All Our Listens
Episode 33:
Emily P. Faith: “For Me, the Relationship Has to Be Open and Honest”
After a childhood living in different places and cultures, this podcaster, clown, theater artist and drama therapist calls Dallas, Texas, her home for now. With work experiences broader than most people, she brings to her practice a depth of expectancy and transparency unique to her experience, and that fits with her sense of effectiveness and self-care. “People are going to project on you no matter what,” she offers. Listen to the conversation to learn more about how Emily brings her whole self to the therapeutic space – which could be outdoors – and appreciates what her clients have to teach her in the encounter.
Follow Emily on TikTok: emmilypfaith
Instagram: emilypfaith and walkandtalktherapydallas
Youtube: @inourthirtiespodcast
Podcasts: Walk and Talk Podcast with Emily Faith; In Our Thirties Podcast; and Thank You Places Podcast
Web: emilypfaith.com and openhaustherapy.com
Episodes 31 and 32
Untitled Fat Liberation Project: “There Is No Aesthetic Distance Living in a Fat Body,” Parts 1 and 2
Seven Creative Arts Therapists devise a performance to present to the public their experiences living in fat bodies. We asked drama therapist Heidi Landis to have a chat with them and ask why and what goes into such a project, what does reclaiming space mean, what were (and are) their expectations, and where they are now, in relationships with their bodies, and where the project goes from here. This insightful and reflective community discussion reverberates well beyond those of us living in fat bodies.
Episode 30
Dana Sayre: “I Found the Most Value in
Peer Support Spaces”
From the intersection of multiple identities, Dana Sayre shares their journey on the varied paths available to a drama therapist – some easier to navigate than others – and often feels very much like their own client. “We’re all disabled in different ways,” they remind us. Through their work and experience with autism, ethnography, non-binary identity, kink/BDSM and more, Dana tells how for them, breaking free of limits takes courage, persistence, self-awareness, and community – a work always in progress.
Learn more about Dana and their work
Read Dana’s research in The Arts in Psychotherapy
Episode 29
Rosimar Hernandez: “You Are the Ones Who are Protagonists”
Expanding boundaries is the path forward for this drama therapist. Having a pioneering nature has proved valuable whenever Rosimar is asked by management, colleagues or clients to provide more of her expertise. In this interview, Rosimar provides insight into how a gender-affirming program using projective techniques for trans veterans has proven effective and expandable, bringing growth and healing to her clients.
Learn about the GAPS Program at the V.A.
Episode 28
Krista Verrastro: “A Good Sunset, A Good Coffee…Whatever it Might Be”
Creating a Vision Board is not just a tool this drama therapist offers to clients and colleagues. It is a metaphor for the whole of her professional philosophy. “Artsy” and creative by nature, Krista collages from many sources, including Psychodrama, EMDR, and Qigong, creating avenues and opportunities for change and growth by identifying gratitude, recognizing strengths, and discovering that “our future self does know how to get there.”
Check out Krista’s upcoming Vision Board Workshop
Visit the Facebook page Creative Arts Therapists in Private Practice
Episode 27
Keith Whipple: “Negavatum Manipulosum”
Dungeons, dragons, “fake Latin” and all manor of the universe is the palette for Keith Whipple, a drama therapist, improv artist and gamer, who offers his clients strange new worlds to inhabit on their journey to change. Having developed a module-based approach for the entire process, and with inspiration from other artists and clinicians, Keith colorfully describes in this episode how he works in a fluid system to address the needs of his clients whether they are together for one session or for weeks. Check your translator function and enjoy this sojourn!
Keith's work at Ascension-Alexian Brothers
Episode 26
Virg Augustatos and Sarah Olbrantz:
“We Need to be Witnessed. That Is Our Process”
Two truth-telling grads of Antioch University, after experiencing recent losses of their own, found each other and sought to live through their grief by offering a path for others. The result: an ethnodramatherapy performance project that provided not just healing for all participants but quantitative research data. In a vividly honest retelling of their journey, we understand their many effective interventions, challenges and choice points, as they provide evidence that while “grief cannot be fixed,” in the words of Sarah, “this sh** works!”
