Dramatherapy with women survivors of domestic abuse: a small scale research study

Abstract

The aim of this inquiry was to ascertain the efficacy of a multi-modal model of short-term dramatherapy with women who had suffered domestic abuse. A small-scale study was carried out to compare women who received individual dramatherapy with women who received individual key worker intervention. The 15 women were assigned to either the experimental or the control group. The experimental group received up to 12 weekly dramatherapy sessions with a qualified dramatherapist and the control group received 12 weekly key worker sessions with an experienced domestic violence substance misuse worker. The CORE system was used for both groups to provide pre- and post-intervention scores to assess change. The findings from this study revealed that the women who received dramatherapy presented significant improvements in their CORE Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) scores compared to women who attended key worker sessions. Women in the control group also showed improvements but not to the same extent.

Keywords:

• dramatherapy
• domestic violence
• domestic abuse
• interpersonal abuse
• women
• intimate partner violence
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• CORE

Acknowledgements

This paper is an updated version of a presentation given at Measure For Measures, Researching, Reviewing and Re-framing Dramatherapy in Practice, the British Association of Dramatherapists Annual Conference in September 2011. The author would like to thank the women who took part in the study. Anna Seymour and Madeline Andersen-Warren for encouragement and for editing this paper. The author would also like to thank the staff at Hearthstone, Home Start and the Haringey Advisory Group on Alcohol for taking part in this study.

This work was supported by New Deals for Communities (NDC) and UnLtd.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer Campbell Kirk

Jennifer Campbell Kirk is a qualified Dramatherapist and graduated from Roehampton University in 2005. She is the Founder and Chief Executive of Wise Dolls, a registered charity providing creative arts therapies for women and girls who have suffered domestic violence and abuse.