The Handbook of Neuro-Dramatic-Play: Cross-Cultural, Attachment-Based Play for Clinicians and Practitioners

Editor : Clive Holmwood, Editor : Sue Jennings

Book Details

Publisher : Routledge
Published : September 2025
Cover : Paperback
Pages : 254
Category :
Forthcoming
Category 2 :
Individual Psychotherapy
Catalogue No : 98248
ISBN 13 : 9781032807089
ISBN 10 : 1032807083

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An innovative contribution to our understanding of research and practice behind Neuro-Dramatic-Play (NDP), this book demonstrates how readers may apply this attachment and play-based approach to teaching, parenting and therapy. This essential book will provide guidance on new techniques and methods, enhancing their practice and providing potential solutions to problems they may be encountering in their work with clients.

Filled with diverse contributions from a team of multi-cultural authors, this book is divided into five distinct parts:

- Section 1 begins by considering the roots and development of NDP, including the science and evidence supporting it as a practice.

- Section 2 covers applying NDP to work with children and young people, including neurodivergent children and those who have experienced trauma.

- Section 3 explores how readers can integrate NDP practices into art, drama and play therapy.

- Section 4 moves on to discuss international perspectives on NDP, including NDP practice within a range of different geographical and cultural contexts.

- Section 5 concludes the book by examining case studies of work with diverse populations, including pregnant individuals, forensic settings and people with young onset dementia.

Written for clinicians and therapists of all specialisms, this is a compelling read for any mental health practitioner seeking a practical approach to develop (or re-develop) attachment experiences for individuals who have experienced loss, neglect, rejection or abuse.

Reviews & Endorsements
Table of Contents
About the Editor(s)
Customer Reviews

Reviews and Endorsements

Highly recommended text for any therapist or educator working with children or young people. The rationale, description and practical illustrations of drama and play therapy methods are developmentally grounded, cultural inclusive and usefully specific.
Jacki Short, Director of Sydney Centre for Creative Change, President of the Australian Play Therapists Association, Registered Counselling Psychologist and Supervisor, Registered Play Therapist and Supervisor

The content of this book provides inspiration and motivation for a fulfilling life for every individual, from early childhood, adolescence, the period of preparation for parenthood and pregnancy, to adulthood and old age. Through both theoretical and practical perspective, it defines valuable and effective approaches of the NDP method in an individually tailored and culturally inclusive environment. Therefore, it is highly recommended for therapists and professionals from various fields who work with children, adolescents and families.
The text is especially recommended for professionals interested in the application and exploration of innovative, developmentally grounded, creative and expressive therapeutic approaches, particularly those focused on play and dramatic play in various contexts. These approaches, through a performative process and communication channels that go beyond verbal strategies, stimulate imagination, creativity, self-expression, experience, embodiment, distancing from distress, and the exploration of new narratives based on satisfaction, hope and trust. They encourage transformation and integration.
This book makes a significant contribution to the theory of NDP and includes exceptionally useful, well-founded and cross-culturally tested methods for working with children and young people who have experienced trauma, attachment issues, and emotional or behavioral regulation difficulties. From an educational perspective, it is also highly recommended for parents and professionals working with parents, as it fosters self-empowerment and the acceptance of responsibility.
The book offers valuable insight into rediscovering childhood through play, curious playfulness, and performance. It provides readers with innovative approaches, knowledge, and practical examples of the NDP method to support holistic psychophysical, emotional, and cognitive development, interpersonal relationships, and spiritual awareness. In today's era of societal changes and increasing mental health challenges, this is particularly relevant.
The content of this book can deeply resonate with and is recommended for all readers who are exploring the significance of reconnecting with themselves, their inner child, and the fundamental essence o nature and humanity.
Urška Novak, Founder and Director of a Private Institute for assisting children, adolescents, and families in Celje, Slovenia; vice president of the Slovenian Association of Art Therapists; professor of defectology; Master of Science in Special and Rehabilitation Pedagogy; master of Creative Art Therapies; doctoral student in Marriage and Family Therapy; licensed personal and NLP coach; licensed master of hypnosis; certified birth and postpartum doula

