An arts-based approach to co-facilitation of a theatre programme for teenagers with acquired brain injury

Abstract

This article documents a theatre programme for adolescents with acquired brain injury (ABI) developed as part of a research study, with the intention to improve social skills and community integration post-injury. Attention is brought to the artsbased method of co-facilitation in context of the artistic programme. Challenges of recovering from an ABI are discussed, in addition to how the programme's goals aimed to address these challenges and how the facilitators approached issues during the programme. Using a narrative approach, arts-based methods are explored relative to the programme's development, how the facilitators interacted with each other and how the needs of participants were supported. The adaptive nature of an arts-based method of facilitation, as well as the artistic exercises comprising the programme, were found to suit working with participants with an ABI who each had unique recovery processes due to the complex nature of their injuries.