Dramatherapist [1]
Dramatherapy uses role play, voice work, movement and storytelling to help clients explore and solve personal and social problems.
To be a dramatherapist you need professional experience in an area of therapy or health care. This may be from working in, for example, nursing, social work, special needs or psychotherapy. Or you may have voluntary experience of working with people in a therapeutic setting. To practise as a dramatherapist, you must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a dramatherapist. You need to have taken an approved postgraduate qualification in dramatherapy. Courses can be full time or part time and take between one and three years. A level 7 apprenticeship for arts therapists (art therapists/art psychotherapists, dramatherapists and music therapists) has also been approved for delivery.
Dramatherapists in the NHS work standard hours, which are likely to be around 37.5 a week. They usually start at band 6 of the Agenda for Change pay rates. They may work some evenings. Elsewhere, the working hours will depend on where they work. In education, for example, they may work school hours. Prison work may involve early starts. Self-employed dramatherapists’ hours of work depend on client needs. They may work evenings and weekends to suit private clients.
Dramatherapists need a range of skills, including creativity, being non judgemental, resilient in dealing with other people’s strong emotions and sensitive and mature. They also need theatre skills and ideas, excellent communication skills, being able to work with people from all walks of life and being able to reflect on their own emotions.
You could specialise to work with a particular type of client such as children, the elderly or offenders. Or you could become a specialist in a particular issue such as dementia, mental health or palliative care.
You could decide to become self-employed and build up a private practice. You could do this alongside employed work. As an experienced practitioner, you could become a senior or consultant dramatherapist, managing the work of a team of therapists. You could become the head of an arts therapy department, coordinating the work of therapists from other disciplines such as music or art therapy. You might also train other dramatherapists.
Related roles
Doctors working in pharmaceutical medicine develop, evaluate and market new medicines for the benefit of patients and the health of the community.
Training usually starts with a five year first degree in medicine. 2 years foundation doctor training, 2 years core training (CT1-2), followed by 4 years specialists training (ST3-6). This period of training will include your royal college exams. Length of training can vary according to your circumstances.
Most pharmaceutical medicine roles for doctors are available outside the NHS, for example in research organisations, medical regulatory bodies, independent practitioners and the pharmaceutical industry. Doctors in the NHS may work up to 48 hours a week. The basic salary for NHS doctors ranges from £29,384 to £34,012. Once you start your specialty training as a employed by the NHS, you can expect to earn a salary of at least £40,257, which can increase to between £84,559 and £114,003 as a consultant.
You'll need excellent communication skills to manage a wide range of relationships with colleagues, and patients and their families. You'll be emotionally resilient, have excellent problem-solving and diagnostic skills and work well in teams and under pressure. You'll also be very organised for the benefit of patients.
You could teach medical or postgraduate students and clinical trials teams, specialise in laboratory-based or clinical research-based projects related to products, product classes or therapy areas
conduct specialist research or work outside medical departments in medico-legal, communications or economic disciplines in pharmaceutical companies or regulatory organisations.