The Drama Therapy Institute of Los Angeles
All classes are held on Zoom and count as CE credits for NADTA. Instructors may offer a hybrid in-person option for local students, depending on enrollment. In order to ensure we receive the correct contact information, you must officially register through the form button below. (Information can be lost/mistakenly altered if passed through email communication.) Thank you so much, and we look forward to seeing you in class!
Core Classes (3 Units)
Creative Arts Therapies
Facilitator: Pam Dunne
Dates: (2026) 1-17, 1-24, 1-31, 2-7, 2-21, 2-28, 3-7 and 3-14 and 3-21
Time: 9:30 to 2:30 pm PST
Cost: $899
TBA Hours (5)
Participants will explore the therapeutic uses of movement, art, music, poetry and drama in individual and group psychotherapy through experiential exercises and special assignments. Digital media, phototherapy, cinema therapy and video therapy will also be a part of the discovery. Participants will be invited to find different methods of integrating drama and creative arts therapies in their personal lives and with the clients they serve. Applications to various populations and treatment settings will be shown through personal case histories and videos.
7 Hour Classes (.5 Unit)
Narradrama and Learning (New Class)
Facilitator: Nadine Bernard
Dates: January 11 and 18
Time: 9 am to 12:30 pm PST
1 hour arranged
This workshop invites participants to experience how Narradrama can spark motivation, resilience, and confidence in learning and other educational endeavors. Through creative and experiential activities, participants explore how Narradrama methods can help individuals of all ages move past “academic obstacles,” problem stories about past educational experiences, and fears of taking the risks to learn something new. In addition, we examine how to support clients in finding a sense of purpose through lifelong learning, Participants are invited to share examples of various populations studying for degrees and certifications as they build new paths for themselves, and we will address how the new landscape of AI can bolster or detract from students’ agency and confidence. Finally, Narradrama concepts are applied to teaching academic subjects, and participants will devise creative learning exercises for educational or therapeutic settings.
Drama Therapy and Mindfulness
Facilitator: Renda Dionne Madrigal
Dates: February 15th
1 hour arranged
Time: 9:30 am to 5:30 pm ( 30 minute lunch break) PST
Participants will explore the fundamentals of mindfulness practices integrated with Narradrama through a series of exercises and applied to a variety of educational and therapeutic settings. Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing and Narradrama offers an opportunity to experience that kind of presence through authentic stories and actions invited by that awareness.
Art Therapy and Multimodal Engagement with Neurodivergent Populations (New Class)
Facilitator: Georgie Landy
Dates February 1 and 8
Time: 9 am to 12:30 pm PST
1 hour arranged
What ways can art therapy techniques with embodiment and experiential exercises support neurodivergent populations? Participants will explore how embodied, experiential
exercises—such as movement, gesture, and role-based activities—can be expanded through immersive visual art practices to create accessible and inclusive therapeutic experiences. By combining drama therapy’s strengths in embodiment and storytelling with art therapy’s visual and sensory approaches, participants will learn practical tools for fostering self-expression, regulation, and connection in neurodivergent clients. Students will engage in art directives such as safe space sculpture building, narrative storyboarding, and various visual assessments to better identify their own learning styles and understand the importance of individualized treatment planning. This integrative workshop emphasizes creativity, flexibility, and the power of multimodal engagement in therapy.
Allies in Healing: Application to Special Populations
Facilitator: Kamran Afary
Dates: March 1st & 15th
Time: 9 am to 12:30 pm PST
Cost: $ 169
1 hour arranged
Participants will discover foundational concepts in Narrative therapy such as externalization, doubly listening, landscape of action and identity and explore ways to integrate action techniques inspired by Narradrama. An in depth understanding of narrative questions and practice in developing questions will equip the participants to expand the moment and move into embodiment. Narradrama and resilience will also be explored in specific interventions. Applications will be made to educational, clinical and community settings, and specifically with imprisoned persons and other special populations.
Creative Fire: Transforming Trauma Through Story and Movement
Facilitator: Pam Paulson
Dates: March 22 and 29th
Time: 12:00pm to 3:30pm PST
Cost: $169
1 hour arranged.
Explore how drama therapy, art, and embodied storytelling can help transform trauma into pathways of healing, renewal, and creative expression. Trauma can leave deep and lasting imprints, shaping how we see ourselves, our relationships, and the world. In response, our bodies hold wisdom—developing protective patterns that help us survive—but sometimes those responses linger, even when the danger has passed. Too often, we internalize the belief that something is horribly wrong with us, rather than asking with compassion, “What happened to us?”
This experiential workshop uses drama therapy, movement, and art to explore embodied pathways to healing. Participants will engage in creative practices that foster self-compassion, restore agency, and uncover resilience—honoring lived experience while opening new stories of transformation.
Independent Studies (1 Unit)
NOTE: Independent Studies is more student-led, often with the goal of completing a research project. Meetings will be scheduled on days/times when the facilitator’s and the (most) students’ schedules match. Meetings are not mandatory like classes. Rather they are designed for the facilitator to help the students in their research projects, and for students to learn from other students.
Independent Study: Gangs, Riots: Verbatim Enacted Roles Inspired by Anna Deavere Smith
Facilitator: Kamran Afary
Time: ( TBA)
Cost: $ 338
Units: 1
Independent Study: Incarceration, Youth and Therapeutic Intervention
Facilitator: Kamran Afary
Time: (TBA)
Cost: $ 338
Units: 1
Independent Study: Ethics and the Law
Facilitator: Pam Dunne
Time: ( TBA)
Cost: $ 338
Units: 1