justice, and immigration, performed at the 2019 NADTA Conference featuring a group of passionate Drama therapists from around the country. He is a member of the non-hierarchal organization Drama Therapy Coalition for Justice and is a former CIIS Student Representative to the NADTA. He is passionate about connecting with other Drama therapists around the world to strengthen our field. He envisions continuing his work for and with the community, out on the streets… where it all started...

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT

1.5 hrs RDT*, NBCC, LCAT

*This offering is eligible for RDT CE hours toward the CHED-content area.

Once for Ever After: A performance piece about aging happily … at least for a while:)

PERFORMANCE

DESCRIPTION 

Once for Ever After is a story about a woman who is trying to come to terms with the loss of youth, health and a long term relationship. She is visited by a Spirit who encourages her to break free of societal constraints and accept the inevitable impermanence of life with joy and abandon. Weaving together images, original text, song and movement, Catherine Debon and Christina Lewis create a poetic tale using the cinematographic language and techniques of Zoom. This mixing of new and old provides for an exciting performing art discovery.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Participants will become aware of the challenges of aging in the context of a society that promotes youth, marital relationships, and material success as the markers of happiness.

2. Participants will witness a variety of embodied theatre and dance techniques that are used to inform the creative process and to create material. In the post performance discussion, this will be further illuminated.

3. Participants will be given an opportunity to reflect on how limitations, such as COVID confinement, social isolation, and the limits imposed by loss and aging can open us up to new possibilities and perspectives.

PRESENTERS

Catherine Debon, MFT, RDT, is a practicing drama therapist since 1997, a performer, and a teacher. Originally a dancer and currently a physical theater improviser, she integrates body awareness when working with clients, directing self-revelatory performances and creating original theater solos. Her self-rev., Alma Colorada won the best of the 2011 San Francisco Fringe Festival. For more info visit catherinedebon.com

Christina Lewis, MA, RDT, is a Drama Therapist and a Professional Clown. She has been the Artistic Director of the Clown School of San Francisco for the past 23 years where she specializes in creating unique, original and meaningful physical theatre out of people's personal material.

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT

1.5 RDT*, NBCC

*This offering is eligible for RDT CE hours toward the CHED-content area.

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM PST
1:30 PM - 2:00 PM EST

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM PST 

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST

Body of Knowledge: Why Drama Therapy? 

WORKSHOP/FORUM (ALL CONFERENCE EVENT)

ABSTRACT

First conceived by Lois Weaver, the long table “is an "experimental open public forum that is a hybrid performance-installation-roundtable-discussion-dinner-party designed to facilitate dialogue through the gathering together of people with common interests.” In this long table, educators from the drama therapy community will facilitate a discussion on the state of the profession. 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Attendees will gain diverse perspectives on current factors affecting the profession of drama therapy

2.  Attendees will deepen insight into the impact of the pandemic, the shifting landscape of the field of mental health, and current research in the field

3. Attendees will gain knowledge regarding changes in drama therapy pedagogy, including the forthcoming NADTA educational competencies 

PRESENTERS

Laura Wood, PhD, LMHC, LCAT, RDT/BCT, is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Drama Therapy Program at Lesley University. She is a past president of the NADTA and currently working on a NEA grant looking at the use of the CoActive Therapeutic Theater Model with individuals in recovery. [email protected]

Sally Bailey, MFA, MSW, RDT/BCT, is a professor at Kansas State University and director of the KSU drama therapy program. She is a past president of the NADTA and recipient of the Gertrud Schattner Award. [email protected]

Nisha Sajnani, PhD, RDT/BCT, is an Associate Professor, director of the program in drama therapy and chair of the creative arts therapies consortium and international research alliance at NYU. She is a founding member of the World Alliance of Drama Therapy, editor of Drama Therapy Review, a past president of the NADTA and recipient of the Gertrud Schattner Award. [email protected]

Maria Hodermarska, MA, RDT-BCT, CASAC, LCAT, is a Clinical Associate Professor of Drama at NYU. She is a past NADTA Education and Ethics Committee Chair and currently serves on the Ethics Committee of the NADTA.

Renée Emunah, PhD, RDT-BCT, is Founder/Director of (and Professor in) the Drama Therapy Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). She is an NADTA past-President and recipient of the Gertrud Schattner and Teaching Excellence awards.  She is the author of Acting for Real and co-editor of other books in the field. 

