Finding Catharsis in Fairy Tales: A Theoretical Paper Exploring the Roles Catharsis Plays ‘When Fairy Tales are used in Drama Therapy for Children with Anxiety Calli Armstrong A Research Paper in The Department of Creative Arts Therapies Presented in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Concordia University Montréal, Québec, Canada August 2007 © Calli Armstrong, 2007Library and Archives Canada Published Heritage Branch 395 Wellington Street ‘Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada NOTICE: The author has granted a non- exclusive license allowing Library and Archives Canada to reproduce, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, communicate to the public by telecommunication or on the Internet, loan, distribute and sell theses worldwide, for commercial or non- commercial purposes, in microform, paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Direction du Patrimoine de lédition Bibliotheque et Archives Canada 395, rue Wellington Ottewa ON K1A ONG Your fle Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-34732-4 Ourfle Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-34732-4 AVIS: L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive permettant a la Bibliothéque et Archives Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public par télécommunication ou par linternet, préter, distribuer et vendre des théses partout dans le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou autres formats. Lauteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur et des droits moraux qui protage cette thése Ni la thése ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci ne doivent étre imprimés ou autrement reproduits sans son autorisation. In compliance with the Canadian Privacy Act some supporting forms may have been removed from this thesis While these forms may be included in the document page count, their removal does not represent any loss of content from the thesis. Canada Conformément a la loi canadienne sur la protection de la vie privée, quelques formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de cette these. Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant.iii ABSTRACT Finding Catharsis in Fairy Tales: A Theoretical Paper Exploring the Roles Catharsis Plays When Fairy Tales are used in Drama Therapy for Children with Anxiety Calli Armstrong This paper explores where catharsis may be found within work with fairy tales, why therapeutic work with fairy tales may be appropriate for children with anxiety, and what roles catharsis may play when fairy tales are used with this population. This paper explores possible connections between fairy tales and catharsis, and considers how these connections may or may not be beneficial in drama therapy for children with anxiety. While some research has suggested that catharsis may be harmful, such research has defined catharsis as just the expression of emotion. For this paper, Catharsis is defined as the process of emotional discharge that brings about relief of emotional tension. Catharsis can be an internal process that does not necessarily result in visible expressions of emotion. While catharsis is not necessary for therapeutic change, according to the definition used in this paper, catharsis is necessarily therapeutic. In combination with the action oriented drama therapy methods, fairy tales provide the necessary stimuli for catharsis to occur within children with anxiety. The themes, structure, and fictional world of fairy tales help to establish an aesthetic distance between the client and the material being explored, which allows catharsis to occur. Catharsis channels emotion, relieves anxiety, and brings children a new understanding of their anxiety.