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International Dramatehrapy conference 2025
“Human & Nature in Dramatherapy”
RIGA, Latvia
Tickets here → Dramatherapy Conference “Human & Nature in Dramatherapy”
LIVE STREAM
Opening ceremony with Latvian Dramatherapy Association,
Nisha Sajnani, Johannes Junker, Jana Duhovska
Keynote Speakers Merry Ross and Susana Pendzik
Latvian Dramatherapy Association
Nish Sajnani
Johannes Junker
Jana Duhovska
A teacher, a trainer and a performer – Merry Ross, LMFT, RDT,who will be presenting her talk titled: Natural Connection: With Our Surroundings, Our Community and Ourselves.
Our natural world is interconnected. Trees, plants, flowers, animals, are always in communication with each other. Their survival depends on it.
Humans are the same. We are also interdependent with our family, friends, and community. They help sustain us, support us when we need it, bring us joy, play with us.
This keynote will explore how our connections to nature and community enrich our lives and help us know ourselves better, and live our best lives.
Prof. Susana Pendzik, PhD, RDT, Lecturer in Theatre Studies Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Co-editor of Dramatherapy Journal. Prof. Pendzik will be presenting her speech with a topic: Dramatherapy – A Living Tree of Hope in a Chaotic Environment.
Mental health is defined by the World Health Organization as a state of well-being in which each person can realise his or her potential, cope with life’s stresses, work productively and fruitfully, and contribute to his or her community. But in the global political, economic, climatic and social environment, in which we are all immersed, this postulate seems more an elusive ideal than an achievable reality.
What could be the purpose of dramatherapy in a world driven by discrimination, wars, and climate distress?
Dramatherapy is rooted in the therapeutic potential of theatre, play, imagination, and the creative arts. It is an active, experiential and collaborative approach that focuses on the regenerative aspects of human personality, drawing on the capacity inherent in the arts to activate vital energy, facilitate therapeutic transformation, and promote resilience among individuals, groups and communities.
This lecture strives to instil a little seed of hope by sharing some amazing dramatherapy stories of resilience and collaboration that dare to grow amid despair, impotence, and chaos.
Tickets here → Dramatherapy Conference “Human & Nature in Dramatherapy”
May 2-3, 2025 | Riga, Latvia
1. Duet Between Leelah and Playback
Dov Blum-Yazdi, Hila Haba Ashkenazi, Amani Mussa
Israel
We are a team of three therapists, each hailing from the same country but from distinct societies and sectors. Each brings a unique blend of perspectives. Hila is rooted in traditional Jewish culture, Amani is a member of Palestinian Arab society, and Dov is part of secular Israeli society. These diverse backgrounds, with our unique norms, values , and rituals, shape our approaches to therapy. We come from different and sometimes conflicting cultures, adding a rich layer of diversity to our multicultural space.
The war to which we are inevitably subjected sharpens the various conflicts and raises the anxiety threshold around the continuum – personal and collective identity, expressed in a complex multicultural discourse. This complexity leads us to ask to study human nature in a multicultural context. How much space is given to personal authenticity, separateness and individuality, loyalty to society, belonging to subcultures, and togetherness? Which of these deaths is natural to us, and which is forced and artificial?
Our dramatherapy process brings human nature and culture to life within the play and dramatic experience framework. It incorporates diverse cultural norms and values, specific places, historical events, characters, and more. This approach allows patients and therapists to explore different aspects of themselves and work on cultural and emotional processes in a safe and creative environment.
We offer a tasting in a workshop that combines two methods: Leelah, a dramatherapy model based on a framework within a story that the game Dungeons and Dragons inspired. Through it, we enter a fantastic space divided into different tribes and cultures. Playback Theater uses the language of stage improvisation to perform life stories shared by a teller from the audience’s impressions. Through it, we will dive into the personal stories so that the workshop will contain transitions between the personal and the collective.
Dov Blum-Yazdi is the researcher of “Leelah – Play for Itself” – a non-directive model,” and “The Leelah play paradigm”: Theoretical Concepts of Power, Identity, and Liberty in the Therapeutic Playing Field.