Fred Landers, PhD, RDT/BCT, is the Director of the Drama Therapy Program at Antioch University and a practitioner of DvT.

Jason Butler, PhD, RDT/BCT, LCAT, is the Chair of the Division of Expressive Therapies at Lesley University. He is a founding member of the World Alliance of Drama Therapy, the chief editor of the Arts in Psychotherapy, and winner of the Teaching Excellence award from the NADTA. 

CONTINUNING EDUCATION CREDIT

2 hrs RDT, LCAT, NBCC

1:00 PM to 2:15 PM PST

4:00 PM to 5:15 PM EST

DIGITAL DINING: NETWORKING MEAL BREAK

NETWORKING SESSION (ALL CONFERENCE EVENT)

Bring a meal with you into the networking room and connect with other conference attendees.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

No CEs will be awarded for this session.

2:15 PM - 4:15 PM PST
5:15 PM - 7:15 PM EST

Poster Sessions

WORKSHOP/FORUM (ALL CONFERENCE EVENT)

PRESENTERS: Agathe de Broucker, MA, RDT & Opher Shamir, MA, LCAT-LP (NADTA Poster Curators)

For more information, click here to review the poster abstracts:

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT

2 hrs RDT*, LCAT, & NBCC

*This offering is eligible for RDT CE hours toward the CHED-content area.

4:15 PM PST - 4:45 PM PST

7:15 PM - 7:45 PM EST

30 MINUTE BREAK

4:45 PM - 6:15 PM PST

7:45 PM - 9:15 PM EST

The Players' Play

PERFORMANCE

DESCRIPTION

What happens when a group of DvT players find each other online and share their experiences in DvT therapy? This play is based on verbatim transcriptions of interviews with DvT players done over the last 20 years with a touch of imagination to tie them together. Any similarities to real people are totally and completely imaginary. However these imaginary people gave their real permission to use their words.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the practice of Developmental Transformations.

2. Participants will gain an understanding of the impact of drama therapy and Dvt in particular through hearing the stories of a diverse group of clients who have been in DvT therapy.

3. Via embodied engagement or observation participants will gain an deeper understanding of DvT play.

PRESENTERS

Warren “Randy” McCommons, RDT-BCT, MFT, is the training director for the Hot Pot DvT program in Hong Kong and past director of the San Francisco, Taipei and Shenzhen DvT programs . He currently sits on the DvT Council as VP of Instability Inclusivity.

Aileen Cho, RDT-BCT, LMFT, is a Korean-American RDT/BCT, CEDS, LMFT and DvT Practitioner. She works in her private practice from Los Angeles serving clients all over the state of California and is on the faculty of the drama therapy program at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco.

Ramon Guitart, MA, holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Services from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, PA. He is a recent graduate from CIIS. During his studies at CIIS, he wrote and directed The Latinx Experience, a play about visibility, social justice, and immigration, performed at the 2019 NADTA Conference featuring a group of passionate Drama therapists from around the country. He is a member of the non-hierarchal organization Drama Therapy Coalition for Justice and is a former CIIS Student Representative to the NADTA. He is passionate about connecting with other Drama therapists around the world to strengthen our field. He envisions continuing his work for and with the community, out on the streets…where it all started.

Stephanie Bayne, RDT, LMFT, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Registered Drama Therapist working in private practice in Portland Oregon with a specialty in working with children.

Marcia Aguilar Kailian, RDT,  performer, and director in San Francisco. Recipient of SF Arts Commission grant to direct an original therapeutic play. www.Cocreatetheater.com

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT

1.5 hrs RDT, NBCC

*This offering is eligible for RDT CE hours toward the CHED-content area.

