NADTA 2024 Conference

Dramatherapeutic practice offers many ways to engage with language, from conversational to performative, from improvisational to scripted, yet relatively little attention is paid to the nature and form of linguistic expression in training and practice. This experiential workshop offers a space to explore the levels of language that may be significant in practice, with the aim of increasing sensitivity to the wealth of information conveyed through language. Through a combination of lecture, personal and small group work and whole group discussions, we will explore personal and societal meaning attached to forms of linguistic expression. We will give particular attention to the complexity of identity and the reality of code-switching, where individuals alter the form and style of their communication based on context. This comes at a particular energetic cost when the shift is mandated by the values of a dominant, oppressive social structure (i.e. white/Anglo supremacy). We will also explore the limits of language and explore strategies to find forms for the inexpressible, as for example in the case of trauma and in working with early implicit memories that may never previously have been expressed verbally. The presenter will present her original research on language in trauma work, including a model for assessing and exploring language use in session. We will play together in comfort and discomfort zones, exploring how language helps us move in, out, and around in service of a greater flexibility, playability, and fluidity of expression as well as expanding our capacities to listen.