He is a Drama Therapist and Clinical Criminologist. Graduate of psychotherapy mind-body-spirit program. PhD graduates in psychoanalysis and Hermeneutics: Bar-Ilan Uni. Post-doctoral, Laboratory of Psychology & S.E., University of Crete. Graduated as a Palliative Care and Chaplaincy at Shutafim Lamasa Association.
Head of Psychodrama and Dramatherapy MA program, Ultra-Orthodox Men track, Haifa University. Therapist, senior supervisor, and group specialist at the Israeli Ministry of Education. Works in “Place to be,” a drama and art therapy studio; Drama Therapist for high school youth groups, Ministry of Education.
Public activity: international representative of the Drama Division and member of the Supreme Council of the Art Therapists Association – Yahat.
A peace activist.
Hila Haba Ashkenazi: drama therapist. Works as a helpline therapist for anxiety victims at the “Resources Resilience” Centre of Professor Molly Lahad, facilitator, lecturer, actress, and anthropologist. Founder of the “Cafe Nene” ensemble, actress of “Kan and Now”: the multicultural theatre in which Arab Jewish women act together. Teaches playback theatre at the college and the community for adults. Conducts workshops for experiential learning in educational systems. Taught at universities and colleges in anthropology, sociology and playback theatre for preschoolers. The company of the IPTN World Playback Association. Currently, a therapist teaches and hosts playback theatre in Israel and abroad. She has written two articles, and another one is at work
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Amani Mussa: is an Arab drama therapist, supervisor in the field, and lecturer. She serves as the Chair of the Drama Division in YAHAT, the professional organisation for arts therapists. She is also an actress and facilitator in Playback Theatre and a founding member and performer in “Here and Now” Theatre—a bilingual, multicultural group of Jewish and Arab women aimed at creating a space for personal and community reflection and growth.
In this year 2024, completing her PhD in the field of art therapy, focusing on working with children who have experienced violence in the Arab education system in Israel
2. The Development of the Core Processes Coding Manual: Mapping the New Core Processes
Angelle Cook, Jason Frydman, Rebecca Versaci, Calli Armstrong
United States
The core processes are a unifying theory in drama therapy that extends to multiple approaches. First conceptualized by Jones (1996) and re-defined in Frydman et al. (2022) from a North American perspective, the core processes are common factors across drama therapy approaches that represent universal in-session process variables. This workshop will present and explore the continued work of the NADTA core process sub-committee to operationalize the core processes and move toward measurement development. Findings from Frydman et al. (2022) have been applied to video demonstrations of drama therapy sessions resulting in further refinement of core process definitions as well as a coding manual and decision tree. Within this work, there is a more nuanced understanding of 1) how the core processes can be observed and coded, and 2) the observable relationships among the core processes. The current coding system will be shared and participants will understand how measuring the core processes connects to research, pedagogy, and practice in the field. In adapting to survive, as discussed in the conference theme, drama therapists must adapt to be more research oriented for our field to grow, while still honoring what cannot be observed within our practice. Curiosity in one of our ways forward, to connect to our human nature, which can and should be done through empirical investigation of our form.
Angelle Cook, Phd, RDT-BCT is a visiting professor at Lesley University in the drama therapy department, where she is also the Research Lab Director of the Drama Therapy and Dis/ability Lab. She is an adjunct at New York University in the drama therapy department. Angelle is the Managing Editor for the Drama Therapy Review and the current Research Chair for the NADTA. She runs her own private practice in Virginia where she works with teens and adults at the intersections of dis/ability, chronic illness, and mental illness.
Jason S. Frydman, PhD, RDT/BCT, NCSP is associate professor of expressive therapies at Lesley University where he teaches in the expressive therapies PhD program, co-chairs the Institutional Review Board, and is the Lab Director for the Collaborative for Creative Arts Therapies in Schools. Jason serves as associate editor for general topics of Translational Issues in Psychological Science and serves on the editorial boards of Drama Therapy Review, School Psychology Review and Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma. He is past Research and Communications chair of the NADTA and was the recipient of the 2023 NADTA Research award.
