Articles

SEXUAL TRAUMA AND THE BRAIN

I am a drama therapist who could not function properly without art, music, movement, and poetry. All of the other art modalities intersect with drama, prepare for it, enhance it, empower it, develop it, and release it. I have found this to be particularly true when working with clients who are recovering from sexual traumas of all kinds.

Because sexual trauma runs so deep and creates so much overwhelming shame and confusion within the survivor, addressing the emotional wounds caused by the manifestations of sexual abuse requires the choice of therapeutic methods which can create emotional distance and a safe container Survivors of sexual trauma are not just “resisting” when they avoid dealing with their issues or when say they can’t access their emotions because they feel numb. They are not just “over-reacting” when they lash out in anger, experience flashbacks, or display other emotional outbursts in or outside of the therapy session. Their behavior is a direct result of the biological changes that have occurred in their brains in response to their traumatic experience.

Read more: Art as an Initial Approach to the Treatment of Sexual Trauma for Creative Therapies for Sexual Abuse Survivors

A number of years ago I was hired as a drama consultant to conduct ten sessions in a special education classroom at Diamond Elementary School in Gaithersburg, MD, north of Washington, DC. The children were between the ages of 9 and 12. A number had severe learning disabilities and several had various forms of mental retardation. Besides basic reading and math skills, students focused on learning life skills like how to shop, how to make change, how to travel on the bus and subway systems, and other essentials to survival in a large urban area.

When I asked the teacher if there were any educational or social issues I could help with, she immediately said she’d been having trouble with students getting along in the classroom. Certain students would tease others and tears would result. Pencils and other small items got “borrowed” from desks without permission and angry accusations of stealing ensued, along with pushing, shoving, insults, and the inevitable hurt feelings.

Read more: Behavior Change Through Drama Therapy

Think in terms of the strengths and talents of your actors – what do they do best?

Incorporate their strengths into the script.
Think of ways to side-step the weaknesses of your actors so they don’t become an issue.

CAST the play before you begin to write so you can pair up people who can help each other in different ways during the course of the play.

INCORPORATE SPECIAL TALENTS: playing an instrument, dancing, singing, pantomime, juggling, telling jokes, howling like a werewolf, puppetry, pratfalls, etc.

INCORPORATE wheelchairs and other devices into the play as thrones, carriages, royal litters, hay wagons, ambulances, truck cabs, etc. so there is a reason for them to be there.

• On the other hand, you don’t HAVE to have a rationale/excuse for a character to be in a wheelchair or to have another obvious disability – you can have that just be part of that character that’s not even remarked upon in the play.

• Don’t let a device or a disability stop a character from doing what he/she needs to do in the play. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

IF A LINE IS DIFFICULT TO SAY, rewrite it:
Use different words

Change the order of the phrases

Shorten the line

USING MEMORIZATION STRENGTHS:

• Use the natural speaking rhythms, phrasing, and vocabulary of your actors, especially if the script is based on their improvisations. If the lines are already in their words and speech and thought patterns, they will be easier for them to speak and remember.

• If you have an actor who is a good memorizer, have him/her ask questions in a scene with an actor who is not as good at memorization. It is easier to remember the answer to a question (especially since you know the answer from the script) than it is to remember a question.

• However, don’t have characters answer just “yes” or “no” as they may become confused about which to say. Have them answer with specific Who, What, Where, and When information that relates clearly to the story and which can be more easily remembered.

• An actor who is a good memorizer can also handle the part of someone in authority, who gives orders.

• If an actor has a joke – make sure he/she understands the humor/meaning behind it or he won’t be able to remember it.

• Incorporate reminders for actions and lines into the dialogue of people who can memorize – make sure those reminders are phrased in positive terms. An actor with a cognitive disability will do what he or she is told to do, but can become confused if the hint is phrased in a negative way (“Don’t go in there!” – changes are they won’t) or if it’s phrased indirectly (“I wonder where we should go next?”)

• Use a live or recorded narrator to structure the scene.

• Use music and/or sound effects to remind characters about entrances or exits or cue changes in the action within a scene.

• Incorporate video or film into your play. These scenes won’t have to be memorized. And they can be filmed as many times as you need in rehearsal until they are just right.

SIDESTEPPING problems with MEMORIZATION:

• A character like a TV interviewer, talk show host, or detective can have a clipboard of notes they can refer to for questions they might have to ask other characters. It looks realistic to incorporate the lines written on those props.

• Create groups of characters who work together onstage with at least one actor involved who has a good sense of direction and memorization. Everyone else can follow along and do their appropriate lines and actions if they have someone reliable to follow.

• In rehearsals encourage actors to improvise if they forget a line and to help fellow actors remember lines through asking them appropriate questions in character. Let them practice so they will be ready if it happens in performance.

SIDESTEPPING problems with actors who are NOT CLEAR SPEAKERS:

• Have another character repeat the line incredulously, pretending they understood what was said.
“I didn’t do it!”
“You didn’t do it? How do you expect me to believe that?”
or…more subtly…
“You expect me to believe that you didn’t do it?”
“I went to the store”
“Yes, I know you went to the store, but what did you buy there?”

• Have the actor who does not speak clearly play a foreign character who nobody in the play understands or someone who always mutters under their breath. (Example: Swen Swenson, the Swedish cinematographer, has been hired because of his movie making talents, but he speaks no English. That’s ok because all he needs to understand to do his job is “Action” and “Cut”)

• There could be a legitimate reason why a character can’t speak. For instance, she is a professional mime, he has laryngitis because he yelled too loudly at the football game, she’s taken a vow of silence for religious reasons, he is refusing to speak because he is angry, or, my personal favorite, her voice was stolen by an evil wizard.

SIDESTEPPING problems with actors who CAN’T REMEMBER BLOCKING:

• Have the character teamed with a duo or trio of others who can remember blocking.

• Make the actor a character who is a ruler or rich person who needs a personal assistant to be at his beck and call. (The personal assistant can be an actor who knows what to do and where to go and will be the one who is really in control, but will not look like it).