The Workshoppers by Dujdao Vadhanapakorn and Sarinrat Thomas. Photo: Lek Kiatsirikajorn
As self-help and self improvement gains traction in Thailand, we’re seeing the rise of self development workshops and seminars led by revered teachers and instructors. Most so far follow the standard programme of pointing out the clients faults and behavioural flaws and teaching them a laundry list of actions in order to be successful.
But Sarinrat Thomas and Dujdao Vadhanapakorn are looking to change things up.
The Workshoppers, their brainchild, consists of workshops that — like many other places claim — aim to have people discover themselves, improve their capabilities and be able to live an efficient and balanced life. It’s a large claim, but one done mainly through their programmes that apply drama, dance and movement therapy in a non-clinical way, something these two women are trained and licensed to do.
Sarinrat and Dujdao are psychotherapists who use art in applying their craft. Sarinrat, a registered and practising drama psychotherapist uses drama and/or theatre processes, like storytelling, role play, and miming to help clients understand themselves on a deeper emotional, social and cognitive level. Dujdao is a dance and movement psychotherapist and she uses dance and body movement to do the same.
The Workshoppers however, isn’t pure therapy — the workshops (ranging from five-to-seven hours) aim to improve interested clients in whatever they hope to improve — be it personal development, parenting, or even how to be a leader in business.
“We apply our training and experience in order to support, encourage and stimulate teamwork and group work, [and to find themselves],” said Sarinrat. So instead of telling people what to do, Sarinrat and Dujdao help their clients understand and improve through a process of self realisation.
It’s a hard concept to map out, as the whole process is extremely experimental in nature, but Sarinrat explained through her own experiences how the art form works.
“When I was training in drama therapy … I had something on my mind — an uncomfortable feeling I couldn’t express, so I decided to do a pose. My supervisor, who was very talented, started asking me questions on the spot, about how I felt, etc. Believe it or not I started crying. I felt like it was torture — I felt nervous and anxious. This is how you learn things about yourself from dance and movement psychotherapy.”
By exploring movements and miming, people are able to discover more about themselves and their situation, thus improving themselves in the process, she said.
Other theatre techniques she uses are storytelling, story making and role play.
“Storytelling allows the person to focus on and review their lives,” she explained. “Reviewing themselves is a form of self-reflection, as they’ll be nudged to think ‘hey, why did I choose this specific part of my life to tell?’. Then they’ll start finding out how that significant moment impacted their life. We can use miming to explore it even further. There’s also role play, where two people act out a scene [as each other] and we ask other people what they think of the situation. [It’s my job] to make them feel as if they are the other person without them knowing about acting.”
“I had a case where a boss gave a very harsh feedback to an employee. I had them both role play the situation, and the boss was so surprised that she cried. She didn’t mean to be mean. She just didn’t realise that she was like that … So it’s getting people to have a self-realisation about something through drama and dance.”
Even the location and interiors of The Workshoppers are well thought out.
Instead of the standard studio room or hotel hall where workshops are usually held, Sarinrat hires a team of artists each session in order to decorate the space according to the theme that day.
“We want people to come in and feel that the space has been specifically designed for them,” she said. “We want them to feel that we’re supporting them and have thought things through, whether it be location, lighting, the placement of chairs — just like props of a theatre performance.”
To those who believe they are lacking in motivation, creativity, have a difficulty in coping with stress, or want to rebuild their life and work, The Workshoppers may be able to help.
“In doing these workshops, many clients have told me that they have wanted [to talk to a therapist] but they didn’t dare to go. So this is something and somewhere where they can talk freely without it being a therapy session, and it also opens up opportunities for them. We seek to reduce their problems and stress as much as possible during the workshop time.”
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.