Drama therapy is the intentional use of drama and/or theater processes to achieve therapeutic goals. Students learn to tell their stories, set goals, solve problems and express feelings. Through drama therapy the depth and breadth of inner experience can be actively explored and interpersonal relationships and social skills can be enhanced through life rehearsal. Participants can expand their repertoire of dramatic roles to find their own "life" roles have been strengthened. Behavior change, skill building, emotional and physical integration of personal growth can be achieved through drama therapy. Participants benefiting from drama therapy span the life spectrum and may include persons recovering from addiction, dysfunctional families, developmental delayed persons and those currently experiencing mental illness in the general public.
Theradrama helps establish repeatable creative and active corporate training. In addition to serving special populations and training educators in drama therapy, Therdrama has provided extensive corporate training, team building and brought improvisation to the world of sales, health care and multiple private businesses. Click on Learn More to see what CNN says regarding the use of theater in business.Learn More
In addition to drama therapy Theradrama seeks to integrate music, movement and other art into classes, that can include puppets, masks, makeup, photography and a myriad of other medium.
Stephen Breithaupt MS, RDT is an international speaker, actor and presenter, who has appeared in movies, on television and on Broadway. He has traveled to all 50 states and much of the world bringing expressive arts training, theater and improvisation.Learn More
A dynamic new system for engaging special populations in relevant social skills. Developing Social Games for Special Needs & Other Populations: Attention, Affect, Action. Social games are popular ways to teach social skills and conflict resolution in therapy. For clients with special needs, they can be particularly effective. This 3-hour workshop will demonstrate a variety of social games and inspire participants to use them to increase their knowledge about their clients, develop their own customized activities, and to engage their clients in virtually any clinical setting. To that end, types of developmental games are separated into three sections: Attention highlights games that grab the participants' initial attention. They are oriented toward basic social behaviors, such as eye contact and interpersonal communication. Affect challenges game participants to recognize and respond to emotions, helping to clarify certain emotions that might be unexpected and perhaps even unwanted. Action helps participants to demonstrate what was practiced in the previous two game types, while giving game participants a framework for improvising social scenes and practicing acceptable social behaviors. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to experience social games in all three areas as well as practice developing their own games for use with their clients. This is not only an effective way of working with developmentally delayed clients, but with clients of all populations who wish to learn how to connect more effectively with the world around them. This session is appropriate for educators as well as mental health professionals.Learn More
Stephen Breithaupt, MS, RDT, is the Director of Rehabilitation at Telecare Heritage. He has developed multiple programs and created Theradrama, Inc., which teaches social skills and acting to special populations. Stephen utilized drama therapy with several community populations, including those with schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, and the developmentally delayed. He also appeared on Broadway and in many network TV series, directed in a variety of venues, and taught musical theater, and voice overs.
Stephen Breithaupt has taught drama therapy and theatre internationally and brought art, music and movement to a myriad of subjects and a variety of students.
Stephen Breithaupt has traveled the US and the the world, speaking to diverse groups on such topics as autism, family communication, drama therapy and the origins of consciousness.
Stephen is an actor, playwright and dramatist having performed on Broadway, on television and in film. He has won an Ovation Award, (West Coast Tony), and Grammy Award for his work in theatre and in the recording studio. He has created theatre for those suffering from alcoholism and childhood abuse respectively.