Learn more about Virg and Sarah's research project,
“The Embodiment of Grief: An Ethnodramatherapy on Grief, Loss, and Bereavement”
Episode 25:
Nick Brunner: “Looking for Those Little Pieces of Growth”
Candid and heartfelt, Nick describes his experience of becoming part of the community he served for 9 years in an outpatient mental health care facility in New York City. Through personal experiences and mentorship, Nick unveils the power of interventions, both subtle and impactful, in a client focused, relational and goal-oriented setting, where small efforts can lead to big strides in healing. But beware of the pride of lions, and the skunk baby!
Learn more about Hearing Voices Network
Episode 24
Rebecca Versaci: “Here We Are, Going through the Mud”
To commemorate September as Neonatal Intensive Care Awareness Month, we offer our interview with Rebecca Versaci, a Child Life Specialist who is no stranger to the fear and pain families face when dealing with the “muck” of the unknown. Listen to the compassion, integrity and humor this Drama Therapist brings to her very young clients and their families. Her belief that “what needs to be communicated will always be communicated through story,” is one way she trusts the process and finds her mojo.
Learn more about Rebecca and her work:
Episode 23
Benedicta Akley-Quarshie: “Resistance is Dialog”
Ghana native, drama therapist and newly conferred Ph.D. Benedicta Akley-Quarshie has a passion: researching the impact of drama therapy on youth experience in incarceration, among other topics. In this interview, Benedicta offers insight into how our work must “dance” in the space of the conventional model of justice, and how offering agency, role testing, and community to youth in incarcerated settings may be the best way to effecting change.
Episode 22
Sally Bailey: “Suddenly, Everyone’s a Human Being”
If your goal is to become an iconic and revered figure in the world of Drama Therapy, DT Radio is delighted to offer this episode as a primer. Through her devotion, talent and playful positivity, Sally’s story is about creating and co-creating what wasn’t there before: founding KSU’s Drama Therapy program; authorship of books on pioneering and necessary topics in our field; establishing and managing the Drama Therapy Fund; and nurturing hundreds of practitioners and scholars throughout her long career. Sally’s story is unique and inspiring – and shows no signs of ending soon!
Learn more about Sally and her work:
Creative Arts Therapy Careers: Succeeding as a Creative Professional, edited by Sally Bailey
The Drama Therapy Decision Tree, by Paige Dickenson and Sally Bailey
Barrier-Free Theatre, by Sally Bailey
Episode 21
Maitri Gopalakrishna and Ishita Pohoja: “We Need to Have Processes that are Community Based”
The extraordinary work of Drama Therapists Maitri Gopalakrishna and Ishita Pohoja is evident in this episode. Offering their unique and compelling stories about connection and community, and describing their work with clients, remaining open-minded and present, we learn how far stories and co-creating can go in bringing about change. When we can question our assumptions, they remind us, we learn the power and potential of group work, ritual, and witness.
Episode 20
Kat Lee: “I’m Interested in the Tension, the Ambivalence”
Drama Therapist Kat Lee has directed her considerable talents toward working with the many facets of trauma. In this interview, the author, teacher, supervisor, and clinician uses personal experience and research to provide critical insight into how trauma has historically impacted and influenced our profession, and how it continues to affect us today in clinical work, licensing, organization, and cultural and social responsibility. Explore our conversation on colonialism, privilege and practice.
Learn more about Kat on her website.
Episode 19
Monica Phinney: “My Passion Has Always Been Relationships”
This creative and adventurous drama therapist decidedly seeks out new opportunities for her practice in non-clinical forms (we know the feeling!). It’s no surprise that she was tapped by documentary filmmaker Robert Greene to guide the process of managing the issues that could arise during his making of Procession, the Netflix documentary exploring the sexual abuse of 6 men by clergy members during their teen years. In this interview, Monica describes the journey, from first expectations to the movie’s worldwide release and critical success, and what that means for the cast, the stories told, and the presence of mental health coordinators in demanding work situations everywhere.
