New Ideas and Clinical Practices to Improve Corporeal Self-Esteem

Abstract

It’s common to face, concerning patients with eating disorders, the lack of trust towards others and the fear of judgment. In the clinic, this aspect is very interesting but also difficult to engage. The aim of this research is to evaluate theatrical techniques as tools to develop confidence toward the others’ point of view, through an improvement of collaborating and interaction abilities. We interviewed about building a character on the scene fifteen not professional actors and fifteen recovered eating disorder patients, attending to theater classes using Stanislavski Method. To compare the clinical and the amateur actors group and to analyze the link between the self-descriptions as a common person and self-descriptions as actors on the scene, we used modified repertory grids and semi-structured interviews. The outcomes of the work show us that every participant appreciate the stage activity as a potential training for the multiplicity of “the self”. Anyway, the Eating Disorder Group is more likely to reduce the interaction impact's size and to disconnect actors and observers (director and audience), in comparison to the Amateurs Group. The Clinical Group also doesn't recognize the importance of being a relational feedback during the construction of characters and it's easy that they give importance just to the aspects of the character which they already see in themselves. Thus, the fear of judgment could be overcome thanks to the theatrical laboratory, in fact the screen of the theatrical performance offers protection to actors. Possible outcomes in the clinical practice will be discussed.