It is often stated that Dramatherapy uses an indirect approach or aesthetic distance to explore difficult or painful life experiences. What does this mean?
When we watch a play or film, read a book or hear a story we often find that the predicaments or reactions of the fictional characters, who may be very distant from us in time, class ,culture or life style provoke a strong emotional reaction. Because emotions in real life can become overwhelming, we sometimes block them out or retreat from them. In a fictional reality, we can allow ourselves to feel things without having to deny their presence because we know fiction protects us but also allows us to be involved. The fiction can filter powerful feelings through to us but they do not engulf us, allowing us to acknowledge them and unlock some of the feelings that may be difficult to cope with. This is true of all of sorts of unwelcome thoughts and feelings, from envy to real psychological distress. In our everyday speech we often use vivid sayings to describe how we feel. We might describe feelings of despair as like being in a dark tunnel without any light at the end, or say ‘I can’t se