Calli Armstrong, MA, PhD, RDT, is a psychologist and drama therapist at the Student Wellness Hub at McGill University. Calli is a psychotherapy process researcher and has taught at both Concordia and McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Calli previously served as Research Chair for the North American Drama Therapy Association.
Rebecca Versaci, MA, PhD(C), RDT, CCLS Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, Registered Drama Therapist, and Certified Child Life Specialist specializing in child and adolescent grief and bereavement. Rebecca is currently enrolled in Lesley University’s Doctoral Program in Expressive Therapies and passionate about using research to guide clinical practice.
3. The Dramatherapy Lab – Beyond Logic: Exploring Human Nature in a World of Nonsense
Lilith Berghmans, Lara Debeuf
Belgium
In this workshop, we invite you to step into the world of “nonsense” to uncover deeper truths about singular human nature. Inspired by our work with individuals experiencing dementia, we will explore how the unexpected, the absurd, and the playful can open doors to understanding human connection beyond the bounds of traditional logic.
Lara Debeuf is a drama therapist with a background in occupational therapy and drama therapy. From an early age, she developed a deep interest in people and human interactions. She engaged in various social projects and passionately took to the stage to express her creativity and connect with others.
Throughout her educational journey, Lara’s teachers often noted her direct approach and out-of-the-box thinking. While she struggled with subjects like mathematics, she excelled in creative disciplines such as arts, writing, and aesthetics. These experiences shaped her into a lateral thinker, someone who sees possibilities where others see limitations. Lara has a unique talent for rethinking situations, breaking free from expectations, and finding new approaches to human connection.
For Lara, playfulness, connection, and wonder are essential values—her guiding principles in both life and work. She views life as one big playground for discovery, where the only requirement is the courage to explore in your own way, defining the rules as you go.
Lara’s approach to drama therapy is deeply rooted in this philosophy, encouraging her clients to embrace spontaneity, creativity, and personal expression as tools for healing and growth.
Lilith – Storyteller and Dramatherapist
With a background in Art History, Archaeology, Anthropology, and Drama Therapy, Lilith is passionate about understanding the origins of human experience. As a “story shaper,” she strives to give people with dementia the power to reclaim their own narrative, even when words fall short.
Armed with an overflowing well of ideas and boundless enthusiasm, Lilith approaches every session with a playful spirit, while keeping a keen eye on the deeper layers of human experience. Fascinated by the complexities of the human condition, she believes that every glance, gesture, and silence contains a story waiting to be told.
Driven by empathy and a profound love for stories, Lilith works with individuals who seem to live in a different reality, where communication speaks a language beyond words. For her, communication is about more than verbal expression—it’s about reading people, sensing their energy, and empowering them to take control of their own story.
With her unique blend of creativity, compassion, and insight, Lilith offers a space where the unspoken can be heard and the unheard can be understood, helping others unlock the stories that deserve to be told.
4. Inner Spring of Strengths
Itzhak Vinokur
Israel
Starting with introducing by naming the desired or existing strengths the group moves to Warmup: moving to sounds of music of live performance on different percussions and piano (me performing). This warmup is kind of meditation aimed to allow to connect with inner voice and to Here and Now. In the Main activity every participant choses a hat and an item which mostly suites the charcter of each one and the group strats comunicating while the group manager supervises and from time to time describes new reality. Closer is for last 10/15 min where everyone says about his/her own experience during the session.
Musician: combines compisition and piano playing. Spent several years in writing music for theater and live improvisation with actors. Taught piano for people with special needs and studied Psychodrama in Haifa University for M.A. lives in Jerusalem with wife and kids. Works in private clinic and in schools using all kinds of arts. Made advanced training in psychiatric hospital in closed department.
