Editorial

The idea for this special issue first emerged two years ago, during a meeting of the British Association of Dramatherapists’ Equality and Diversity Subcommittee. Like many battles for equality and recognition, it emerged from frustration, resulting in a suggestion to address the lack of articles or literature exploring the personal, clinical and academic experiences of the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community in the context of UK dramatherapy practice and theory. On acceptance of the proposal, Dramatherapy’s editorial team invited Ryan Campinho Valadas and Mandy Carr to edit this special issue. Encouraged and supported by members of the subcommittee, the association’s executive body and the journal’s editorial board, here it is – the physical manifestation of an idea driven by inspiration and frustration, but with the hopeful and ultimate intention to include, make visible and represent a range of voices, experiences and lives of communities, many of whom are marginalised.

Mandy Carr

A brief Google search reveals a sizeable amount of material exploring the needs of LBGTQ+ clients and practitioners in the UK within the mental health field, less but nevertheless a significant amount in art and music therapy, and considerably less in dramatherapy. More attention has been given to this important field in North America. In 2016, the North American Drama Therapy Association’s Drama Therapy Review published research into the profession’s attitudes and actions regarding LGBTQ+ gender-non-conforming communities. It concluded that

the majority of drama therapists hold an open and affirming attitude towards gender diversity and sexual orientation. Yet discrepancies remain concerning the training received, the overall level of preparedness, and participation in supervision specific to working with LGBTQI+ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex] clients. Ongoing training and supervision is needed to bridge the gap between affirming attitudes and actions. (Beauregard et al. 2016, 41–42)

I am grateful to Ditty Dokter, Anna Seymour and Roulla Demetriou for their ongoing encouragement and support for this special issue. It has been a privilege working with Ryan Campinho Valadas, whose commitment to the inclusion of the widest possible range of under-represented perspectives has fuelled the process, from the initial call for papers to publication. We are pleased that the articles represent a variety of views, backgrounds and experiences. Finally, it has been inspirational working with first-time authors, and we hope that this issue will encourage others to submit proposals, particularly exploring the theory, practice and training of dramatherapy with under-represented groups.

Special issue content

The landscape of equality and diversity has been changing significantly in recent years, with the rise of different social justice movements, and the inclusion and visibility of previously excluded voices, experiences and discourse. Marginalised communities are taking the space and time to speak for themselves more and more, instead of having others speak for them. It is no longer about having someone speak for us, but about us speaking for ourselves. Additionally, there is a greater understanding and awareness of identities not being separate from each other, but indeed being interconnected. Lived experiences related to sexual orientation, gender identity, race, cultural background, belief systems, disability and class may often converge and create acutely complex experiences of marginalisation and oppression.

This is intersectionality: the critical concept and real-life experience of examining systems and experiences of oppression as interconnected rather than separate. Born out of a critique of first-wave feminism’s exclusion of women of colour, intersectionality first appeared in academic writing through Kimberlé Crenshaw’s (1989, 1991) work, which examined the reality of women of colour as being oppressed by both sexism and racism. This has provided other marginalised communities with a framework within which to express, explore and acknowledge the experiences of individuals who may find themselves at an intersection of oppression. Consider the example of a black woman who is a lesbian and has a disability. Such an individual may experience marginalisation from each of those experiences separately – for being black, for being a woman, for being a lesbian, for having a disability – but also in a complex combination of two or more of those identities.

This special issue aimed to ensure the visibility of this dynamic in many LGBTQ+ people’s lives, and thus the call for papers explicitly referred to intersection twice, as we hoped that the experiences featured in this issue would be as inclusive as possible. We received a sizeable amount of proposals, the majority of which were by first-time authors, and seven of them have ultimately made it to publication. The selection criteria focused on academic and theoretical robustness, innovation and creativity, and the delicate balance of including as many different voices as possible. It is important to acknowledge that this issue does not address many experiences within and affecting the LGBTQ+ community today, such as the experiences of trans and intersex people, of youth homelessness or of addiction, amongst many others. It is, if nothing else, a coming out of sorts, and the start of a new chapter in an ongoing conversation.

The title of Becky Sheppard’s article proposes a question which was felt to be at the core of many therapists’ clinical experiences, and therefore a great way to start this issue: ‘Should a Dramatherapist Disclose Their Sexual Orientation to Their Clients? Perhaps They Should Be Prepared To’. Written from the perspective of a newly qualified dramatherapist and a lesbian, this article highlights clinicians’ preparedness to make our thinking, training, dialogue and work around sexual orientation partially or fully visible.

Jason Ward’s ‘Prove It’ details the experiences of LGBTQ+ asylum-seekers who must prove their sexual orientation to stay in the UK. A direct clash of the personal and the political, this article is written from the perspective of a heterosexual ally and explores the difficulties of providing therapeutic safety when someone’s asylum status is uncertain and they may be facing deportation, as well as the trauma-inducing process of claiming asylum on the basis of who one is.

Georgina Wilkinson’s ‘Dramatherapy and Gender: Shattering Norms and Unearthing Possibilities’ marks an evolving journey through gender, society and dramatherapy. It makes explicit the connection between gender and the LGBTQ+ community, which tends to be solely associated with sexual orientation. It is a personal, social, clinical and theatrical statement of gender evolution and performance, with a backdrop of a personal coming out.

Ryan Campinho Valadas’s ‘From Isolation towards Intimacy: Healing Emotional Wounds in HIV+ Gay Men’ charts the history, as well as current perspectives, of the experiences of HIV+ gay men. He describes how his dramatherapy work affords the containment necessary to approach emotional intimacy with a group of HIV+ gay men and demonstrates his vision of dramatherapy as a tool for change, which can lead to healthier relationships with self and others.

Three clinical comments by Dr John Christey-Casson, Hayley Southern and Christian Dixon explore the intricate intersection of personal and clinical experiences as LGBTQ+ dramatherapists working with clients of different backgrounds in different clinical contexts, and will be introduced separately.

While acknowledging the many voices that did not make it into this special issue, we hope that this marks a new chapter in an ongoing conversation of giving voice, space and platforms to marginalised individuals, communities and cultures. We also hope that this special issue will open the door and influence other marginalised groups to come forward and share their lived experiences.