Program for the conference
“Human & Nature in Dramatherapy”
2nd & 3rd May, 2025, Riga, Latvia
Address: Atta centre, Krasta iela (street) 60
2nd May
| Time | Place | Activity | |
| 8.00-9.00 | Hall 3 | Registration and morning coffee | |
| 9.00-10.30 | Hall 4 | Opening ceremony with Keynote speakers Merry Ross and Susana Pendzik | |
| 10.30-11.00 | Hall 3 | Break | |
| 11.00-13.00 | Workshops / Presentations / Performances I | ||
| 11.00-13.00 | Room K | Duet Between Leelah and Playback Dov Blum-Yazdi, Hila Haba Ashkenazi, Amani Mussa Israel | |
| Room L | The Development of the Core Processes Coding Manual: Mapping the New Core Processes Angelle Cook, Jason Frydman, Rebecca Versaci, Calli Armstrong United States | ||
| Room M | The Dramatherapy Lab – Beyond Logic: Exploring Human Nature in a World of Nonsense Lilith Berghmans, Lara Debeuf Belgium | ||
| Room N | Inner Spring of Strengths Itzhak Vinokur Israel | ||
| Room P | The Werewolf on Trial Ieva Alberton Latvia/ United Kingdom | ||
| Room R | Playful Instincts: Reconnecting with Our Primal Nature Russya Connor Australia | ||
| Room S | Roots and Wings: Reconnecting with the Nature Within Atalandi Apergi Greece | ||
| 11.00-13.00 | Room O | Presentations: “Wings of Curiosity”; Bringing a Dramatherapeutic Lens Ambre Lee Singapore The Drama Therapist in War Sandrine Pitarque, Lena Saade Gebran France, Lebanon Therapeutic Theatre to the Borderland: Beyond the Split Between Nature and the Human Psyche Maude Davis United States | |
| Hall 4 | Presentations: Playfulness as Human Nature: Dramatherapeutic Approaches to Nurturing Play in Vulnerable Populations and Circumstance Chair: Rinat Feniger-Schaal I “Playful Brains: A Possible Neurobiological Pathway to Cognitive Health in Aging“ Shoshi Keisari II “Just play” – Playfulness Focused Dyadic Intervention for Parents and Children with Intellectual Disability Amitai Stern III Humanitarian Clowns Working with Refugees and Displaced Families Tamar Benbenishti IV Exploring the Lived Experiences of Older Women Caring for Spouses with Dementia through Theatre-Based Participatory Action Research Meira Medina Junge Israel | ||
| 13.00-14.00 | Hall 3 | Lunch break | |
| 14.00-16.00 | Workshops / Presentations/ Performance II | ||
| Room K | The Perpetrator Within. Nature Vs Nurture? Ornela Kapetani, Armand Volkas Canada, United States | ||
| Room L | The Tree of Life Christina Papathoma | ||
| 14.00-16.00 | Room M | When You Sleep, the World Empties: Discovering Human Nature through the CineDramatic Method Vasiliki Moka, Evika Mavroidi Greece | |
Outside (Room N in case of rain) | Creating a Secure Base in Natural Settings for Clients with Insecure Attachments Due to Trauma (We kindly ask you to wear weather-appropriate clothing!!!) Laura Hubbard United Kingdom | ||
| Room P | Postnormal Possibilities:An Ecology of the Disabled Future in Drama Therapy Maria Hodermarska, Kristina Olegario-Loy United States | ||
| Room R | The Source Within – Dramatherapy Meets I-SELF Constellations Simone Klees, Carina Weirather Germany | ||
| Room S | Symbols and Metaphors of Nature A Bridge to the Inner and Archetypal World: A Psychotherapeutic Playback Theatre Workshop Ronen Kowalsky, Meira Medina-Junge Israel | ||
| Room O | Presentations: North American Drama Therapists’ Perceptions of Climate Change Nisha Sajnani, Anamarija Vuić United States The Dramatherapy Graduate Programme at Tel-Hai College (Israel): An Island of Sanity in a Chaotic Environment Dovrat Harel, Amani Mussa, Galila Tabachnikov Oren, Sali Aboreesh, Susana Pendzik Israel
Review of Application of Drama Therapy in the Context of Psycho- Social Care in Lithuania Kirilas Glushajev, Ieva Vaitkevičiūtė | ||
| 14.00-16.00 | Hall 4 | Presentations: Frattali Materni – Dramatherapy Laboratory for Mothers Marina De Lucca Nucci Italy Navigating Life’s Final ‘Stages’:Connecting to Human and Natural Cycles through Dramatherapy Sally McRae Scotland Performance: Kangarani Azadeh United States | |
| 16.00-16.30 | Hall 3 | Coffee break | |
| 16.30-18.30 | Workshops / Presentations / Performance III | ||
| 16.30-18.30 | Room K | Storying Our Planet:What Does the Myth of Demeter and Persephone Mean to Us Today? Alistair Martin-Smith Canada | |
| Room L | Once Upon A Time: the interconnected power of story and nature when facing death Peter Darby-Knight United Kingdom | ||
| Room M | Emergency! Emergentcy! Emergensee! (Emergent Play for Global Emergency: Drama Therapy as a Community Organizing Tool) Fritz Mad’Laine, Ishita Pahoja United States, India | ||
| Room N | “Shàng Shàn Ruò Shuǐ (上善若水）: The Water Within” Lin 林 Yu-Hsuan 育萱,Chui-Shing (Benny) Mok 莫翠盛, Chiao-Chi Chen (陳巧奇) Hong-Kong, Taiwan | ||
| Room P | Healing Beyond Boundaries: Exploring Loss and Connection in a Rapidly Changing World Casper Maas, Yonna Postmus Belgium | ||
