Hall of mirrors on stage: An introduction to psychotherapeutic playback theatre

Kowalsky, Ronen; Keisari, Shoshi; Raz, Nir

doi:10.1016/j.aip.2019.101577

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The groups usually meet on a regular basis and in a fixed setting, and the sessions are conducted by a drama therapist. In every session, each member participates as a teller, a performer, or a spectator (Kowalsky, Keisari, & Raz, 2019). The current study explored the effect of playback theater integrated with life review in community-dwelling older adults.…”

Section: Drama Therapy With Older Adultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Participation in life-review playback theater enhances mental health of community-dwelling older adults: A randomized controlled trial.

Keisari

Palgi

Yaniv

2022

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

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Playback theater is a form of improvisational theater that combines artistic expression with an exploration of life stories in a group creative process. The goal of the current study was to examine an integrative intervention for older adults, which includes participation in playback theater in accordance with the life-review method. We examined the effect of the intervention on the positive and negative aspects of mental health among community-dwelling older adults in adult day centers. In a randomized controlled trial, data were collected from 78 participants consisting of older adults in 4 adult day centers (Mage = 79.60 years, SD = 6.89: range = 63–96), randomly assigned to a 12-week playback theater group or care-as-usual group. The participants reported on aspects of mental health and mental illness before, immediately after, and 3 months after the intervention. The results show a significant Time × Group interaction, validating the intervention’s effectiveness for improving positive mental health indices: self-acceptance, personal growth, relationships with others, satisfaction with relationships, current well-being, positive affect, meaning in life, satisfaction with life, and self-esteem as well as depressive symptoms. This improvement remained stable 3 months after the intervention. Our findings confirm that a structured short-term creative group intervention, which integrates life review with playback theater participation, induces a strong and persistent positive psychological effect in community-dwelling older adults. The current study suggests that this type of creative intervention in the community may provide an opportunity for older adults to flourish and experience psychological growth.

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Section: Drama Therapy With Older Adultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Participation in life-review playback theater enhances mental health of community-dwelling older adults: A randomized controlled trial.

Keisari

Palgi

Yaniv

2022

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

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“…Some of the other group members, as participant-actors, create a theatrical improvisation, which reflects some of the story’s content, without scripts or rehearsals. Thus, the teller becomes an observer and a witness of a spontaneous-creative reflection of his/her life-story [ 55 ]. In this way, playback theatre can provide a safe and creative space in which older adults can explore past experiences through their involvement in improvised theatrical action [ 39 , 53 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Playback theatre in adult day centers: A creative group intervention for community-dwelling older adults

et al. 2020

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The literature indicates that theatre and drama-based interventions have the potential to improve older adults' well-being and health. The goal of the current study was to characterize the process of a creative group intervention in adult day centers (ADCs), which integrates playback theatre and life-review principles. Our objective was to provide an evidence-informed framework for drama therapy interventions, which would allow older adults to bring up and explore their life-stories in a dramatic creative process in their own community. A total of 27 participants ranging in age from 63 to 91, took part in one of three playback theatre groups. The playback theatre group intervention comprised 12 weekly sessions. All sessions were videotaped to capture the lived experience of the creative process and were analyzed in post-intervention interviews. In addition, focus group meetings were conducted with 13 ADC staff members to decipher further the effects of the participation as perceived by people outside the groups. Three types of potential transformation were identified in the qualitative analysis: the evolution of life stories, evolution of playfulness, and expansion of social engagement. The results indicate the potential of the integrative framework to serve as a creative intervention in ADC communities, as well as its potential to bring about a personal transformation and expand it to enable a person's social engagement in the community. The findings imply the potential benefits of using playback theatre groups to supplement the routine care provided in ADCs.

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“…Drama therapy is a broad therapeutic field, including a wide variety of dramatic tools and approaches to encourage personal growth and the development of coping resources ( Bailey, 2007 ). The research process in studies 2, 3, and 4 dealt with on playback theater as a drama therapy method that provides a safe and creative space in which older adults can explore their personal experiences through their involvement in improvised dramatic action ( Salas, 1993 ; Kowalsky et al, 2019 ). Playback theater is a form of improvisational theater in which a group of actors creates a theatrical improvisation in response to a personal story ( Fox and Dauber, 1999 ).…”

Section: Overview Of the Four Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The groups usually meet on a regular basis and in a fixed setting, and the sessions are conducted by a drama therapist. In each session, each member participates as a teller, a performer, or a spectator ( Kowalsky et al, 2019 ). In addition, playback theater has a ritual framework that defines the roles of the participants (the conductor, the teller, the actors, and the audience) and the sequence of events ( Fox, 1999 ).…”

Section: Overview Of the Four Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expanding the Role Repertoire While Aging: A Drama Therapy Model

Keisari

2021

Front. Psychol.

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Drama therapy has been found to improve various facets of mental health while aging. It provides opportunities for personal growth and creative expression and enhances group relationships. Drama therapy is a widely acknowledged way to explore the life stories in late life. However, only a handful of studies have empirically explored the value of drama therapy for the aging population. This conceptual analysis was designed to address this need by developing a new integrative model of drama therapy. The analysis is based on the review of the results of four studies that explored the integration of life-review and playback theater as a drama therapy approach for older adults. The therapeutic process focused on the exploration of life-crossroads stories, a short unique technique which enables the participants to craft a harmonious view of their life stories in a short-term dramatic creative group process. Combining the four results yielded a multidimensional model which points to three potential transformative routes: the evolution of the life story, the evolution of improvised dramatic expression, and the expansion of social engagement. The transformative routes are described through the lens of role theory in drama therapy.

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Hall of mirrors on stage: An introduction to psychotherapeutic playback theatre

Cited by 11 publications

References 13 publications

Participation in life-review playback theater enhances mental health of community-dwelling older adults: A randomized controlled trial.

Participation in life-review playback theater enhances mental health of community-dwelling older adults: A randomized controlled trial.

Playback theatre in adult day centers: A creative group intervention for community-dwelling older adults

Expanding the Role Repertoire While Aging: A Drama Therapy Model

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