Drama Therapy Workshop Series

This summer the Black Healing Centre partnered up with the Black Community Resource Centre to offer group drama therapy to Black Seniors from July to August of 2021.

This short-term therapy group aimed to strengthen the sense of community among participants, by planting the seeds of a nascent or growing therapeutic journey for all group members. It was tailored for seniors from the Black community of Côte-des Neiges, who were feeling the isolation of living through a pandemic and wanted to connect with their peers.

We began building safer spaces to begin understanding and gaining insight into major themes that participants brought into the space. As a training creative arts therapist, the facilitator was prepared to offer a wide variety of tools such as improvisation, role-play, authentic movement or dance, poetry, storytelling and group discussions, to help participants move closer towards their personal goals. Although therapy does encourage and help contain vulnerability, the therapist also intended to offer the freedom and catharsis that exist in playfulness as an act of resilience in challenging times.