In September 2019 a number of the team presented at the ECArTE Conference (The European Consortium for Arts Therapies) in Madrid. This was to premiere the preliminary findings of Roundabout’s two year feasibility study (2018-2020), funded by the British Association of Dramatherapists which focuses on anxiety reduction for junior aged children on the autism spectrum through engagement in 20 session dramatherapy groups across two research sites.

Client voice, agency and assent are key theoretical and ethical concepts underpinning the study’s methodology. The design has been constructed with a particular approach to rigour that is rooted in the established practice of both Roundabout practitioners and evidence in the field of dramatherapy. The design incorporates the Roundabout-a-story dramatherapy structure inspired by the use of stories in all its forms which is at the heart of our practice at Roundabout in group dramatherapy and is central to the process of engaging with the imagination and a vehicle to hear and respond to the ‘voice of the client’.

We were delighted to attend the conference and excited by the interest in the presentation.