| This thesis examines the healing nature of autobiographical story telling through solo performance theatre in a group therapy setting. Utilizing the literature related to group therapy, psychodrama, humanistic psychology, and in particular depth-oriented approaches to psychotherapy, such as archetypal and self-psychology, answers about the nature of healing through image, personal stories, and theatre emerge. Case studies and heuristic research methods are employed, including, interviews, and personal experience, in order to understand various methods of writing for solo performance theatre and the impact of the writing and performance process on participants and audience members. Research culminates in a guide to the application of a depth psychologically oriented therapeutic method for group therapy called "self-story drama therapy," or SSDT, which answers the question of how one might go about using solo performance theatre as a healing tool. |