Follow Monica at Heartwork Studio
Learn about Monica's newest project: love_revised
See director Robert Greene's interview with Variety
Episode 18
Ana Bess Moyer Bell: “This Work Has Made Me
a Little More Radical”
Having experienced too many lives lost to substance use, Rhode Island native Ana Bess Moyer Bell has used her grief, compassion and love of theater to create a beloved community that is changing the way we see and respond to addiction. An educator, theater maker, and Executive Director of 2nd Act, hear Ana Bess’s inspiring story of how personal grief informs her work, how she cares for her team, and strives for collaboration to meaningfully transform the communities they serve.
Episodes 16 and 17
Nina L. Garcia: “Yeah, I Can Play with This”
Meet Nina L. Garcia, a dynamic Drama Therapist and Empowerment Coach, founder of Houston Creative Arts Therapy and host of the podcast "Empowered Human" taking the town by grace and deliberate purpose. Ramón Guitart brings questions to Nina that let us into her insight into becoming a practitioner, finding one’s own path, negotiating the world from both a privileged and a not-so-privileged place, the awareness of anti-Supremacy - and yes, there’s that self-empowerment issue… Get ready to play!
Episode 15
Maria Scaros: “Heels Don’t Work”
Maria embodies many roles in her work: a practicing drama therapist; Executive Director of The Greens at Greenwich, a residence for cognitively impaired seniors; and a stalwart advocate for Creative Arts in mental health and dementia care. With her experience and gift for storytelling (and some help from Plato), Maria offers humor, wisdom and guidance on how to walk with a client in their unique reality – and have fun doing it!
Episode 14:
Laura Hix: “... This Concern About ‘Mattering’...”
The Bad news: Our next episode is about research. The Good news: Wake Forest University researcher and drama therapist Laura Hix offers a delightful and compassionate perspective. Laura describes her journey from training in drama therapy to full-fledged researcher, the rationale for why the work is important, and ideas to reduce the apprehension practitioners may have around it. You will appreciate and enjoy her sympathetic approach to work that is very often rewarding - and sometimes not - but always valuable and worthy.
Episode 13
Lynn Hodeib: “Not Knowing What to Do is Good, Sometimes”
A pervasive sense of political turbulence, generational trauma and cultural denial filled the space of Lynn Hodeib’s upbringing, and fueled her passion to work to improve the lives of the many who suffer in her native Lebanon. Witnessing the work of filmmaker and fellow Lebanese Zeina Daccache was the inspiration she needed to become a drama therapist and commit to her passion. Hear her engaging story of creating performance and research for community action, and her hopes for making her country a more welcoming space.
Episode 12
Sally Shatzkes: “I Close My Eyes, I Hear Their Voices”
The annual presentation of Witness Theater by Holocaust survivors and students of the Yeshiva of Flatbush is a community phenomenon – an incarnation of the Hebrew philosophy Tikkun Olam. Drama therapist, educator, author, theater director and mom, Sally Grazi-Shatzkes, also believes, “If there’s no trust, there’s no relationship,” and walks us through this year-long process of creating first a family, and then an unforgettable, healing experience for the community.
Watch the trailer for the Witness Theater Documentary
Sally is the 2019 Covenant Foundation Award Recipient
Watch "Ordinary Blessings," the 2020 Student Virtual Presentation
Episode 11
Deb Campbell: "The Beauty of an Older Body”
The Founder and Director of the non-profit Arts & AGEing in Kansas City sits down with us to discuss “Dancing with Crow’s Feet,” a performance project for Seniors living in the Kansas City area. Deb shares how Crow’s Feet came to life and continues to inspire the women who perform it, the audiences who witness the work, and the many groups around the world who want to be part of it. Deb’s vision, wisdom, kindness and generosity are inspiring and thought-provoking for the those who embrace the power of therapeutic theater.
