Call for Papers: Drama Therapy Review

Special Issue: ‘Reclamation of Asian Voices in Times of Global Unrest’

View the full call here>>

https://www.intellectbooks.com/drama-therapy-review#call-for-papers

Special Issue Editors: RT, MG, DC

From Issue 12.1 (2026) DTR will be Open Access through a Subscribe to Open (S2O) model and will not charge APCs or submission fees. Articles will be published under a Creative Commons licence which allows users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles. Special Issue: ‘Reclamation of Asian Voices in Times of Global Unrest’ will be published under this Open Access model and freely available to read.

For generations, Asian communities across Turtle Island (North America) have faced systemic racial and ethnic targeting. What began with the legal exclusion and ‘alien’ labelling of Chinese immigrants and the terror of Japanese incarceration camps is being mirrored in modern policy today. The recent spike in anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictive immigration laws targeting US citizens prove that this prejudice is an ongoing issue. Between February to July 2025, ICE arrests of Asians (from China, India, Vietnam, Laos and Nepal) have more than tripled to 3,705 under the Trump Administration (Ong and Ong 2025). This surge demonstrates that the systemic othering of Asian communities remains a rampant and active tool of state-sanctioned violence in the current landscape.

In a climate steeped in fear and grief, Asian communities, and collective movements have continued to grapple with being stereotyped as the ‘model minority’, while navigating the complex and harmful impacts of assimilation, identity erasure, and settler-colonialism across western contexts.

Despite longstanding contributions to western research, practice and discourse, the voices of Asian communities have been largely overlooked. As Asian drama therapists, we recognize the pervasive appropriation of Asian philosophies and cultural practices within the field. We assert the necessity to reclaim and present these traditions authentically in the West.

Reclamation of Asian Voices in Times of Global Unrest aims to collectively centre individuals, projects and movements that support resistance against settler-colonialism, white supremacy, and anti-immigration policies and laws affecting Asian communities. As diasporic Asians living outside our ancestral homelands, we understand the need for a more equitable, inclusive and culturally attuned future.

This Special Issue of the Drama Therapy Review (DTR) invites Asian-identifying contributors (including but not limited to East, Southeast and South Asian heritage; diaspora and global practitioners) to share culturally grounded knowledge, critical reflections and innovative approaches that can shape the field of drama therapy. We welcome authors outside the creative arts therapies, provided the submission makes clear connections to drama therapy. Contributors must have at least one co-author who identifies as Asian and are encouraged to situate themselves culturally and personally.

What stories of Asian identity, resistance and healing remain unheard in our field? What becomes possible when Asian voices are not translated, interpreted or adapted, but heard in their own language? Whose knowledge has been centred and whose has been overlooked?

Possible areas of focus may include:

• Culturally responsive practices

• Diaspora and im/migration

• International and cross-border work

• Identity and belonging

• Language, embodied memory and intergenerational healing

• Community care and mutual aid

• Supervision and training experiences

• Anti-Asian racism and the ‘model minority’ myth

• Critical examinations of appropriation, cultural ritual

• Decolonial/anti-settler-colonial frameworks

We encourage a range of formats, including empirical research (qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods), theoretical papers, case illustrations, clinical and practice-based commentaries, interviews, photo/arts-based essays, performance and creative work, and book/performance reviews. All accepted pieces will be published open access, with no charge to the authors. Submissions may include creative elements and/or brief snippets in languages other than English (see author guidelines); however, the main body of the article should be written in English.

To submit work for consideration, please download the DTR’s submission guidelines from https://www.intellectbooks.com/asset/98858/1/DTR_NFC_Nov_25.pdf

Special Issue 13.1 will be guest edited by RT, MG and DC.

RT is an East Asian creative arts therapist and researcher. Her work supports communities made marginalized, including individuals experiencing homelessness, Two-Spirit, trans, and queer youth, as well as incarcerated Indigenous men and women impacted by state and gender-based violence. 

MG is a South East Asian creative arts therapist and educator. Her work focuses on culturally responsive drama therapy, diaspora identity and integrative care practices.

DW is an East Asian creative arts therapist and amateur clown working in the psychiatric healthcare system. His work emphasizes finding mutuality and culturally responsive care with those whom he serves at his practice.  

Deadline for full submissions: 1 August 2026

For any queries please contact: dtr@intellectbooks.com

Send final papers to PubKit: https://submission.pubkit.co/publisher/29/journal/385/login