The National Theatre: Theater and Therapy program includes free theater and drama therapy workshops at the National Theater and is aimed at people with mental health problems.
The first phase of the first program called “National Theatre: Theater and Therapy” was carried out with great success during the first three months of its implementation. The aim of the action, which started as a pilot in April 2024 and will end in December of that year, is to ease the mental burden of the participants and improve the quality of life through theatrical expression.
The program is implemented in cooperation with the Institute of Mental Health of the Research University (EPIPSY) within the framework of the “Pilot measures on cultural prescription” Program of the Ministry of Culture and National Recovery and Resilience Plan Greece 2.0.
The National Theatre: Theater and Therapy program includes free theater and drama therapy workshops at the National Theater for people with mental health issues.
For three months, three groups of beneficiaries made theater a part of their daily lives: once a week, artists and mental health professionals were waiting for them at the REX Theater to work with them on a group basis. Using applied theater and drama therapy as a tool, the workshops aimed to strengthen the individual’s self-awareness, self-awareness, social awareness, and acceptance of self and others. The manager of the “National Theatre: Theater and Therapy” Program is Maria Maganari, manager of Mikros Ethnikos.
A few words about the cultural recipe
Cultural Prescription is a pilot, research program launched in Greece under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and funded by the Recovery and Resilience Foundation, and concerns the application of art activities that have a therapeutic effect on mental health. The aim of the project is to create an organizational framework for incorporating Cultural Prescription as a complementary treatment for people experiencing mental health problems or burdened by chronic illnesses.
The action includes program design and pilot implementation, study of the benefits of patient exposure to art and culture, process and ways of patient participation as beneficiaries, cultural institutions as providers, and finally, monitoring and treatment. program evaluation to optimize.
It should be noted that the action does not constitute psychotherapy through art, but focuses on the therapeutic effect of its various forms on each beneficiary who wishes to participate in the program.
The study is conducted by EPIPSY and specifically by the Research Group with Nikolaos Stefanis, Scientific Manager, Professor of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, National Kapodistrian University of Athens.
The “National Theatre: Theater and Therapy” program is implemented by the Recovery and Resilience Fund, the Department of Performing Arts and Cinema of the Ministry of Culture within the framework of the action “Cultural prescription as complementary education in mental health”.