Effectiveness of Drama-Based Therapies on Mental Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Studies
A systematic review and meta-analysis by Orkibi, Keisari, Sajnani, and de Witte offers encouraging evidence for drama-based therapies as a way to support mental health.
While they differ in their histories and approach, both drama therapy and psychodrama use experiential theatre-based techniques such as role-play, improvisation, embodied expression, and storytelling to help people explore experience, rehearse possibilities, develop insight, and experiment with different choices.
The researchers analyzed 30 controlled studies, involving 1,567 participants and 144 effect sizes. The findings showed an overall medium effect across drama-based therapies on mental health outcomes, including both psychological and behavioral outcomes. This effect is comparable to traditional talk psychotherapies.
This article is currently listed as among the most downloaded from the American Psychological Association (Div 10) journal (PACA).
Read the research here.
Reference: Orkibi, H., Keisari, S., Sajnani, N. L., & de Witte, M. (2025). Effectiveness of drama-based therapies on mental health outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled studies. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 19(4), 878–895. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000582.
Comments