5. The Werewolf on Trial
Ieva Alberton
Latvia/ United Kingdom
“The Werewolf on Trial” draws on the archetype of the werewolf -a potent symbol that fuses human and animal nature. Known as ‘Vilkatis’, the werewolf is an emblematic figure in Latvian culture and history, weaving together myth, fantasy, and historical reality. Records from 17th-century witch trials provide a unique view into the era’s social and spiritual beliefs. These trials, largely targeted Latvian peasants – an oppressed indigenous population illuminating underlying social tensions.
The trials centred around three key roles: the accused, witnesses, and judges, each with distinct motivations. The accused either denied or embraced their “crime”; witnesses denounced or defended neighbours; and judges aimed to impose social order. Remarkably, all participants shared a firm belief in magical forces, and many accused expressed pride in their alleged supernatural abilities – actions that defied social and moral constraint representing a triumph over their oppressors.
This workshop invites participants to engage with their own inner Vilkatis or rebel, as well as their inner judge and witness. By emphasizing the role of fantasy and its acceptance or rejection, we will explore how the inner judge and witness respond to this archetype. Participants will be first introduced to the theme, and then guided into a warm-up before diving in the main activity. Here, divided in groups, participants will rotate through the roles of werewolf, witness, and judge, embodying each of them in turn. The workshop will then come to a close with de-roling, discussion, and reflection, so to create a space to explore how these archetypal roles resonated within participants’ identities and experiences.
Ieva is a qualified Dramatherapist based in London. Originally from Riga, Latvia, she began her artistic journey at the Janis Rozentals Art School. Inspired by Antonin Artaud’s radical approach to theatre, she pursued theatre studies at Aix-Marseille University in France, deepening her understanding of performance as a transformative art form. She advanced her practice in Performance Design and Practice at Central Saint Martins in London, where she created an original piece merging St. Augustine’s philosophy with Guy Debord’s critique of society. During her MA in Dramatherapy at the University of Roehampton, Ieva investigated how her Latvian heritage could enrich her therapeutic approach, with a focus on identity and trauma. Her final project, How to be a Latvian, was a profound exploration of cultural stereotypes and intergenerational trauma. In her therapeutic work, Ieva is interested in helping clients draw on their heritage to rediscover and a deeper sense of identity and resilience.
6. Playful Instincts: Reconnecting with Our Primal Nature
Russya Connor
Australia
This experiential workshop explores how play and improvisation can serve as a bridge between our human nature and the natural world that surrounds us. Play reflects the unpredictability of life, offering a space to experiment and adapt to ever-changing circumstances. Neuroscientifically speaking, play trains us for the unexpected and buffers us against the uncertainty of being alive in a world that is constantly changing. Through guided improvisation and playful scenarios, participants will explore the spontaneity and interdependence that connect us with each other and the natural world.
We will engage with bodily sensations, movement patterns, and interactions with natural elements—such as water, plants, stone, and air—that shape and influence our experience of the world. This process will emphasize the permeability of our bodies and minds, continuously shaped by the sounds, textures, and energies around us.
This workshop aims to deepen ecological awareness, demonstrating how engaging with nature through play heightens our sensitivity to the environment and enhances a sense of connection to both human and non-human realms.
Dr. Russya Connor is a dramatherapist, facilitator and researcher with a focus on play and existential psychology. She holds a PhD from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), where her research explored the intersection of creativity, play, and expressivity. With over 15 years of experience, Dr. Connor has worked across diverse sectors, including corrections, addiction recovery, mental health, and tertiary education. She currently works in private practice and offers supervision.
Her work highlights the role of play and embodiment in fostering resilience, enhancing creativity, and deepening self-awareness. Drawing from her background in the science of play and the performing arts, she is particularly interested in how creativity and spontaneity can support human development, helping individuals navigate life’s complexities with authenticity, flexibility, and curiosity.
7. Roots and Wings: Reconnecting with the Nature Within
Atalandi Apergi
Greece
“You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.”
Human beings are a part of nature, yet in modern life, we often feel disconnected from it, both externally and within ourselves. This workshop, which draws from both dramatherapy and ecopsychology, seeks to reignite our connection to the natural rhythms, instincts, and cycles that define us.
