Select Models of Cognition in Developmental Transformations: A Theoretical Integration

Publication date: Available online 31 August 2017 Source:The Arts in Psychotherapy Author(s): Jason S. Frydman Recent theoretical and practical applications of drama therapy have begun incorporating cognitive models. This paper furthers this burgeoning integration by understanding a specific drama-based therapeutic approach, developmental transformations, within a broader cognitive landscape. In developing a cognitive model of developmental transformations (DvT) links to allied professions are established and clinical case conceptualization is broadened to a larger mental health audience. An overview of DvT is provided and followed by a rationale for a cognitive approach. Distinct elements of DvT practice are then broken down and elucidated within a cognitive framework. Questions posed and addressed include: What occurs cognitively when we encounter another person? What cognitive factors aid in maintaining an imaginary/dramatic reality? What cognitive processes facilitate transformation from one dramatic role to another? How can an embodied understanding of cognition contribute to DvT practice? In order to answer these questions components of the executive functioning system, associational networks, and models of information processing are implicated and applied to a DvT framework. As a result of identifying cognitive models within DvT, a research agenda for empirical investigation is promoted, inviting further identification and validation of cognitive models presented he...
Source: Arts in Psychotherapy - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research