Hope Revival
Three workshops were planned to be conducted by HRO trainers targeting around 30 youngsters from both refugees and host communities during the period from May 16th to 26th,2023 on techniques used in therapy drama.
One workshop was implemented by 2 HRO trainers, while the 2 other workshops are being conducted during the reporting period.
The workshops include the main techniques that help the youth to understand themselves and their experiences more clearly, express themselves, and use creativity, imagination, and play to practice reacting to difficult situations.
The workshop content is covering the following techniques Dramatic projection, Personification and impersonation, Interactive audience and witnessing, Playing, Drama-therapeutic empathy and distancing, Life-drama connection, Transformation, Embodiment, and Therapeutic performance processes based on the toolkit developed by the Psychodrama trainer Şeniz Turan and shared with ARCS at the end of WP3.
Objectives
Regarding HRO’s activities in WP4, HRO planned to conduct 3 workshops (5 days each, 4 hours each day) targeting 30 youths (50% Females, 50% Males) from both refugees and host communities with the aim to helping youth to understand and express their inner feelings and enable them to gain further insights about themselves.
As planned, the workshops will be conducted by 9 HRO staff who attended Drama Therapy TOT which was conducted by HRO during WP3.
A link was designed and shared on social media to reach youngsters from both communities for registration, and only 30 applicants were selected from those who met the criteria set (youth from the refugee community and the host community, 50% of the males and 50% of the females). It is worth noting that the number of female trainees was larger than the male number though HRO chose all the male applicants.
Concerning logistics, the center was rented considering the safe and accessible location for both trainers and trainees. The procurement of activities’ supplies was completed including stationery, refreshments, and meals after contracting with the best offers.As planned, on May 16 th, the fisrt workshp was conduted by 2 HRO trainers, and it lasted five days targeting 6 tarinees. On the first day, the HRO trainers introduced the project and its importance to the youth, psychosocial support and its relationship with arts and drama,
and theoretical information about drama therapy and implemented some warm-up and ice-breaking activities.
In the following four days, the core techniques of drama therapy were discussed and applied as follows:
On the second day: Dramatic projection, Personification, and impersonation.
On the third day: Interactive audience and witnessing, Playing.
On the fourth day: Drama-therapeutic empathy and distancing, Life-drama connection.
On the fifth day was about Transformation, Embodiment, and Therapeutic performance processes.
Feedback and Suggestions
After each activity, the facilitator asked the trainees to give their feedback or express their feelings about applying the technique themselves.
One of the female trainees’ feedback was that she found these techniques useful and can be applied to her students to know about the reasons behind their strange behaviors and words.
Another trainee suggested conducting such workshops for mothers with the aim to use alternative methods to solve some problems instead of direct discussions that children might refuse to answer.
The remaining two workshops will be implemented from May 22 nd to 26 th 2023 targeting 24 trainees divided into 2 groups (one will attend in the morning, and the other will attend in the afternoon) by 6 HRO trainers (3 for each group).