Roundabout conducts long-term and short-term Dramatherapy projects with a range of clients. We work with individuals and groups of all ages. Dramatherapy involves verbal and non-verbal work and makes use of a wide range of theatrical and dramatic techniques, such as story-telling, story-making and enactment, improvisation, role-play, mime, puppets, movement, music and voice work.

The general aims of Roundabout’s Dramatherapy sessions include:

• Building trusting relationships
• Expressing and exploring feelings
• Developing social interaction skills
• Developing artistic and creative skills
• Improving self-image and self-confidence
• Working with the imagination
• Creating opportunities and skills for self-advocacy
• Having fun

Roundabout begins a new project by visiting a client group and discussing with them and their carers what Dramatherapy may be able to offer them and what their expectations or aims for the sessions might be. This is followed by an assessment process, after which the sessions start, based on a framework agreed to by all the participants. Sessions are usually weekly and can vary in length from half an hour to two hours. Each session is normally preceded by a meeting or ‘feed-in time’ with a staff member, parent or carer, and similarly there is a feed-back time at the end of each session.

All Roundabout Dramatherapy projects have agreed boundaries of confidentiality. Maintaining good levels of communication between all those involved in the projects is seen as a priority. Also within the session programme there are built in reviews for the clients, so that they can assess and review the sessions themselves. Session reports are written at agreed intervals throughout the projects.

Roundabout’s Dramatherapists are registered with the Health Professions Council (HPC) and are checked by the Criminal Records Bureau. Roundabout’s Dramatherapists work according to the Sesame Institute UK Code of Ethical Practice and work with a contract drawn up between themselves and their clients.

We regularly monitor our projects asking for feed-back