घर, Plural (Home, बहुवचन)

PERFORMANCE

DESCRIPTION

The self-revelatory performance “घर, Plural (Home, बहुवचन)”, came into inception as a part of the graduating Integrative Seminar in the Drama Therapy department at CIIS. The piece is directed by Drama Therapist Maitri Gopalakrishna (located in Bangalore, India) and performed by Ishita Pohoja (located in SF, USA). It was created during the pandemic and had the unique combination of being curated and rehearsed online and performed in a theatre while being live streamed for audiences spread across India, US, Dubai and Colombia.The piece grapples with locating the essence of home. It is an attempt at embracing the plurality of home in intersecting identities, physical spaces, relationships, and internal roles.The second rendition of this piece is an endeavor to share it with the wider Drama Therapy community and also assess how the internal roles (characters) in the piece are doing currently. The current rendition will involve a section where the director interviews how the characters are doing currently and how the process has impacted them. Mr. Kidkid Kumar (an internal role/character) who is an evidence-based researcher would also attempt at reaching out to a few Drama Therapists and Performers who have performed a self-revelatory/autobiographical therapeutic performance/therapeutic theatre/ethnodrama piece and interview them. This is Mr. Kumar’s venture into investigating how a dramatic piece of therapeutic nature impacts the performers’ lives post performance.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Attendees will be able to get a sense of how a self-revelatory performance/ therapeutic theatre impacts the performer and their wider cultural community being represented.

2. The attendees will have the opportunity to witness and hopefully understand some of the challenges faced by immigrants/international students intersecting with queerness and caste and class dynamics

3. The attendees may leave with some introspection, levity, humor and connectedness

PRESENTERS

Ishita Pahoja, AMFT, identifies as a Queer, South-Asian, Alien-Monkey, Drama Therapy Trainee. Ze is currently employed as a Case Manager with a nonprofit organization that specializes in Supportive Housing and Mental Health Services in San Francisco. Over the past two years she has served as a Drama Therapist for elementary and middle school students and their families, as well as for residents in an in-patient facility living with Dementia and Alzheimer. Ishita holds the passion for making Drama Therapy and therapeutic services available at grassroots level. Ze aspires to delve deeper into the genius of indigenous roots of Drama Therapy across our world, weaving together the works of liberation psychologies, critical pedagogy and the healing inherent in artistic rituals in communities. 

Maitri Gopalakrishna, PhD, RDT, is a drama therapist, counselling psychologist, theatre maker and practice-researcher. She has a PhD from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai) and an MA in Drama Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies (San Francisco). Maitri works in community building, preventative care, mental health support, psychotherapy, and training in a variety of contexts. She has experience working with issues of gender, sexual trauma, and childhood sexual abuse. Maitri's recent areas of practice-research include drama as an intervention for sexual trauma, therapeutic theatre, and drawing on theories and practices from the Natyashastra in therapeutic work. She is based in Bangalore, India.

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT 

1.5 hrs RDT*, NBCC, LCAT

*This offering is eligible for RDT CE hours toward the CHED-content area.

Advocacy Through the Arts: a barrier-free approach to empowering individuals with disabilities to tell their stories

PERFORMANCE

DESCRIPTION

Barrier-free theatre, a drama therapy model founded by Sally Bailey, is used to provide adults with disabilities the opportunities to answer the question, “How Do You Want the World to See You?” Through this unique space, individuals grow in self-advocacy, self-expression, and personal satisfaction as they write and direct films that visually honor how they choose to express who they are. The films are a result of intentional facilitation by Sarah Edwards, RDT, as she leads these adults through a process of depth work where they are supported in facing traumas, identifying hopes and dreams, exercising creative muscles, and practicing multiple forms of communication. Participants receive what David R. Johnson calls the most important developmental processes as they transform into confident adults, proud to share their story. Eight short films will showcase the power of individual storytelling and group storytelling from the perspective of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Due to the format of film, these participants are educating society and shattering glass ceilings that exist for all people with disabilities. By having a platform to express who they are, they are changing the way the world sees them, and others like them.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Attendees will be able to implement best practices in directing individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to tell their own, self-directed stories through barrier-free theatre practices.

2. Attendees will learn how to educate other professionals on the value of drama therapy, original work, and therapeutic performance.

3. Attendees will be able to summarize how providing opportunities for individuals to experience agency and practice autonomy will lead to greater confidence, independence, and be more likely to accomplish external goals.

PRESENTERS

Sarah Edwards, MA, RDT, is one of three Registered Drama Therapists in Tennessee and is the creative director and manager of Advocacy Through the Arts at Friends Life Community. The program allows individuals with disabilities to tell their stories through diverse media, filmmaking, performance, visual arts, dance, and storytelling. Sarah completed her bachelor’s degree in theatre education from Belmont University, master’s degree in drama therapy from Kansas State University, and is registered through the North American Drama Therapy Association. She has been the performing arts specialist at Friends Life Community since 2012 and is the visionary behind Advocacy Through the Arts because of her belief that individuals with disabilities have a powerful story within and deserve the opportunities that allow them to maximize their power, purpose, and self-expression.

