Actors in the Classroom: The Dramatic Pedagogy Model of Counselor Education

ABSTRACT

Role playing is a fundamental component in the training of counselors to use counseling skills. However, role play activities commonly involve counseling students as clients or actors and hence have notable limitations. One training method widely practiced in the medical profession is the use of professional actors as patients. Although there are some examples in the literature of studies that have used actors for counselor training, most address only a specific topic or skill set. In this article, the authors propose the dramatic pedagogy model (DPM) as a comprehensive model for implementing client actors into the education of counselors. The DPM includes a set of pedagogical techniques and a structure for preparing actors and curriculum.

KEYWORDS:

• Actors
• counseling skills
• counselor education
• creativity
• creativity in counseling
• experiential activities
• theatre

Funding

We would like to acknowledge the Interdisciplinary Performance and the Liberal Arts Center (IPLACe) at Wake Forest University for funding this project.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Philip B. Clarke

Philip B. Clarke is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Erin E. Binkley

Erin E. Binkley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Sharon M. Andrews

Sharon M. Andrews is an Associate Professor of Acting/Directing in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.