CIMTR Public Lecture: Drama-based research within an intersubjective framework: a critical exploration of religious, spiritual and belief identities

Join Dr Mandy Carr and CIMTR online for a talk on the factors that make dramatherapists reluctant to express their religious/spiritual identities.

The under-representation within the profession of particular religious/cultural groups, the relative scarcity of literature within dramatherapy, and Mandy’s own experience as a Jewish dramatherapist fuelled her desire to investigate this area.

Participants explored the challenges of expressing their religious/spiritual identities, especially whilst training. They experienced underlying anxiety about this for a range of reasons including fear of prejudice. The use of drama in the research helped them explore these issues as a community with other dramatherapists.

This lecture will briefly explain the rationale, methodology, findings and recommendations of the study. The main focus will be on an exploration of why drama and performance were helpful research methods and how the researcher adapted particular dramatic approaches.

Speaker

Dr Mandy Carr is a dramatherapist, trainer and clinical supervisor. A former Senior Lecturer in Dramatherapy at ARU, she is interested in the connections between politics, religion and therapy. Her background as a Liberal Jew from Liverpool is a key factor driving her passion for widening inclusion in society.

In her first career as a teacher, Mandy headed several departments of Ethnic Minority Achievement and English as an Additional Language in London secondary schools. Her interest in intercultural work has led to a range of roles, which have included convening the BADth (British Association of Dramatherapists) Equality and Diversity (now Inclusion and Visibility) Sub-Committee from 2007-2018.

This event is part of the CIMTR Public Lecture Series 2024-25.