Drama Therapy Collection

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Duncan Martinez was part of the first cohort to participate in Cal State LA’s Prison BA initiative. On October 5th he participated in a historic graduation ceremony in
Lancaster along with 25 others, an event that was covered by major national and local news
media, including LA Times, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, and more. Duncan is highly respected and
admired for his achievements by faculty across the department who taught in Lancaster during the past five years.

View more of Duncan's work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltX-ZqB7qF4
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7155653/video/420760560
Journal (volume 3) Cal State LA: www.prisonbajournal.org

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Tue Huynh is a formerly incarcerated person who participated in theater work while in prison.
His interview focuses on his journey from a hesitant participant to someone who gained skills in public speaking and advocacy, defending himself in court and winning his immigration case to stay in the United States upon release. He shares the empathy he experienced for his father while playing the role of a father onstage. He shares, “If I can do acting class, I can do anything else.”(7:50-7:56)
The skills of visualizing a role and the discipline of rehearsal directly helped him take on his own case. You can read more about his work at www.tuehuynh.com

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Louie Brash, Ensemble Member, Project Re/Frame, is a passionate advocate, artist, and dog trainer. He lives his life with compassion and empathy and has an unflinching belief in the goodness of people. 

While he was at California State Prison-Lancaster, Louie began developing leadership capacity – promoting, creating, and facilitating numerous self-help classes and participating in numerous theatre workshops. Due to his positive programming, Louie was transferred to the Progressive Programming Facility (PPF) on “A” Yard where he became a member of Paws for Life K9 Rescue (PFLK9R) and participated in Convicts Reaching Out to People (CROP–a youth diversion program) and TheatreWorkers Project’s Life Stories from the Inside/Out, collaborating with his peers to create and perform in two theatre pieces.Since his release, Louie’s commitment to his transformation has not wavered. He continues to give back to the community by doing work in Restorative Justice and volunteering with PFLK9R. He has plans to finish school to earn a BA degree and looks forward to working with Project Re/Frame.

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Monica Phinney is a Registered Drama Therapist who worked with filmmaker Robert Greene, on his latest documentary, Procession (now available on Netflix).

Monica specializes in using theatre and roleplay alongside other expressive arts to achieve therapeutic and educational goals. Her past roles include engaging the arts in hospitals, nonprofit organizations, theatres, schools, and most recently on a feature film set.

 https://www.heartwork.studio/about-us
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14300912/

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Trung Tong is a formerly-incarcerated person who is currently working as a substance-use counselor with Options Recovery Services. He is an undergraduate student at San Francisco State University majoring in Psychology. During his incarceration, he was a member of Marin Shakespeare Company’s Shakespeare for Social Justice program at Solano State Prison and San Quentin State Prison. Upon parole, he performed with Marin Shakespeare Company’s Returned Citizen Theatre Troupe. In his interview, Trung shares his healing experience of having a platform to “express himself” and the process of unlocking the pain he held in his body while in a toxic environment. You can read more about his work at http://linkedin.com/in/trungtong-sudcc.

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Daniel Whitlow is a current graduate student of communication studies who served 22 years in prison—much of it as a juvenile sentenced to life without the possibility of parole (LWOP). In the interview, Whitlow details the profound impact of studying narrative practices and engaging in performance through Narradrama.

The Drama Therapy in Prisons Collection can be accessed by the general public at:

https://dramatherapyabroad.wixsite.com/dtcollection/drama-therapy-in-prisons

New contributions to the collection are welcome. Contact the editors for more information on how you can propose additional recorded interviews and resources. 

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Juan Carlos Meza was incarcerated for over 20 years. He talks about his de-humanizing experience and how drama therapy helped him find and express his humanity. It also gave him a chance to help others inside and show them a way to find their humanity by having it be okay to access emotions and share their stories. Through doing Shakespeare with Marin Shakespeare Company and the Parallel Play process, Meza was able to write his own material. Even more importantly for him was being cast in other people’s material and performing their stories. There he found a reciprocal healing process. You can read more about his work at http://www.aesq.info/about-us/.

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John Bergman is an internationally renowned drama therapist, theater worker, Visiting Associate Professor at Hollins University, and the director of The Geese Theater Company. In his interview, he shares about the primal nature of drama therapy. He speaks on the hunger of the people incarcerated for this type of work and that focusing on the whole institution, including the correctional officers, is key. He shares that drama therapy is a great pathway for people who have had challenging experiences with psychologists or traditional therapy. He believes that drama therapists have the most tools to work with people who have experienced life’s greatest challenges. 

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Stephanie Wichmann, MSW, LICSW, RDT is on the teaching staff at SoCal Drama Therapy Centre teaching Special Populations with Drama Therapy courses. Stephanie was a NADTA alternative training (AT) drama therapy student, receiving her RDT certification in 2014. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 12 years experience utilizing her professional theater and comedy background as a means of individual/community engagement and therapy. She has worked across the age spectrum: children, teens, adult and older adults. Primary practice settings include hospitals, community organizations. Areas of specialization include: working with those affected by chronic illness, eating disorders, adjustment disorders, and learning disabilities.  Stephanie is a consultant, speaker, and trainer on improvisation for change, humor and healing, creativity in the workplace, and cultivating resiliency through the dramatic art. 

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Armand Volkas is a drama therapist who wears many hats. He is also the clinical director of Living Arts Center and the Playback ensemble director. Among many other things, Volkas created Healing the Wounds of History, a drama therapy approach that leads to healing and transformation of intercultural conflicts and intergenerational trauma. When it comes to prison work, he shares a story of being contacted by a public defender to work with an incarcerated person before their trial. Using action methods he also helped trial lawyers brings up ethical issues. Volkas wrestles with the complexities of possibly aiding someone who is guilty get off with a lighter sentence. You can read more about his work at https://www.healingthewoundsofhistory.org.

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