A critical aesthetic paradigm in drama therapy: Aesthetic distance, action and meaning making in the service of diversity and social justice

This chapter describes the manner of recruiting members for a dramatherapy group especially regarding average adults, who are not aware of the possibilities of therapy and support using drama. It describes the therapy session with Naomi a few hours before her death and the group processes during the session after her death. This chapter analyses the process that took place at these sessions. From a theoretical standpoint, it employs elements from the discipline of dramatherapy while focusing on the mandala describing the dramatic structure of the mind and the EPR developmental model. The sages say, A man does not know the day of his death. From the moment of our birth, death accompanies us constantly and permanently. However, human beings deny its existence and live as though they will never die. The person sees an end to the time allotted him or her. The chapter describes the dramatic structure of the healthy, balanced mind by means of a mandala.