Dorothy_Praesentia

Abstract of my Dissertation

Praesentia
The Sesame Approach in Chinese Culture:
A therapist’s study in Hong Kong

Dec 2004

Key Words: Hong Kong, Chinese culture, Sesame Approach, therapist, client, art form, praesentia

Abstract
Amongst Westerners, there is a belief that ‘playing is itself a therapy’. By contrast, the Chinese believe that ‘playing has no inherent advantages’ and that ‘playthings distract from one’s aspirations’. It appears therefore that Chinese values are significantly different from Western ones. How then can drama and movement therapy (The Sesame Approach) be used cross-culturally, especially amongst the Hong Kong Chinese? Based on the experience of a therapy study conducted in Hong Kong, this research attempts to explore how the Sesame Approach has been applied within the Chinese Culture, and to develop a cross-cultural perspective on this Approach.

In Hong Kong, six elderly women with senile dementia from a social centre for the elderly, and sixteen members of a rehabilitation centre suffering from physical disabilities, chronic diseases or mental problems participated in this study. All participants and centre-workers were Hong Kong Chinese. Thirty-eight drama and movement therapy sessions using The Sesame Approach were conducted. The research used a combination of methodologies, namely practice as research, reflective practice, grounded theory and ethnography. In addition, techniques such as participative observation, journal entries, videotaping, questionnaires and informal interviews were employed.

From the perspective of a reflective practitioner-researcher, four distinct elements in the set of therapeutic relationships were researched: therapist, client, art form and culture. Themes such as verbal expression, the relational self, playing with nothingness and therapeutic presence evolved from working with the clients. A cross-cultural reflective framework for the set of therapeutic relationships was developed. Implications for the further development of the Sesame Approach in Chinese societies were evaluated. In conclusion, Praesentia, the Latin word of ‘presence’, was considered to be the optimum expression for encapsulating the therapist’s experience in this study.