Episode 10
Mallory Minerson: “The Incredible Value of
Being Humble”
Mallory was working as a nurse and teaching drama in her native Calgary, Alberta. One day she saw something in her patients’ engagement that told her there was more to this than playmaking. The story of how she decided to move to New York to study drama therapy before she began working with indigenous populations in the Northwest Territories is one of staying humble, listening intently, and trusting in one’s relationship with all of nature.
Mallory recommends these texts to learn more about working with indigenous populations:
Episode 9
Caitlin Cairns: “We Built Ourselves a Standing Ovation”
How would you answer a challenge from management to find “something new” that will engage the residents of your senior center? Drama Therapist Caitlin Cairns tells the story of how she and her team in an Oklahoma facility met that task by producing not one but two personalized “Broadway” shows. From auditions to final ovation, hear how this team inspires, engages and connects people of all abilities by capitalizing on their strengths. Times may be tough, but the show must go on!
Episode 8
Mark Beauregard: “I Don’t Care About the Sexiness!”
A (digital) face to face with New York City drama therapist Mark Beauregard lets us learn about the decision to launch his individual practice at just the right moment: during a pandemic. We learn how he’s figuring out his way forward, for himself and his young clients, how much personality and physicality go into the mix, how his instincts, physical space, family and sense of humor contribute to the process.
Episode 7
Wanning Jen: “This Is the Place for Us to Express,
and to Try on Possibilities”
Wanning Jen is an engineer, salesman, improv artist, actor and – lucky for us – a drama therapist. Jon found a spare classroom at NYU for a guerrilla interview with this intrepid pioneer to discuss his pending move to mainland China and the work he will be doing. Wanning’s fearless sense of adventure brought him from his native Taiwan to Japan, to the U.S. west coast, to New York, and back to China, where he takes his skills and enthusiasm to work with multiple populations in a culture and professional environment unfamiliar to most of us. Whatever he calls his work, he tells a truly engaging story.
Episode 6
Diana Chu: “When You Build a Community, There’s a Reciprocal Effect”
As a student of Drama Therapy at CIIS, Ramon Guitart engages Drama Therapist and podcaster Diana Chu in conversation about her career-long interest in digital technology and her desire to integrate it into her practice. At a time when many in our field face the transition to working with our clients online, Diana inspires us to think outside the box – literally! – offering specific examples of goals and expectations for the preparation and the process. Enjoy!
Episode 5
Maria Hodermarska: "I May Be In My Underwear Right Now”
An interview with the longtime Clinical Professor of Drama Therapy at New York University yields remarkable insight into how practitioners in our field are experiencing life in today’s “lockdown” reality, and some of what we can expect in our practice. Maria’s gift for seeing the deeper meaning in life’s tiniest moments is potent evidence that our work is essential and, even when it’s one intervention at a time, moves the world forward toward health and grace – with a fair dose of humor!
Episode 4
Laura Wood & Josiah Stickels: “We Would Like People to Know About Us”
At the 40th Anniversary conference of the NADTA, Drama Therapy Radio holed up with Josiah Stickels, the incoming president of the organization, and Laura Wood, the outgoing president, to discuss what leadership means for our community, how to assess the needs of the organization, and the process of a transition in leadership. Hear why the “40-year-old teenager” continues the journey to make space for a community of such diversity – from a place of abundance – while addressing the continuing social stigma connected to mental health.
Episode 3
Ross Stone & Emily Bartlett: “Teenagers Are Underestimated”
During the 2018 conference we sat down with Ross and Emily to talk about their work with teenagers in Kansas City. While balancing ourselves on a hotel bed (with a very pregnant Emily) we talk about the beauty of the teenage heart and the creativity of their minds.
Episodes 1 and 2
Jessica Asch: “We Needed to Find the Stillness”
In the summer of 2018, Jess worked with children from Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School, and along with a few others created Camp Shine, a summer program for the survivors of the school shooting. In talking with Jess, we explore how the camp was created, how she was able to convince a fractured community to come together for healing, and how she took care of herself throughout the provocative process.