Waverly Ann Harris, M.S.Ed. [CEO], is President and CEO of Friends Life Community. She has been the lead in programmatic design at FLC since 2011 and focuses on systemic and cultural shifts to promote constant evolution of opportunities that break stigmas and establish new standards that redefine expectations for services.Waverly Ann completed her B.A. from Western Kentucky University in Sociology, M.S. from Lipscomb University in Applied Behavior Analysis and certificate of Conflict Management and believes in building strong teams for collective mission and providing opportunities for individuals to meet their greatest potential. She also enjoys working with families through transitions, consulting with small grass-roots nonprofits, and public speaking for advocacy and awareness.

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT

 1.5 hrs RDT*

*This offering is eligible for RDT CE hours toward the CHED-content area.

Monday, October 18th, 2021 (subject to change)

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM PST 

8:00 PM - 9:30 PM EST

NADTA Student Forum II - "What Are

You Working On?"

MEETING (ALL CONFERENCE EVENT)

LEAD PRESENTERS 

Student Committee Chairs

 Amanda Rothman (she/her), MA, is a recent graduate of the Drama Therapy Master’s Program at NYU. She was a clinical intern for Behavioral Health Services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County as well as The Center for Community Counseling and Wellbeing. She is the co-creator and co-facilitator of the H.E.R.O. Unmasking Workshop, a virtual drama therapy series for healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amanda is a member of the Research Measurements Updating Sub-committee of the NADTA and is the Co-Chair of the NADTA Student Committee.

Elena Offerman (she/her), MA, is a recent graduate of the Drama Therapy Master’s Program at NYU. She was a clinical intern for Behavioral Health Services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County, a clinical counseling intern for Hetrick-Martin Institute, and the drama therapy intern for the NYU Steinhardt Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic. She is the co-creator and co-facilitator of the H.E.R.O. Unmasking workshop, a virtual drama therapy series for healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. She is the Co-Chair of the NADTA Student Committee

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT

No CEs will be awarded for this session.

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM PST

8:00 PM - 9:00 PM EST

NADTA Education Competencies

Roll-Out Info Session

FORUM (ALL CONFERENCE EVENT)

ABSTRACT

This presentation will unveil the new NADTA Educational Competencies. The creation process, knowledge areas, and impact on the profession and training of drama therapists will be discussed. 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Attendees will learn the new educational competencies for the NADTA

2. Attendees will formulate how the competencies will impact pedagogy in drama therapy

3. Attendees will consider the impact of competencies in relationship to other mental health professions

LEAD PRESENTERS

Laura Wood, PhD, LMHC, LCAT, RDT/BCT, is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Drama Therapy Program at Lesley University. She is a past president of the NADTA and recipient of the NADTA service award. [email protected]

Adam Reynolds, PhD, LCSW, MFA, RDT/BCT, is the Training Director for the Institutes for Developmental Transformations in NYC and Taipei, Taiwan. He teaches arts integration, spirituality and healing, and research methods at the Hunter College School of Social Work, and has a private practice in NYC working primarily with LGBTQ+ individuals and children, adolescents, and adults who have experienced traumatic events.  He is currently the Ethics Chair of the NADTA. [email protected]

Mimi Savage PhD, RDT/BCT, education chair of the NADTA is core faculty at CIIS for MCP/EXA. Her published research is on foster care and adoption and on the use of film in drama therapy. She is founding faculty for UCLArts and Healing's SEA program. [email protected]

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT

No CEs will be awarded for this session.

Saturday, November 13th, 2021

9:00 AM - 11:00 AM PST

12:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST

Disability Justice Forum 

ADDITIONAL DATE SCHEDULED FOR ANYONE WHO MISSED THE INITIAL SEPTEMBER 25TH DATE.

WORKSHOP/FORUM (ALL CONFERENCE EVENT)

LEAD PRESENTERS

 CHED - Disability Justice Sub-Committee

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT

*2hrs RDT*, LCAT, & NBCC

*This offering is eligible for RDT CE hours toward the CHED-content area.

(NOTE: CEs will only be awarded for this session for paid attendees.  Please register for a paid tier or contact the office for single-event registration to receive CEs for this event.)