Aug25
A Faculty-Led Info Session with Pella Weisman
Drama Therapy
Facilitating change through embodiment, creativity, and action
For 40 years, CIIS’ Drama Therapy program has been exploring how therapeutically adapted dramatic processes work over time to heal wounds, facilitate lasting change, and help people reach their highest potential. The training is academically rigorous, creative, and multilayered with an eye to leveraging the discipline in ethical, respectful, and skillful ways.
In Their Own Words
Hear what our faculty and students have to say
The Master's in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Drama Therapy is a Board of Behavioral Sciences-approved and North American Drama Therapy Association-approved program, taught primarily in person. As one of the first two approved drama therapy graduate programs in the U.S., we have long been investigating the dynamic and multifaceted integration of drama/theatre processes and psychotherapy. The program integrates experiential, theoretical, and clinical courses in a curriculum designed to train students to become skillful, ethical, and culturally attuned drama therapists.
Learning Through Practice
Drama therapy training at CIIS weaves experiential practice, clinical depth, and creative experience into every stage of the student journey.
Drama therapy draws on a wide repertoire, including play, embodiment, role, story, metaphor, projective techniques, aesthetic distancing, witnessing, and improvisation.
The program prepares graduates to become both skilled master's-level licensed clinicians and Registered Drama Therapists.
A signature capstone project, Self-Revelatory Performance, invites students to create and perform an original therapeutic theatre piece based on a current personal theme, integrating their clinical and artistic identities.
Faculty Research and Scholarship
Our faculty's current research includes neuroscience; pedagogy; anti-carceral and culturally responsive practice; therapeutic play, storytelling, and biofeedback; and grief, embodiment, and connection in a digital world.
Gaming Your Anxiety
In this article, Drama Therapy faculty member Doug Ronning contributes his expertise on managing stress through play.
On Accepting Oneself Fully
Professor Sylvia Israel is a drama therapist and teacher who believes healing means accepting ourselves fully. In this interview on her work with the Therapeutic Spiral Model of Psychodrama, Sylvia describes how she uses drama therapy to work with all kinds of trauma.
Recovery in Action: Playing with Eating Disorders
When she's not working at CIIS or seeing clients in private practice, adjunct administrator Aileen Cho works as a lead therapist in a residential and partial-hospitalization treatment program for adults suffering from eating disorders and co-occurring disorders. Check out her article about the incredible outcomes of utilizing drama therapy in a residential treatment program.
Our Upcoming Events
Sep01
A Faculty-Led Info Session with Aileen Cho
Oct03
Attend the Fall Open House on October 3 or October 17 to get to know your admissions counselors and learn more about CIIS' bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. programs.
Our Program in Action
Campus News
Understand the key differences between MFT and LPCC licenses to choose the right clinical path for your career.
Alumni News
Kimberly Koljat ’11 transformed personal loss into groundbreaking research on grief, embodiment, and connection in an increasingly digital world.
Campus News
At the 2026 Scholarship Dinner, CIIS students and donors gathered to celebrate the journeys that generous giving makes possible.
Find Your Path in Counseling Psychology
Our M.A. also offers specializations in community mental health, expressive arts therapy, integral counseling psychology, and somatic psychology. Explore each one to find the fit that's right for you.