Course overview

This course provides you with professional training in dramatherapy, with an emphasis on clinical placements and an introduction to various dramatherapy approaches. Alongside our well-established MA Music Therapy (through separate and some shared teaching) our course aims to train suitable, experienced practitioners at Masters level, adhering to professional standards. It will qualify you to work as a dramatherapist and successful candidates will be eligible for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.

You will be expected to involve yourself in self-reflection in small and large group activities, lectures, and dramatic activity through role play, myths, storytelling, autobiographical improvisation, case discussion and theoretical analysis. A significant component of experiential learning is through tutorials and supervision groups, embracing a central teaching style. Clinical placements are key to the experience.

You will benefit from learning about the most recent effective dramatherapy approaches with adults and children. Connections between the body and mind will be emphasised and you will draw on your previous training/experience in theatre, drama and the clinical field. Through this experience you will learn about how dramatherapists create methods to engage clients in effecting psychological, emotional and social changes.

Dramatherapy uses working and playing actively to facilitate imagination, creativity, learning, insight and growth. Teaching includes:

• improvisation/role play skills in small groups
• focus on own dramatic autobiographical process
• dramatherapy theory
• links between theory and practice
• block clinical placements in at least three fields, including in the community, schools, hospitals, and hospices
• university-based small supervision groups
• clinical supervision by qualified therapists at clinical placements
• experience within multidisciplinary teams
• weekly experiential dramatherapy groups where you will reflect upon their clinical experiences and upon the process of becoming a dramatherapist
• supervision and teaching by leading researchers in the field, to prepare for the Major Project/dissertation in the second year. The dissertation may be research or more clinically oriented, depending on your choice.

Module guide

In addition to teaching time on-campus, all courses require intensive self-guided learning, research or private study and there may also be optional training, seminars, visits, lectures or master classes to attend.

Assessment

Assessment takes place against clear criteria and learning outcomes which you will be made aware of and prepared for. Assessed activities range from formal essay-writing to experiential learning, group learning, clinical improvisation and fieldwork, including clinical placements. You will also be assessed through self-analysis and reflection, in discussion with your personal tutor.

Facilities

Located in purpose-built accommodation, the Anglia Ruskin Department of Music and Performing Arts includes two dedicated fully-equipped drama studios and the Mumford Theatre, a full-size receiving house for professional touring companies. Lecture and practice rooms, a recital hall, a purpose-built music therapy clinic and five state-of-the-art computer music studios house a range of specialised technological and other equipment. All computers have full Internet and intranet access and are supported by extensive online facilities and resources.

You will have access to specialised dramatherapy props and equipment, and to other departmental resources.

Libraries
Our campus libraries offer a wide range of publications and a variety of study facilities, including open-access computers, areas for quiet or group study and bookable rooms. We also have an extensive Digital Library providing on and off-site access to e-books, e-journals and databases.

We endeavour to make our libraries as accessible as possible for all our students. During Semester time, they open 24 hours a day from Monday to Thursday, until midnight on Friday and Saturday and for 12 hours on Sunday.

IT resources
Our open access computer facilities provide free access to the internet, email, messaging services and the full Microsoft Office suite. A high speed wireless service is also available in all key areas on campus. If you are away from campus or a distant learner, our student desktop and its many applications can be accessed remotely using the internet. Your personal student email account provides free document storage, calendar facilities and social networking opportunities.

Throughout your studies you will have access to our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), providing course notes, reading materials and multi-media content to support your learning, while our e-vision system gives you instant access to your academic record and your timetable.

Special features

Dramatherapy has been established for four years at Anglia Ruskin, situated within our thriving Music and Performing Arts Department. We hold regular international conferences and now include a new ?top-up? MA in Psychodrama running alongside the Dramatherapy MA course. Our drama courses are rated highly by the National Student Survey, and Music Therapy research was rated 'world-leading' in the recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).

Course convenor

Dr Ditty Dokter

Related links

Music and Performing Arts news
Music and Performing Arts events

Links with industry and professional recognition

Investing in this course will enable you to gain a qualification which, on successful completion, will permit you to register with the Health and Care Professions Council. This is a legal requirement for practising dramatherapists in the UK.

We also have close links with the British Association of Dramatherapists and other allied health professions through staff members who hold national offices in these organisations. There are strong links with other practitioners, such as psychotherapists, other arts therapists, psychiatrists and multidisciplinary teams. Most teaching staff are also practitioners (employed in a variety of settings) and researchers. This makes for a strong professional profile, and we have established collaborations with institutions across the world, providing a rich interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary milieu.

Work placements

This course offers intensive clinical placements similar to that of a working dramatherapist. You will have the opportunity to work with patients/clients and gain experiential learning as well as experience of other arts therapies.

Associated careers

Dramatherapists are employed within a variety of contexts, such as the NHS, social services, the education sector and in community projects. There are also opportunities to work privately or on a freelance basis.

A qualified dramatherapist is able to work with a broad range of clients, including adults and children with learning difficulties and mental health problems, and other special needs. Settings include prisons, hospices and other related outreach areas, and sometimes with patients in medical environments.

Entry Requirements:

Usually a good/ 2:1 honours degree classification (or equivalent) or equivalent in drama, performing arts or a related subject. Evidence of sustained engagement with drama in a variety of forms (theatre, movement, performance). Minimum of 1 year or equivalent clinical/field work experience preferably with children or adults working in a caring capacity including in teaching, social work, mental health and community drama. Relevant motivation, maturity and ability to reflect on self in relation to others. Two references are required. Candidates for whom English is not a first language will be expected to demonstrate a certified level of proficiency of at least IELTS 7 at the time of entry. Non-Academic Conditions: CRB Checks required, Interviews, Occupational Health clearance required. Non-Academic Conditions: CRB Checks required, Interviews, Occupational Health clearance required

As this is professional therapy training, all short-listed candidates are expected to attend an interview which includes experiential dramatherapy group-work with other candidates, in addition to an individual interview and group discussion with lecturers. These are considered vital to the assessment of the candidate's suitability and readiness for training, as well as allowing the candidate to experience something of the teaching methods of the course and consider whether it is appropriate for them.

Preparation
Please be ready to improvise and work in drama workshops as directed on the day, and to discuss your motivation and expectations of becoming a dramatherapist.

Video conference interview
In exceptional cases, for applicants who live in countries a long distance away, we may consider a video conference interview. This will only be offered if you give clear reasons why it is impossible to attend the interview/audition. You should note that video conference interviews can only be offered if you have professional video conferencing equipment at your disposal.

Our published entry requirements are a guide only and our decision will be based on your overall suitability for the course as well as whether you meet the minimum entry requirements.

We welcome applications from International and EU students. Please select one of the links below for English language and country-specific entry requirement information.

• International students
• EU students
• English language requirements

If we have confirmed you do not meet our entry requirements you might want to consider a preparatory course at Cambridge Ruskin International College (CRIC), our partner college, based on our Cambridge campus, before coming to study with us.