Just as nature adapts to change—like trees bending in the wind or rivers carving new paths—we, too, can find grounding and flexibility, rooting and adaptability in the unpredictability of life.
Participants will engage in a series of dramatherapy techniques and nature therapy techniques, to explore the “naturalness” of human emotion, thought, and behaviour. This experiential multimodel workshop , which encourages ecopsychological thought, blends poetic reflection, play, symbolic enactement, and movement exercises, offering participants a pathway to rediscover their inherent, nature-infused humanity.
Weaving in verses from Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese”, a poem that beautifully captures the essence of our connection to the natural world and the call to return to our most authentic selves, the participants will be invited to access their inner wilderness in order to discover new ways to navigate the unpredictable world with confidence, flexibility, and grace.
Nature’s metaphor, and in particularly the themes of belonging, wildness, and freedom from Oliver’s work will be addressed and explored through embodiment, projective techniques and role playing “Meanwhile the world goes on”.
Atalandi Apergi, dramatherapist, sociologist, dramaturg (MA) has worked in theatre in both the UK and Greece and is now based in Athens where she has works as a dramatherapist. She has run dramatherapy groups with individuals with learning disabilities, the elderly, abused women, immigrants, drug addicts and psychiatric patients. She has also taught at the Hellenic American Educational Foundation and has conducted many empowerment seminars. Atalandi has completed a two year specialized training in applied Ecopsychology and has worked extensively privately but also with WWF Greece on various projects. She is co-founder and co-ordinator of “Village Psy : Encounters in Psychotherapy” an annual five-day meeting of encounters of psychotherapies in nature in Greece and author, producer and photographer of the book annual book/diary “Nature gives generously and works to heal”, Kondyli Publications .
She is also certified member of the European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP), the British Association of Dramatherapists (BADth), the Panhellenic Professional Association of Dramatherapy and Playtherapy (PPADP)and the International Ecopsychology Society (IES).
“Wings of Curiosity”; Bringing a Dramatherapeutic Lens to a Collaboration with Singapore’s Mandai Wildlife Reserves on Social-Emotional Learning in Early Childhood Education.
Ambre Lee
Singapore
Everybody’s relationship to nature is different. Amidst Singapore’s concrete jungle lies many green spaces beautifully curated and woven into the city’s urban fabric. Yet, it is undeniable that there is a noticeable disconnect between the people who live in this city and its flora and fauna. How can we inspire a rekindling of our connection to nature, around us and within us, whilst living in increasingly urbanized spaces?
In this presentation, I share about a collaboration with Singapore’s Mandai Wildlife Reserves – a seminar for preschool educators on social-emotional learning through wildlife in one of their parks, Bird Paradise. I explore the power of Dramatherapy as an embodied practice, the use of play, imagination, nature-inspired stories, metaphor, and distance to enhance social-emotional growth. I also reflect on how learning through experiencing invites us to expand our perspective on nature’s role in our own emotional worlds.
The art of experiencing as a bedrock of Dramatherapy can inspire a rekindling of relationship with nature, nurturing a more curious, connected, and collaborative world (both our inner and outer worlds).
Ambre is a pioneering Dramatherapist in Singapore, Creative Facilitator and Multidisciplinary Artist. She is passionate about integrating the transformative power of the Arts, Somatics and Nature together in her practice. She has a particular interest in trauma-informed care, inclusion, artist wellbeing and the in-between space where dramatherapy and arts education meet. At its core, her work stems from a desire to create ripples, growth and transformation through connection, empowerment, and creativity.
Ambre is accredited and registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (United Kingdom), the Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association (ANZACATA), as well as the British Association of Dramatherapists (BADth). She is currently also completing her training in Trauma-Informed Relational Somatics.
