| Abstract [eng] |
Background: menopausal women face physical, mental, and social challenges of varying intensity and severity that spiritual practices can help overcome. Because of its deep connections to shamanic ritual, drama therapy is an excellent medium for integrating spiritual practices into the therapeutic process, but research on this has been lacking. In Lithuania, there is still a lack of research revealing the experience of drama therapy, and drama therapy in a ritual space is a particularly under-researched field. Research aim: to delve into the drama therapy in the ritual space experience of menopausal women. Objectives: 1) To review the changes in the biopsychosocial health of women going through menopause and the opportunities for wellness; 2) To review the connections of drama therapy with ritual and the possible therapeutic potential of drama therapy in the ritual space; 3)To reveal the subjective experience of menopausal women of drama therapy in the ritual space. Participants: five women (aged 48-61) who are going through menopause (perimenopause or postmenopause) Methodology: Data collected through semi-structured interviews were analysed using the inductive thematic analysis method. Results: after performing a thematic analysis, three main themes were refined that describe the drama therapy in the ritual space experience of women going through menopause: 1) A new stage of life with which you have to come to terms; 2) Drama therapy in the ritual space works on a therapeutic and spiritual level; 3) The whole heals - both the atmosphere and the people involved in it. Conclusions: During menopause, women experience a variety of physical and emotional symptoms that disrupt their normal professional and personal lives. Women have to come to terms with the ongoing changes, and drama therapy in the ritual space helps to accept the current situation, allows them to feel emotional ease, helps to know and accept themselves, and after experiencing the painful emotions that have arisen, clarity and better self-understanding appear. Drama therapy in the ritual space works on both a therapeutic and spiritual level, and a special ritual atmosphere is created, open communication and close relationships are established in the group, and the feeling of security and trust provided by the leader contributes to the successful intervention. Drama therapy in a ritual space is an emotionally sensitive, therapeutically and spiritually beneficial experience that can contribute to the comprehensive biopsychosocial health of menopausal women. |