| Room R | Earth, Water, Fire, Air: Engaging the Four Elements within Us Gital Wolf Poupko, Nurit Rones-Raushbach Israel | ||
| Room S | Group Supervision and the Inner Voice Deborah Haythorne, Cedar Lynn United Kingdom | ||
| Room O | Presentations: Clinic on the Ocean Barbara Lau France
Measuring Spontaneity in Drama-Based Therapies With the New State Spontaneity Scale Hod Orkibi, Gianmarco Biancalani Israel, Italy Being and Becoming: An exploration of the Lived Experiences of Black African and Caribbean Creative Arts Therapists in the UK Oliver Andrea-May United Kingdom | ||
| Hall 4 | Presentations: Deus sive Natura Spinoza’s spiritual materialism and its importance for dramatherapy Salvo Pitruzzella Italy
Dramatherapy as a Tool for Community Resilience: The Experience of Argentina’s General Directorate for the Protection of Children and Adolescents (GDP) Growing in Arid Lands Maria Sol Guerrero Gimenez, Elke Jorzyk Llarena Argentina, Switzerland Performance: Therapy Fund Merry Ross United States | ||
| 18.45-19.15 | Hall 4 | Closing of the Day 1 | |
| 19.30/ 19.45 | Rīga, Krasta iela (street) 76 | Dinner at “Lido” (extra payment) | |
Dinner (traditional Latvian kitchen) at the “Lido leisure center” Krasta iela 76, Latgales priekšpilsēta, Rīga, LV-1019, Latvia Book Your dinner here: | |||
3rd May
| Time | Place | Action |
| 8.45-9.00 | Hall 4 | Warming – Up for the day |
| 9.00-10.30 | Hall 4 | Information of the day and World Alliance of Dramatherapy Presentation |
| 10.30-11.00 | Hall 3 | Coffee break |
| 11.00-13.00 | Workshops / Presentations IV | |
| 11.00-13.00 | Room K | Reweaving Communities:Collective Healing with Drama’s Nature and Nature’s Drama Barbara Kaynan United States |
| Room L | Keep in Touch – Listen to Soul Raffaella Perrotta Italy | |
| Room M | Creative Psychotherapy for Depression (Arts for the Blues) – Our Evidence Base and an Experiential Workshop Joanna Omylinska-Thurston, Vicky Karkou, Scott Thurston, Claire Quigley United Kingdom | |
| Room N | The Myth of the Earth-Tearer: A Story of Self-Destruction or Change? Androniki Nikolakaki Greece | |
| Room P | From Seed to Ashes Edyta Nieduziak, Anita Stefańska Poland | |
| Room R | The Geography and Anthropogeography of the Heroes Maria Schubert, Ioanna Avgerinou Greece | |
| Room S | The Council of the Gods in the Quest for Light Aurelia Puschert, Erika Castelunger Germany, Italy | |
| Room O | Presentations: Laura Hubbard United Kingdom Aesthetic Distance: Exploring Natural Human Capacities in Drama Therapy Ben Tzur Boaz Israel Apprehending Play as Powerful Antidote A Glance of the True Nature of Developmental Transformations Marc Willemsen, Jason Butler The Netherlands | |
| 11.00-13.00 | Hall 4 | Presentations: Human by Night, Beast by Day: the Archetype of Werewolf in Latvian Culture Ieva Alberton Latvia/ United Kingdom The Use of Myths in Dramatherapy Anita Bernāne Latvia “The pigeon knows”:Bridging Worlds: Shamanism and Drama Therapy in Zanzibar Dimitra Stavrou Greece |
| 13.00-14.00 | Hall 3 | Lunch break |
| 14.00-16.00 | Workshops / Presentations / Masterclass V | |
| 14.00-16.00 | Room K | The Nature of Recovery: The CoActive Therapeutic Theater Model Laura Wood, Dave Mowers United States |
| Room L | The Couple’s Drama: Dancing with Danger Elsa van den Broek, Anne Tilroe The Netherlands | |
| Room M | From Seed to Forest: From “I” to “We” – Dramatherapy in the “Blue Box” Arianna Bertoldi Italia | |
| Room N | Gears of Connection:A Steampunk Exploration of Human Nature, Technology, and the Wild Özlem Turhal de Chiara, Ekrem Düzen Italy, The Netherlands | |
| 14.00-16.00 | Room P | Mental Health Monologues and Dramatherapy: How We Can Utilise Our Human Nature and Abilities as Resources to Heal Sarinrat Thomas, Chanaphan Thammarut Thailand |
| Room R | The Tree of Life Christina Papathoma Greece | |
| Room S | Earth Toys & Games Method for Recovering from Trauma and Resiliency at War Situations Eitan Shaked, Tamar Shaked Israel | |
| Room O | Presentations: Rinat Feniger-Schaal Israel Vicarious Trauma, Self-Care and Duty of Care: Protecting the Human and the Healer Jamie Kelly United Kingdom
Embedded in the Nature of the Human Mind: The Poetic Evidence Anke Schäfer The Netherlands/ Germany | |
| Hall 4 | The Landscapes of the Emotions. Working with Rothko’s Paintings (Open masterclass with live transition for online participants) Stelios Krasanakis Greece | |
| 16.15-17.00 | Hall 4 | Closing ceremony |
| 17.00-17.45 | Hall 3 | Coffee break |
| 17.45-23.00 | Hall 4 | Performance and Afterparty |
4th May
| 12.30-…. | Rīga, Brīvdabas iela (street) 21 | Trip to The Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia (8,- eur) |
Please note that the original programme may be slightly modified.
Latvian Dramatherapy Association /
European Federation of Dramatherapy in collaboration with World Alliance of Dramatherapy