PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Project aims at creating a partnership among four European Institutions providing education, training, assistance and support services to adult psychophysically disabled people. The partnership’s general objective is to promote European cooperation by sharing experiences and practices related to the work with adult disabled people, to overcome isolation, develop a lifelong learning attitude and ensure professional development. The partnership’s specific objective is to give involved parties the opportunity to investigate methodologies related to Theatre Therapy. The project also aims at giving a group of adult disabled people the chance to live a "European experience" through their preparation of -- and participation in-- a test drama, and also by enabling them to travel and get in touch with different people, customs and cultures. The project includes workshops and round tables about Theatre Therapy methodology that will be held both in Pordenone (Italy) and in Bratislava (Slovakia); a test drama, with the participation of different groups of disabled people, that will be staged in Ljubljana (Slovenia); a final dissemination event that will take place in Middlesbrough (United Kingdom).

THEATRE THERAPY AND PSYCHOPHYSICAL DISABILITIES

Theatre-Therapy is an increasingly well-known type of group Art-Therapy. The approach, developed jointly by psychologists and actors, matches psychological theories with the standard procedures of scenic setting. The goal of Theatre-Therapy is to harmonise the relationship between body, voice, mind and soul, in relation to the other, the others, to him- or herself, and to his or her own interpretative creativity. Theatre-Therapy can be seen as the staging of one's own experience and background within a group, supported by some principles derived from the art of acting. Theatre-Therapy neither gives diagnosis nor psychological interpretations; it can not substitute psychotherapy, but it can work alongside it. Theatre Therapy is therefore recognized as a valid instrument to enhance the personal growth and social inclusion of disabled people. Both physical disabilities and mental diseases (e.g. severe learning disability due to Down’s syndrome, autism and similar) cause in affected individuals a high level of dependence from “the others,” which in turn leads to their loss of individuality and self-confidence. Theatre Therapy is a useful method to increase the relational skills of disabled people and, in turn,their active participation  in society. Put it simply, Theatre Therapy is a meaningful tool to overcome barriers between “normality” and “handicap.”

theatre therapy

Photos from the meeting of drama groups