Cited as a critical need in drama therapy, increasing research productivity, quality, and reach is a contemporary priority for the field (Armstrong et al., 2019; Frydman et al., 2022). Strides have been made in establishing systems for research inquiry and investigation within the NADTA, including the inception of Drama Therapy Review and the Research Chair position on the board of directors. While these spaces have held a commitment toward, and dialogue about, research within the NADTA as an organization, what remains unclear is the understanding of attitudes toward research among the larger North American community. In response, we surveyed drama therapists (N = 166) on a number of factors related to research practices, including attitudes toward research via the Attitudes Toward Research-Revised scale (Papanastasiou, 2014; Flight, 2023). This presentation overviews the findings from this survey, including attitude trends, the importance of assessing attitudes as predictors of engagement, and how the discourse around research can be informed by understanding community-wide feelings about the topic. Findings suggest that research is experienced as necessary to professional livelihood and viability, it is negatively valanced within the community, particularly for those drama therapists who are training or early in their careers, and that greater levels of engagement yield more positive assessments of research. Suggestions for ways to increase research activity are considered in context of the findings and recommendations made for transformative programming to address attitudes toward research of all drama therapists.
