Drama therapy workshop in Lebanon helps heal wounds for displaced Syrians

The pen is mightier than the sword, so the saying goes. In Lebanon, Zeina Daccache is trying to overcome modern warfare’s guns, shells and barrel bombs, armed with nothing more than an arsenal of therapeutic theatre techniques.

Since 2011, more than three million Syrians have fled their homeland to escape the continuing violence. In Lebanon, theatre techniques are being used as a means of empowering these displaced people, both intellectually and psychologically.

In a society where therapy is taboo, drama workshops serve as a socially acceptable means for refugees to talk about their experiences and emotions. Amid growing tensions between displaced Syrians and their Lebanese hosts, theatre productions also allow refugee voices to be heard by a wider public.

Daccache, founder of the NGO Catharsis and the pioneer of drama therapy in Lebanon, has been forging bonds and healing wounds through weekly workshops for a mixed group of Syrian and Lebanese women since April last year.

Daccache, who trained in the United States, has won acclaim for her work with marginalised groups in Lebanon. The Syrian and Lebanese women she is working with have spent the last 10 months doing exercises designed to encourage them to open up and share their problems, joys and experiences.

Original article by India Stoughton

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Drama therapy workshop in Lebanon helps heal wounds for displaced Syrians