The Drama Therapist in War
Sandrine Pitarque, Lena Saade Gebran
France, Lebanon
This paper examines how Drama Therapists in war-torn Lebanon navigate the challenges of helping others while grappling with the emotional toll of conflict. Centered on recent experiences and research, it explores the intricate balance DTs must strike between their own survival instincts and the need to restore a sense of humanity for them and their clients.
Key themes include managing personal emotions, such as overcoming instinctive emotions rooted in Lebanon’s conflict-laden past. How can DTs set aside personal emotions, like the fear or resentment some Christian communities may feel towards Shiite refugees linked to Hezbollah, to foster genuine human connection? Conversely, how do they maintain emotional distance, especially when they share similar vulnerabilities, as being a refugee themself?
The paper also addresses the struggle to break free from the immediacy of live news and their psychological consequences: astonishment, fatigue. Additionally, it considers the effects of collective trauma, exacerbated by the absence of a shared historical narrative in Lebanon, where each community clings to its own interpretation of the past. Many people are stuck in a relationship mode based on the present moment and instincts.
May a reflective, creative mental space help DTs rejuvenate their energy? Could narrative work help create a conflict elaboration process?
Data comes from three sources: a survey of Lebanese DTs working with diverse refugee groups (primarily from Palestine and Syria) to gauge their experiences, challenges, and coping strategies; observations from ongoing narradrama settings with recently displaced Lebanese from varied backgrounds, facilitated by both professional DTs and Master’s students under expert supervision; and theoretical insights on narradrama, Paul Ricoeur’s narrative identity, the place of narration in the resilience process, and narrative supervision. Together, these findings aim to support DTs in transforming defense mechanisms into pathways for personal and collective healing through the power of narrative.
After a professional life as a theater director, Sandrine Pitarque works for twelve years as a drama therapist, particularly in psychiatry, addictology and social care. After a University Diploma in art therapy at Paris Descartes, she trained in psychoanalytic psychodrama at CEFFRAP.
As a teacher, she is co-convener for the Master’s degree in Artistic Creation, Dramatherapy option at the Paris Cité University and a lecturer at the Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle University as well as the drama therapy Master program at USEK (Lebanon). She also provides training in various private institutes (Puzzle, INECAT, ETSUP,…)
She coordinates the workshops and activities of the ‘Je d’enfant et d’adolescent’ association which employs up to 25 art therapists.
She leads professional practice analysis groups and supervises art therapists.
Lena Saade Gebran – Theatre Director and Producer with over a decade of experience as Associate Professor and Head of the Performing Arts Department at USEK. Skilled in directing, producing, and developing educational programs, including implementing the USEK Master’s program in Theatre and Drama Studies with a focus on Dramatherapy. Published in over ten scientific journals locally and internationally, and active in various colloquiums worldwide. An educator in the History of Theatre, including Lebanese and Sacred Theatre, and ECArTE’s Global Representative for Lebanon in 2023, Lena has produced and directed over thirty plays since 1993, contributing significantly to the arts community.
Therapeutic Theatre to the Borderland: Beyond the Split Between Nature and the Human Psyche
Maude Davis
United States
This paper considers a case study in which a theory regarding the human connection to nature informs the practice of therapeutic theatre. Jerome Berstein (2005) has described the recent emergence of a Borderland–a transrational spectrum of reality experienced by an increasing number of individuals. People with what Bernstein calls Borderland personalities have an awareness of Nature that “bridges the mind-body divide” and “is nothing short of sacred.”
Autobiographical Therapeutic Performance (ATP) offers participants the opportunity to aesthetically shape messages, traumatic experiences and self-defeating patterns that have conditioned them. Utilizing the Hero’s Journey as the underlying structure of a rite-of-passage transformation, an ATP can be a process that allows for the emergence of a new sense of self. What happens when a Borderland personality creates an ATP? Clinical models follow mainstream Western culture equating normality with the rational. Borderland personalities usually find it difficult to express their experiences within this Western construct. If the narrative of the Hero’s Journey doesn’t resonate with the Borderland personality, what underlying structure can the ATP director draw on?
