Research Interests

Process-oriented group drama therapy; Self-Revelatory Performance/aesthetics in drama therapy; drama therapy in fostering emotional intelligence; nuanced drama therapeutic interventions; drama therapy with adolescents

Biography

Renée Emunah, PhD, RDT/BCT (Board Certified Trainer of Drama Therapists) is the founding director of the Drama Therapy Program, and a pioneer in the field of drama therapy. Her book Acting for Real (1994, and Second Edition in 2020) is considered a classic text in the field. She is also the author and co-editor of many other publications in the field.  She served on the Editorial Board of the journal, Arts in Psychotherapy, and is on the Advisory Board of the Drama Therapy Journal. 

Her clinical work as a drama therapist includes fifteen years specializing in group drama therapy with emotionally disturbed adults and adolescents; initiating and directing a community theater company for ex-psychiatric patients, for which she received a Commendation by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; and individual work with children and adults.  She is an international keynote speaker, trainer, and workshop leader.  Dr. Emunah is the originator of the Integrative Five Phase model of drama therapy, a primary approach within the field, as well as of Self-Revelatory Performance, a form of drama therapy and theatre. She served as the 3rd President of the North American Drama Therapy Association, and was among the first four Drama Therapists to be officially registered (RDT) in the US.

Education

MA, San Francisco State University

PhD, Union Institute and University

Awards & Distinctions

Recipient of North American Drama Therapy Association: Gertrud Schattner Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Drama Therapy; and Teaching Excellence Award (2019)

Courses

Drama Therapy Process and Technique; Advanced Integrative Five Phase Model of Drama Therapy; Drama Therapy Practice; Integrative Seminar

Publications

Books

Acting for Real: Drama Therapy Process, Technique, and Performance (1994, and Second Edition, 2020, Routledge: New York and London);

Current Approaches to Drama Therapy (co-edited with David Johnson, Second and 3rd Editions, 2009 and 2021, Charles Thomas Publishers);

The Self in Performance:  Autobiographical, Self-Revelatory, and Autoethnographic Forms of Therapeutic Theatre (co-edited with Susana Pendzik and David Johnson, 2016, Palgrave McMillan).

Plus numerous articles and chapters.