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2008 29th Annual NADT Conference November 6-9, 2008
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Keynote Speaker Renee Emunah, Ph.D., RDT/BCT Renée Emunah, Ph.D., RDT/BCT, is the Founder/Director of the Drama Therapy Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is a past-President of the National Association for Drama Therapy (NADT’s 3rd President), and was among the first four drama therapists to become officially registered (RDT) in the US. She is the author of the book, Acting for Real: Drama Therapy Process, Technique, and Performance (Taylor & Francis, 1994). The book is considered a classic text in the field, and has recently been translated and published in China and Japan. Dr. Emunah is also the author of many articles and book chapters in the field, and served on the editorial board of the journal Arts in Psychotherapy from 1985-2000. She is currently co-editing (with David Johnson, RDT/BCT) a new edition of the book, Current Approaches in Drama Therapy. Dr. Emunah has a doctorate in clinical psychology, an extensive background in theatre, and 30 years of experience as a drama therapist. She is the recipient of many grants and awards, including a Commendation by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for Innovative Work with Ex-Psychiatric Patients. In 1996, Dr. Emunah was awarded the NADT Gertrud Schattner Distinguished Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Drama Therapy. A Board Certified Trainer of Drama Therapists (BCT), Dr. Emunah worked for 16 years as a drama therapist with groups of emotionally disturbed adolescents and adults (at Gladman Memorial Hospital, Pacific Medical Center, and at other Bay Area psychiatric facilities where she initiated some of the first drama therapy programs); she also founded and directed a unique performing theatre company composed of former psychiatric patients. Her more recent experience, in the past decade, includes individual drama therapy with children and with adults, teaching emotional intelligence to young children via drama, and using drama therapy processes in diversity training and social justice work. Considered a pioneer and world leader in the field of drama therapy, her work has been presented at conferences, universities, and trainings internationally. In 2006, she was a keynote speaker at a creative arts therapy conference in Hong Kong, after which she conducted trainings in both Hong Kong and Japan. She has been invited back to Japan, to teach at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto in June 2008, followed by workshops in Tokyo. |
