Well, it’s official: I have one “Laugh Out Loud” (my current code word for “drama therapy”) session under my belt, and I don’t think I’m speaking out of line to say it turned out pretty well. Part of me thinks it’s silly to feel accomplished after playing some theater games in a church basement with a few volunteers, but I also understand that it’s more than that—just because I enjoy playing games and feel natural being silly doesn’t mean it’s not an accomplishment to help others do the same. Beyond that, I was genuinely impressed with the volunteers’ creativity and willingness to “buy into” the games.

One of my favorite moments was during a warm-up exercise in which the group stands in a circle and mimes tossing around an invisible ball. At one point someone lost focus and didn’t see when the “ball” was passed to him. Instead of being embarrassed or even just restarting the game by tossing a new pretend ball, he actually bent down and picked up the invisible ball from the floor. I was thrilled at the level of commitment and participation, as well as the vulnerability grown adults were willing to show by not just passively playing along, but clearly committing to the therapeutic exercises.

I was pleasantly surprised (and pretty flattered, to be honest) when one of the participants suggested I make these sessions a weekly thing—not only was my first session a success but it looked like I’d have at least one return volunteer! I told him that it was indeed my plan to do more sessions, hopefully weekly ones. There’s a surprising amount of planning and organization that goes into these games and exercises and I have a detailed outline for session two. All I need now is for Monday to roll around and for a few more brave volunteers to come in ready to be goofballs.

Sometimes I’m in disbelief of how lucky I am to be in field where “goofball” can be considered a good thing. There’s importance in being able to let go of our desire to be perceived as “professional” or “adult” all of the time; there’s healing in having fun, in becoming more flexible, in our mindsets, in finding humor where we couldn’t before, and in having a respite from the difficulties of everyday life (this is especially important in our community where the hardships of everyday life are unrelenting).

When people commit to these theater games, they get into a physical and emotional space where they are able to relax and have fun, letting go of rigid behaviors and temporarily put aside outside dilemmas in a healthy and adaptive way. In drama games, people also become part of a group, making social connections and collaborating. Social connection is essential to becoming part of a community, which in itself is a healing entity, offering social support and relationship.

11-21-19, Amanda Ludeking