Drama therapy to empower patients with schizophrenia: Is justice possible?

•Describes the prevalence and limitations of the dominant medical model of schizophrenia treatment.•Develops an empowerment model for treating individuals with schizophrenia, using developmental transformations drama therapy techniques.•Presents two case examples of an empowering drama therapy, from work with schizophrenic patients in two different cultures.

This article develops an empowerment model for treating individuals with schizophrenia, exploring developmental transformations drama therapy techniques. The author contrasts the dominant medical model of schizophrenia treatment, which primarily seeks symptom control, with the emerging recovery model of schizophrenia treatment, which is focused on empowering patients. The author then builds a theoretical framework for an empowering drama therapy, rooted in Winnicott’s notion of transitional space and Johnson’s developmental transformations. These clinical precepts are synthesized with the social justice theories of Rawls and Flax, Boal’s political theatre, and the absurdist “Before the Law” parable of Kafka. Two case examples of an empowering developmental transformations drama therapy are presented, exploring clinical sessions with schizophrenic patients in two different cultures. Emphasis is placed on key techniques: “pre-empting”; “transformation to the here and now”; and “therapist as subject.” The article concludes by suggesting types of research that can test the potential of an empowering drama therapy to fit within the medical model.