Call for Papers: Dramatherapy

Special Issue: ‘Dramatherapy with Children and Young People’

Guest Editor

Meabh Ivers, independent dramatherapist

meabhivers@yahoo.co.uk

Deadline

Full papers: 20 July 2026

View the full call here>>

https://www.intellectbooks.com/dramatherapy#call-for-papers

The Call

Children and young people today are growing up in a world marked by rapid technological change, hybrid cultural identities and rising levels of psychological distress. Anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, attentional difficulties, disordered eating and self‑harm are among the presentations that increasingly populate the therapy space, alongside less easily named forms of suffering connected to the pressures of contemporary life. At the same time, children and adolescents bring extraordinary imaginative, embodied and relational resources to the therapeutic encounter, resources that dramatherapists have long drawn upon to support recovery, meaning‑making and growth.

This special issue of Dramatherapy seeks to gather accounts and evidence of the wide‑ranging application of dramatherapy practice and research in supporting the mental health of children and young people. We are particularly interested in how dramatherapists engage with the symptoms, languages and preoccupations of contemporary life as they show up in the therapy space; how technology and screen‑based culture affect embodied expression in dramatherapy, for better or worse; and how children and young people can draw upon their relationships, culture and imagination as sources of inspiration for revitalization, meaning‑making and recovery.

Contributions are welcome on a range of topics, including:

• Dramatherapy with children and adolescents experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma and other mental health difficulties.

• Contemporary presentations in the therapy space: digital pressures, social media, body image, identity, climate anxiety, post‑pandemic distress.

• Technology and embodiment: how screens, virtual worlds and digital play shape – and are shaped by – embodied expression in dramatherapy.

• Online and hybrid dramatherapy with young people: possibilities, limits and ethical considerations.

• Story, myth, folk‑tradition and cultural imagination as therapeutic resources for children and young people.

• Dramatherapy in schools, community settings and child and adolescent mental health services.

• Dramatherapy with neurodivergent children and young people.

• Working with families, caregivers and educators alongside children and adolescents.

• Group dramatherapy with young people.

• Developmental, ethical and relational considerations in dramatherapy with minors.

• Training, supervision and self‑care for dramatherapists working with children and young people.

• Research approaches, evaluation and outcomes in dramatherapy with children and adolescents.

We welcome a range of contributions, including:

1. Scholarly articles. This is a peer‑reviewed section, which includes research (qualitative, quantitative, art‑based and mixed‑methods), scoping and systematic reviews, theoretical and conceptual essays, as well as interdisciplinary contributions that are relevant to dramatherapy practice and theory. All the articles will undergo a process of double‑anonymous peer review.

2. Reflections from practice. This peer‑reviewed section encompasses any aspect emerging from clinical work, supervision and training in dramatherapy with children and young people. It includes (but is not limited to) clinical comments, short case studies, reports of innovative applications of dramatherapy in various fields and diverse cultural contexts, reflections on methods and techniques, as well as issues arising in supervision and training.

3. Interviews with prominent scholars and practitioners in dramatherapy and related fields.

4. Reviews (performances, art, literature, films, etc.).

5. Book reviews (concerning dramatherapy or related fields).

6. Creative contributions. These encompass original artistic contributions that are pertinent to dramatherapy practice, such as short stories, theatrical texts, poetry, graphic expressions (photographs, video clips), etc. They also include descriptions of innovative exercises and techniques, such as warm‑ups, closures or other activities that can be shared with other colleagues.

Please ensure that:

• The submission has not been previously published, nor is it being considered for publication by another journal (or an explanation has been provided in ‘Cover Letter to the Editors’).

• You have read and abided by Intellect’s Ethical Guidelines: https://www.intellectbooks.com/ethical-guidelines.

• You have read and abided by Intellect House Style: https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-editors-and-contributors#style-guide.

• You have read the journal’s Notes for Contributors: https://www.intellectbooks.com/dramatherapy#aims-and-scope.

• You have anonymized your manuscript, ready for peer review.

Contributions should be submitted via PubKit:

https://submission.pubkit.co/publisher/29/journal/1060/login

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