This collection of writings opens the doors to the rich experience of therapists that are using the Neuro-Dramatic-Play (NDP) in practice. It highlights specific applications of NDP in a variety of needs and settings from early care to elder care, children, teenagers, adults, psychiatric, forensic and young onset dementia. We get to see and understand the myriad manifestations of Attachment-based Play, NDP and Theatre of Resilience (ToR). Voices from across cultures attest to the universality of NDP and its effective use in healing, restoration and development, from Romania to Malaysia and Hong Kong, from Ukraine to India and UK. It is wonderful that the pioneer, Dr. Sue Jennings adds her voice, recounting the evolution - ‘Roots and Branches’ of NDP and its application in neurodiversity. Chapters carefully span across theory and practice, elucidated with actual experiences and cases from clinical settings. An informative, reflective, and applied collection of international experiences of NDP.
Aanand Chabukswar, Applied Theatre and Arts-based Therapy (ABT) Practitioner, India, author of Creative Rites of the Recovering Mind: Arts-Based Therapy for Persons Living with Mental Illness

This is a book to cherish. An absolute must for therapists and practitioners working with children and families in a modern culturally diverse landscape. As with all of Sue’s work, practitioners will find this resource both accessible and enduring.
Anna Hodgson, Charity Director at Clear Sky Children’s Charity and Chair of the Oxfordshire Schools Mental Health and Wellbeing Network

Foreword
Cathy A. Malchiodi

Section 1 - NDP The Basics
1. The Roots and Branches of Neuro-Dramatic-Play: An Introduction
Sue Jennings

2. The performativity in the beginning of life and psychotherapy
Stelios Krasanakis & Eri Argyraki

Section 2 - NDP Children & Young Adulthood
3. Neurodivergence and Neuro-Dramatic-Play (NDP) in Children and Young People
Sue Jennings

4. Using Neuro Dramatic Play (NDP) in Schools with Children and Young People Post Covid-19, Developing Positive Attachments and Good Mental Health
Clive Holmwood

5. I fit in by not being myself
Ber Carroll

6. The Expanded EPR framework and Theatre of Resilience for Young Adults — from Theatre to the Coming-of-Age Ritual in response to Social Trauma
Larry Ng

Section 3 - NDP in therapy
7. Into the Unknown – a young Hero’s journey from Ukraine
Alison Chown

8. The use of water in NDP-informed Art Therapy
Bridget Rees

9. Hunters Journey back to his Nest. Application utilizing the NDP and EPR in Parent and Child Nature Based Play Therapy
Catriona O’Neill-Hayes

Section 4 - NDP and International Perspectives
10. Unlocking Healing Through Neuro-Dramatic-Play in Malaysia: A Journey of Empowerment
Jaff Choong Gian Yong

11. NDP in the Jungle: play, enjoy and get stronger
Andy Hickson and Ming Yang

12. NDP & Performance Training in Greece. Rediscovering Childhood: Learning to Play Again
Ros and Neil Johnson

13. The Journey of Learning with NDP within a Collective: Pre pandemic, During and after the pandemic in India
Akanksha Rastogi, Lavina Nanda, Ashima Kandwal, Sukarma Dawar, Kavita Arora

14. Neuro-Dramatic-Play and Postcolonial African Theatre – Performing Resilience
David Evans

Section 5 - NDP and diverse populations
15. Taking care of pregnant persons’ mental health through NDP, a model
Ulises Moreno-Serena

16. Neuro-Dramatic-Play in forensic settings
Rowan McKenzie

17. A research project considering the adaptation and practice of NDP for adults with a diagnosis of young onset dementia
Clive Holmwood, Gemma Collard-Stokes, Alison Ward

Afterword
Phil Jones

About the Editor(s)

Clive Holmwood is an associate professor, lecturer, researcher, author, and doctoral supervisor in the Discipline of Therapeutic Arts at the University of Derby, UK. He is a consultant dramatherapist with 30 years post-qualifying experience working in the public and voluntary sectors and in private practice as a director of Creative Solutions Therapy Ltd.

More titles by Clive Holmwood

Sue Jennings is Professor of Play (European Federation of Dramatherapists), the creator of Neuro-Dramatic-Play, and the author of 53 books. She has pioneered Dramatherapy and Play Therapy internationally. She is Senior Research Fellow at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, UK, a Distinguished Scholar at the University of the Witswatersrand, South Africa, and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Roehampton, London.

More titles by Sue Jennings