After detailing this ATP case study, the author points to a future in which drama therapy practices, informed by theories from Depth Psychology and Archeomythology, have broader implications. Specifically, in our era of environmental crisis, how can Jung’s idea of the World Soul and Bernstein’s notion that there is a correspondence between ego’s dissociation from Nature and its split from the Self be applied to therapeutic theatre? Utilizing this expanded theoretical orientation, what new methods of drama therapy can be developed to heal the split between humans and nature?
Maude Davis, PhD(c) is a licensed research psychoanalyst, a Registered Drama Therapist, a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist and a diploma candidate at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich. Informed by her previous incarnation as a cabaret artist, she developed a Jungian-based Drama and Expressive Arts Therapy technique: Psyche’s Cabaret. Maude is a workshop facilitator affiliated with the Center for Living Arts in Berkeley.
LIVE STERAM
Playfulness as Human Nature: Dramatherapeutic Approaches to Nurturing Play in Vulnerable Populations and Circumstance
Rinat Feniger-Schaal
Israel
Abstract for the whole panel: In an era marked by technological advancement, global conflicts, and increasing social challenges, this panel explores a fundamental question: How can we preserve and nurture our innate human capacity for playfulness when it is most challenged? Through three distinct yet interconnected presentations, we examine how dramatherapeutic approaches can reawaken and sustain our natural playful spirit across different life situations and vulnerable populations.
Rinat Feniger-Schaal, PhD, is a senior lecturer (tenured) at the School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, Israel, where she established the MA program in Drama Therapy and Psychodrama. She brings together multiple professional identities as a certified drama therapist (registered supervisor), medical clown, and developmental psychologist. Her research focuses on the intersection of clinical practice and empirical investigation, particularly exploring the relationships between play, playfulness, drama, movement, and attachment theory. With extensive clinical experience in both public and private settings, she specializes in working with individuals with cognitive impairment and mental health challenges. Dr. Feniger-Schaal has secured significant research grants, presented internationally, and published widely in peer-reviewed journals.
I “Playful Brains: A Possible Neurobiological Pathway to Cognitive Health in Aging”
Shoshi Keisari
Israel
Abstract 1: Play is at the heart of the human experience—a universal language that transcends cultures and generations, through which we connect with the world and build meaningful relationships. In older age, playful encounters open a unique window of opportunity to practice curiosity, openness, and social bonding. This study aimed to understand how brief playful experiences that are based on improvisational theatre can enhance cognitive functions in older adults, considering the natural aging process.Three experimental designs included 150 participants aged 75 to 100. Each participant engaged in two types of interactions: one based on social play through improvisational theatre exercises, and a control activity involving more routine experiences, such as exercise classes or personal conversation. The sessions were randomly assigned to either face-to-face or online settings (via Zoom). Cognitive assessments and self-report questionnaires were administered before and after each activity.The results of the three studies indicate that brief playful interactions improved cognitive functions, such as scores on digit span tests, word fluency tasks, and response times in the Flanker test, compared to control activities. Additionally, these playful interactions led to an increased sense of closeness between participants and elevated positive emotions.The findings highlight the positive impact of playful interactions on older adults. Playful interactions, based on improvisational theatre, serve as an ecological intervention to enhance cognitive performance. Unlike computer-based training, they align with the natural human tendency to engage in play. These interventions are simple to implement and can be seamlessly integrated into routine care for older adults, offering a natural and accessible way to improve cognitive function.
Shoshi Keisari, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, Israel and the Director of the Drama Therapy and Psychodrama Graduate Program. She is a member of the Center for Research and Study of Aging, the Drama and Health Science Lab, and the Emilie Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center at the Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa. Her research focuses on playfulness and improvisation across the lifespan, theatre-based research, psychotherapeutic playback theatre, and arts-based interventions for the aging population and in palliative care. Prof. Keisari has been awarded both private and public grant funding, including from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), the APA Division 10 Micro-grant, and the Minerva Center for Intersectionality in Aging (MCIA). She has presented her work at international conferences and published in refereed international journals.
