PLAY IN SESSIONS OF DEVELOPMENTAL TRANSFORMATIONS (DVT) MAY PREVENT HARMFUL BEHAVIOR

PLAY IN SESSIONS OF DEVELOPMENTAL TRANSFORMATIONS (DVT) MAY PREVENT HARMFUL BEHAVIOR

Psychotherapy, whether it is verbal therapy or drama therapy, has an effective, well-researched method for helping victims of violence recover from frozen memories of the traumatic experiences that they have suffered (Joseph & Gray, 2008). During a treatment session, a client can reduce the effects of trauma by adjusting the imagery that triggers traumatic memories. The client is receiving good therapy when there is enough exposure to the trauma that the client can express what he or she feels, but not so much that the client is frozen with fear and believes the harm is happening now, or so little that the client feels nothing. Drama therapy is especially effective for the treatment of a client with trauma, since it allows the client to maintain control over the amount of exposure to trauma while playing a role in a dramatic scene that the client imagines together with the therapist (Johnson, Pitre, & Sajnani, in press).