“Migrated onto the Screen”: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the clinical practice of drama therapy

Loss, adaptation and growth: The experiences of creative arts therapists during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…The first experience refers to a more metaphorical loss of losing their standard format of and space when working with their clients. This experience of loss is consistent with other studies on the impact of the pandemic on creative arts therapies ( Atsmon et al, 2022 , Feniger-Schaal et al, 2022 , Geréb Valachiné et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Vaccination was a game-changer in the sense that it increased the sense of safety and health for some, while vaccine hesitancy increased the sense of deprivation and distress for others ( Palgi et al, 2021 , Vergara et al, 2021 ). Another limitation was the diversity of the participants in terms of disciplines, where specific insights related to each CAT discipline may have been missed (see for example, Atsmon et al, 2022 ). Further study is needed to achieve a clearer understanding of the effects of shifting to tele-CAT on each discipline.…”

“…Since the outbreak of the pandemic, several studies have examined the experience of clients and therapists in the virtual and distanced space. For example, psychodrama ( Biancalani et al, 2021 ), drama therapy ( Atsmon et al, 2022 , Wood et al, 2020 ), music therapy ( Lee et al, 2021 ), art therapy ( Biro-Hannah, 2021 , Zubala et al, 2021 ), dance movement therapy ( Lotan Mesika et al, 2021 ) and expressive writing therapy studies ( Bechard et al, 2021 ) all indicate that despite the challenges, tele-CAT is perceived as a good-enough alternative under some circumstances, such as social and geographic distancing, and may even have some benefits ( Feniger-Schaal et al, 2022 ).…”

New developments during the COVID-19 pandemic: Drama therapy as an online psychological intervention tool

“…Research has shown that online psychotherapy can be as effective as face-to-face therapy (Atsmon et al, 2022 ). It can be more effective for some patients, for instance allowing some patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to participate passively, reducing social interaction pressure (Reyes, 2022 ).…”

“…A case study found that drama tele-therapy helped older adults to cope with social distancing and experiences of loneliness during COVID -19 (Kordova and Keisari, 2020 ). Based on the analysis of 20 interviews with drama therapy practitioners from 1 9 countries, Atsmon et al summed up four patient attitudes toward online drama therapy—resistance, anxiety, adaptation, and fluency—and concluded that online drama therapy was a via ble branch of drama therapy (Atsmon et al, 2022 ). Nery's research used online action methods, such as psychodrama, social drama, and spontaneous drama, to stimulate clients' imagination in a virtual environment (Nery, 2022 ).…”