Dramatherapy with Children, Young People and Schools is the first book to specifically evaluate the unique value of dramatherapy in the educational environment. A variety of highly experienced dramatherapists, educational psychologists and childhood experts discuss the benefits to the children and young people, and also in relation to the involvement of teachers, the multi-disciplinary team and families. This professional book offers a panoramic view to explain how through dramatherapy children and young people develop their communication skills, sociability and their actual desire to learn.

Detailed case studies demonstrate individual successes in youngsters experiencing a range of emotional difficulties and psychological needs. These studies include: conquering a fear of maths; violent behaviour transformed into educational achievement; safe expression of feelings for a sexually abused child; and where children are diagnosed with mental health disorders such as ADHD and ODD, where the benefits of dramatherapy with children and families are carefully described and evaluated, suggesting that this therapeutic discipline can achieve positive outcomes.

The practical advice and inspirational results included here promote a future direction of integration and collaboration of school staff, multi-disciplinary teams and families. Education and equality are high on the agenda, and the function of dramatherapy is not just as a treatment, but as an economically viable and valuable preventive therapy.

Reviews

"This is a comprehensive and inspiring resource for practitioners and those responsible for the provision of appropriate emotional support to children in schools." - Anna Chesner, The British Association for Drama Therapists, UK

"I recommend this book to every dramatherapist, to every teacher, and to every health care administrator, because within its pages lies a vision of the future of education that we cannot afford to postpone. The many authors of chapters spaademic, clinical, educational, and research fields. This is an important book!" - David Read Johnson, Institutes for the Arts in Psychotherapy New York, USA

"A timely, comprehensive and accessible book; essential reading for dramatherapists working in schools and also for teachers, teaching assistants, learning mentors and others engaged in education. The complexities and difficulties in the lives of many children and young people are sensitively described and the creative practices of those writing will offer inspiration to all." - Pat Broadhead, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK

"I have seen the confidence and well-being of many vulnerable young people transformed through dramatherapy and related therapeutic approaches using the creative arts. This book takes an evidence-based approach to linking theory and practice, and will be an important resource for professionals across many disciplines working therapeutically in educational settings" - Professor Thomas AWN MacKay of Ardoch, C...