Lizzie Cummings - Dramatherapist​ MA HCPC State Registered
Counselling and psychotherapy - in person and online
Individuals, Couples and Groups

Drama and movement therapy

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Drama and movement therapy works gently yet deeply with imagination, using story, movement, art and sand play. When words become lost to us, creative therapy can help us to find new ways of expressing and exploring how we think and feel.  When we look at a painting, listen to music, watch a film or read a book we often find that, through them, our own feelings, thoughts, dreams, hurts, wishes, fears and hopes are reflected back to us.  Stories, art, dance and music can help us to understand who we are and why we do what we do.  Creative therapy invites you to actively engage with the arts to help you get in touch with and express what it is you are feeling or trying to understand. If you are drawn to this way of working, I will help you to use these tools in your own unique way, whether it is for personal self development or for the exploration of complicated feelings bound up in past or present experiences.

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Story work - My approach

​Stories tell us about ourselves and the world in which we live.  They offer reflection, different points of view and help us feel understood and connected.  In a session we might choose a story that carries relevance to you and use it as a vehicle for self exploration.  We might focus on one character, or a relationship, one image or a particular moment that resonated with you.  We might notice how your body responds to parts of the story or talk about the insights the story brings to you in relation to your culture or social background for instance.  Stories address isolation - those lonely thoughts that say, “I’m the only one who feels like this” - reminding us there are many similar experiences or shared themes that weave us together.  Stories help us process the past and to deal with what is happening in the here and now.   They also show us how to imagine and reach beyond our immediate circumstances. 

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Story - Group Work

In group work we often work together on the themes of a story including a full embodied enactment of a myth or folk-tale.  We might use all of the arts to do this followed by time to talk where we can share insights and reflections on what we experienced and discovered.

 

Movement

The mind and the body are connected.  However, that which feels too painful to think about often gets cut off from the mind and gets stored in the body.  Emotional disturbance and trauma can manifest itself through physical symptoms such as IBS, back pain, fibromyalgia, fatigue and anxiety, for instance.  Movement therapy can work subtly with body awareness, gently renewing the connection between body and mind, gradually restoring a person to a more healthy, balanced and expressive self.     

 

Movement - My approach

​How I work with movement varies according to who I am working with and what is needed in the moment and from one session to the next.  Here are some examples:  We might start with talking and then notice a sensation in your body that seems to be happening in response to our conversation.  This would be a cue that your body is holding some valuable information that we could work with physically – the sensation might be used as a starting guide to take you into  movement.  If we follow the movement it will begin to express more clearly what the original sensation was holding such as a feeling, a memory, some difficult to find words.  Another example would be to start a session with movement completely unattached to anything and see what arises that lends itself to verbal reflection.  Sometimes, when we are moving, an image arises that can be worked with.  Or we might start with a kind of mindful meditation on a particular thought or issue and then see how the body wants to move in response.  Reflection after moving can be to talk, or if you prefer, to draw or write or simply to sit in reflective stillness together. 

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Movement - Group Work

In group, the stimulus for working are similar to individual work.  However the sessions are more structured and include some teaching about how to become more expressive and diverse in how you move, spatial awareness, working with personal space, shared space and boundaries.  I also introduce imagery to inspire new ways of moving and connecting with self and others.

 

Sandtray and object work

Whereby you create your own worlds with small objects and figures, using ‘projected play’ to explore your inner life.  Within the safe boundaries of the tray, 'the invisible is made visible'.

 

Play

“We are only truly ourselves when we are at play” (Jung) Play is a serious matter because it is intrinsically linked with human relating and creativity.  When we play we forget about what we can’t do and discover what we can do.

 

Art

Art in therapy is not about creating a masterpiece, it is about giving form to our feelings and dreams, our personal identies, our cultural and social backgrounds.