Drama Therapy: Enriching your Practice with Presence.

Kayte Summers is presenting Drama Therapy: Enriching Your Practice with Presence April 4–6 and again in September.

Hello to you all. I am writing to introduce my work, myself and my upcoming Haven workshop to you who are interested in The Haven… some whom I know well, some rather less well and some whom I have never met. Foremost in my mind as I write is my gratitude to The Haven management and staff who have given me this opportunity to share Drama Therapy with you right here at home. Drama Therapy is well established in Europe and parts of America but in Canada appears to be little known or practiced west of Montreal.

What is Drama Therapy?
A drama therapist is trained as an artist and a clinician. Drama Therapy is the intentional use of drama techniques as a therapeutic practice. The emphasis is on the clients’ experiencing. It offers a playful methodology which facilitates creativity, spontaneity, imagination, emotional connection and often transformation. Its core strength lies in its ability to create relational storytelling while becoming radiantly present in the moments of human connection. In spite of its name you do not have to have any previous experience or skill or even want to act!

My personal journey with Drama Therapy.
My first connection with Drama Therapy goes back to 1978, to its inception in the form of a two-year diploma training programme in Europe. At that time I was working at Vancouver General Hospital with elderly dementia clients using a mixture of theatre and Jungian therapy. It took holding onto this dream for thirty years and returning to Europe to obtain my MA Dramatherapy and subsequent CPCA registration to practice professionally here in Canada. My current client group consists of complex care and palliative elders. I also train medical and care staff to increase their relational contact with their patients and residents. As a Drama Therapist I have worked in psychiatric wards, residential homes for complex care children, prisons and hospitals.

Drama Therapy supports the premise that deep relational connection between people is possible for all, even those locked in the prisons of their own minds. Its gently supportive, empathetic approach holds even the folk with no language or who are far away and dying to come fully present to their journey and (if they so choose) to those around them.

What does this workshop offer?
In an interactive, supportive and playful setting this workshop offers practising professionals, students and those interested in deepening personal connection skills which enrich their ability to fully connect in all areas of their lives.

Professional Developments Credits are available for those who would like them.

Thank you for your time and interest in this work. Please visit the Haven website for more information. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me at:

kaytesummers@shaw.ca or 250 247 9798.

With my warmest wishes to all,
Kayte