I love the networking and conversations at conference.
Hearing about people working, in different parts of the country, how they are using dramatherapy in new ways with different client groups.
I’m inspired to hear about colleagues working with children, adolescents, long term illness. While I was vice-chair, I collated the data for the Workforce Survey which showed the depth and breadth of the profession. It’s great to have the data from that survey but it’s even more inspirational to hear the stories first had at conference.
There was one conversation in particular which warmed my heart this year. After I graduated in 2018 and started this blog, I started to be approached by people interested in dramatherapy. I would always try to spend time with each person, sending messages, answering questions, recommending reading, talking about the training and the profession. This year someone came up to me at conference “Amy, you might not remember me but you were the first person I had spoken to about dramatherapy. I’ve just qualified this year.” I wanted to celebrate that moment so much. One of the joys in this blog is sharing the profession I am so passionate about with others.
I have seen the difference that this work can make. I’ve experienced it for myself, I have seen it for my clients. It may not be the right therapy for everyone but I love how adaptive it can be to so many people. There are dramatherapists working with non-verbal clients who are not able to fully engage in talk therapy. There are dramatherapists working with clients in prison who struggle to trust. There are dramatherapists working in refuges with clients who have been hurt. There are dramatherapists working with clients who are terminally ill. The aim is not for dramatherapists to robotically read from a therapy book which has all the answers. The aim is for the dramatherapist to meet the client, to develop a therapeutic relationship built on trust, to creatively offer a perspective and method within the therapy to explore the important themes. We are the community of dramatherapists. We share certain values. We are also all unique.
