What is Drama or Theater Therapy?

Dr. Amerigo Merino, an eminent psycho-therapist of America found  during some experiments that mental  treatment can be usefully combined with encouragement of interest in artistic activities in a collective form. Dr. Merina found that if the mentally deficient and people of limited mental facilities are encouraged to take part in artistic and cultural activities, they clearly benefit from them.

Theater Therapy

According to this renowned psychologist dullness of mind, under-developed brain and other mental diseases can be gradually improved. He felt that the mental patients try to get rid of the artificial hindrances of their diseases in the artificial atmosphere of rhythm, musical notations, scenes, music,acting, humor, piety, fear, courage and spiritualism.

Dr. Merino selected acting on stage as medium for removing the sense fear and other obstacles from the mind of mental patients. In the course of his experiments he found success on 640 cases out of 800 cases. The rest were chronic cases suffering from permanent complexes.

In this therapy, diseases related to hands and feet as well as brain are attempted to be treated by acting. Fear is sought to be removed by collective work and diseases related to hearing and speech are given treatment by music--both instrumental and vocal. The use of certain medicines is now being thought of in theater-therapy.

It was decided to organize treatment based on this therapy, as a new movement in many countries in the world in 1982. In India, Vinay Kishi of Lucknow is organizing it. This therapy is being developed by different organisations in Sweden, America, France, Germany, Japan, China, Soviet Russia and Britain.

The basis of this therapy is supposed to be a saying of great Chinese thinker Confucius, who proclaimed that this world is a stage. The more active a man is on this stage, the more successful he is in life. Theater therapist give training to people who have failed to play their proper role on the stage of the world. this way they learn not only to act their part but can also act the part of the other people.

The specialist of this line are convinced that one one day this method will be as useful in daily life as Indian Yoga.