In contrast to the yoga and sound bath approaches, I have analysed a preliminary ‘SWOT’ model of the drama element as a vehicle for insomnia relief in the current Chinese market for Drama therapy.
STRENGTHS
- The Drama workshops can minimise costs. For example, we need to invest in costumes and equipment for Yoga, whereas for Sound baths we need to spend more money on instruments.
- The Drama workshops are less demanding on the participants themselves. I interviewed some of the participants in the Yoga and Sound bath workshops I had previously attended. For the Yoga workshops, some participants said that they were not very flexible, so they would focus too much on their moption and neglect to relax, which was counterproductive. For the Sound bath workshop, as the music was more ethereal, some participants said that it made them feel uncomfortable at first, especially in the dark and claustrophobic environment, which increased their sense of fear rather than releasing stress. The Drama workshop was therefore more tolerant of the participants than the two forms.
- The space requirements for participation are more flexible. For example, in the case of Yoga and sound bath workshops, it is often necessary to go to a specific space with equipment to participate, which makes it more cumbersome for participants to release their stress. However, drama workshops can increase the flexibility of the space for participants to engage.
WEAKNESSES
- There are not as many practitioners in Drama therapy as there are in other forms such as yoga. Generally speaking, a professional Drama therapy qualification is required to carry out Drama therapy activities, especially in China at present, where Drama therapy is still in its infancy and generally insufficient to form a more systematic business model.
- There are not enough tests of interventions for Drama to alleviate insomnia and there is no script or training system available for widespread use.
- Drama is not as popular as yoga and sound baths, and participants tend to choose the forms they know to participate in.
OPPORTUNITIES
- As a result of the epidemic, the contraction of policy, economic and employment conditions in China has led to more people experiencing more or less isolation, unemployment and other conditions that can cause anxiety and insomnia, which has led to more people needing to find ways to help and mediate their stress.
- In China, where “if you don’t do it, someone else will”, overtime work has become an inevitable and common occurrence for many people. If the drama element helps people to rest effectively in a limited office space (without having to use yoga equipment or go to a sound bath), it will be more popular than ever.
- The rapid development of the Internet has made it possible for drama workshops to be flexible in terms of time and space, for example, we can bring in more participants by means of live streaming.
THREATS
To date, theoretical research on drama therapy in China is still in its infancy, and there is not yet a formal drama therapy group in mainland China. Overall there is a lack of professional therapists, accumulated clinical experience and a curriculum for training professional therapists, and social visibility is low. This is specifically demonstrated by:
- The scope of research in the field of drama therapy in China is still narrow, for example, it is limited to hospitals, schools and so on. It is more commonly used for the treatment of mental illnesses such as psychiatric patients, while it is less readily accepted by the general public for the psychological treatment of normal people.
- The local characteristics and strengths of Chinese drama therapy have not been implemented. As an emerging discipline and field, the absence of relevant policy promotion and implementation would have made it uncertain whether the field could take firm root in China.
- Lack of exchange with other countries, domestic scholars are still at the stage of translating and introducing the results of drama therapy research abroad, and the lack of relevant knowledge has become an obstacle to the field’s ability to play a role in the general public.