II “Just play” – Playfulness Focused Dyadic Intervention for Parents and Children with Intellectual Disability
Amitai Stern
Israel
Abstract 2: What could be more natural than a parent playing with their child? Yet in families where children have intellectual developmental disabilities (IDD), this fundamental aspect of human nature often becomes challenged. This presentation explores how we can restore this natural inclination toward play when it has been disrupted. While research shows that parents of children with IDD tend to be less playful in their interactions compared to parents of typically developing children, we argue that playfulness remains an innate, though sometimes dormant, human capacity. Through “Just Play,” a novel drama therapy dyadic intervention, we demonstrate how to reawaken this natural tendency toward playful engagement. Drawing from both theoretical foundations and clinical experiences, we showcase how dramatherapy can create a safe space for parents and children with IDD to rediscover their natural playful selves. At a time when human connection is increasingly mediated by technology and structured interventions, this work reminds us of play’s fundamental role in human nature and its power to strengthen parent-child bonds. The presentation will integrate research and praxis to illustrate how dramatherapy can help families return to their natural state of playful connection, even in the face of developmental challenges.
Amitai Stern is a Ph.D. candidate in drama therapy at the University of Haifa. He holds an MA in drama therapy and practices individual and dyadic drama therapy with young children and their families. His primary research interests are the meeting points between drama therapy, children’s play and dyadic therapy.
III Humanitarian Clowns Working with Refugees and Displaced Families
Tamar Benbenishti
Israel
Abstract 3: In times of war and displacement, when human nature is tested to its limits, how do we maintain our capacity for joy, play, and connection? This study explores this fundamental question through an examination of medical/humanitarian clowns working with refugees around Europe and displaced by the October 2023 war in Israel. Through a mixed-methods approach including 45 interviews with clowns, displaced families, and staff members, alongside 20 structured observations of clown-family interactions, we investigated how clowns tap into core aspects of human nature – playfulness, – to foster resilience in extreme circumstances. Our findings reveal how clowns naturally bridge the gap between trauma and healing, leveraging humanity’s innate capacity for play even in the darkest moments. The research illuminates how clowning, as one of humanity’s oldest art forms, connects to our primal need for joy and community, while simultaneously serving as a sophisticated therapeutic tool. In an era where we question the nature of human adaptation and survival, this study demonstrates how theatrical play can activate our natural healing resources, offering insights for both dramatherapy practice and our understanding of human nature’s remarkable resilience.
Tamar Benbanishti is an MA student in psychodrama, she is an actress who creates and plays in several theatre productions. She is the manager of ”Kolanoar” youth theatre for Jewish and Arab adolescences. She is currently doing her practicum in “Shalvat”a mental health hospital.
IV Exploring the Lived Experiences of Older Women Caring for Spouses with Dementia through Theatre-Based Participatory Action Research
Meira Medina Junge
Israel
Meira Medina Junga will present theater-based participatory action research with older women who are caregivers to spouses with dementia, and Shiri Kordova will present theater-based participatory action research that focused on the embodied experiences of older Mizrahi women.
This symposium demonstrates how theatre-based research can highlight intersections between individuals and their environments, offering participants a platform to explore new perspectives on relationships with their bodies, communities, and surroundings. By broadening coping strategies and enhancing understanding of the interconnectedness of self, society, and environment, we aim to open a dialogue on the contributions of theater-based research to drama therapy in addressing urgent human questions and fostering resilience and transformation.
Meira Medina Junga, M.A., holds master’s degrees in Drama Therapy from the Academic College of Tel-Hai and in Theatre from Tel Aviv University. She is a supervisor in the Drama Therapy program at the University of Haifa. Her Master’s thesis explored the experiences of women caring for spouses with dementia, supported by the Minerva Center on Intersectionality in Aging. Currently pursuing her PhD, her research focuses on creating research-based theatrical performances and analyzing their impact on community attitudes toward aging. Meira has extensive experience directing theater productions, some of which are based on her research. She has presented her work at international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.
02.05.2025. 11:00-13:00
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