Exploring Community Catharsis and Embodied Healing in Burmese Nat Pwe: Culturally Sensitive Pathways for Modern Dramatherapy Practice
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science January 1, 2026 Ravindra Ranasinha PhD, Agnes Seng Sam
A ritual festival of spirit embodiment and communal catharsis in Myanmar, the Nat Pwe, offers a culturally grounded framework for healing within dramatherapy. Autoethnographic data from fifteen Burmese drama therapy trainees show that ritual performance enacts therapeutic processes of embodiment, projection, role transformation, and collective witnessing. Trance, rhythm, and collective participation operate as embodied technologies of regulation and release, aligning with trauma-informed and decolonial principles. The paper argues that culturally responsive dramatherapy must move beyond adaptation toward dialogical reciprocity with local ritual traditions. Nat Pwe demonstrates that healing arises through aesthetic, spiritual, and communal resonance, challenging Western individualist therapy models.