Tel-Hai Magazine 2022

follow up, teachers from both schools re ported that most students had enjoyed the project and were proud of their own involvement with it. The stories and the materials elicited from the project came up again in the context of other courses, in which the topics of resistance, democ racy and dictatorship were addressed. The project and the filmed piece have been presented at several international conferences, and will be published as a chapter in a forthcoming prestigious vol ume on Trauma-informed drama thera py (Charles C. Thomas, estimated 2022). Tele-Drama Therapy: long distance emotional support As a result of the policy of social distanc ing during the pandemic, many elderly individuals suffered from severe loneli ness, which risked their physiological and mental health. In order to alleviate their distress, the Drama Therapy Graduate Program at Tel-Hai College initiated the ‘Tele-Drama Therapy for the Elderly Project’, in collaboration with the Minis try of Welfare and Social Services in the community. After a short but intensive training pro gram, under the guidance of Dr. Dovrat Harel and Dr. Shoshi Keisari, both ex perts in the field of drama therapy and gerontology, the students were paired with elderly adults. The elderly partici pants were allocated 30 telephone ses sions, each of a duration of 30 minutes, at a frequency of twice a week. Despite the limitations, and lack of face-to-face contact, the students managed to com bine creative techniques that encouraged self-expression and connected the partic ipants to their personal resources and strengths. The findings revealed the unique contri bution of these techniques in the promo tion of emotional processing in old age. The following quote, taken from an in terview with a 68-year-old woman, demonstrates how the use of a photo graph helped her process underlying emotions, and find a sense of closure: "When you have a trigger such as a pho

to or a movie, it makes it different. From my phone, I sent the student a photo of myself as a child. It was full of details, many of which I hadn't talked about with anyone else before. I shared memo ries of the Holocaust with her, memories that I had no one to share with. Follow ing the photo, it was easier for me to un load my heart to the student". Drama Therapy in Later Life As life expectancy in the western world increases, the need to prepare future dra ma therapists for the changing needs of society and for working with the elderly has become a priority. In response to this, and recognizing the significant contribu tion of the arts (particularly of theater and drama) to the wellbeing of elderly, the Drama Therapy Graduate Program at Tel-Hai will be integrating new cours es on Drama Therapy in Later Life, throughout this coming year. Students will be trained to work with elderly adults, both in the community and in in stitutions. The curriculum will include cutting-edge psychological and social theories of aging in addition to methods of drama therapy intervention that have been specifically designed for this popu lation. As part of their placement, students will be integrated into various settings for older adults in Israel, especially in Upper Galilee and supervised by specialists with a wealth of experience in this field. Stu dents will also participate in research projects focusing on the development of drama therapy methods and tools for the older population – including people with dementia, their families, and their care givers. Such research projects will in clude the ongoing research of the tele phone interventions through drama therapy that were conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as a study exploring the ‘sand-stage method’. Gaining new perspective through the sand-stage method A study by Dr. Anat Heller and Dr. Dovrat Harel explores the therapeutic effect of the ‘sand-stage method’ with

the Drama Therapy Graduate Program at Tel-Hai will be integrating new courses on Drama Therapy in Later Life, throughout this coming year

older adults. Developed by Dr. Heller, this drama therapy method involves the use of miniatures in a sand tray, through assuming different roles from the theater, such as director, performer, and audience. While the method has been implemented with various popu lations, its contribution to the elderly population has not yet been examined. Hence, the study aims to gain an in depth understanding of the effect of this intervention on older adults, in the hope of formulating an accurate inter vention protocol for applying the meth od with elderly populations. Prelimi nary findings indicate that ‘the sand-stage method’ creates a safe place, where playfulness and imagination are awakened, and self-exploration is achieved. In this way, older adults may expand their perspectives on the course of their lives with a sense of satisfac tion.

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