Visitors since      July 2002        

 Welcome to Community Drama

Update September 2012

           New professional website ... www.creativesolutionstherapy.org ... now taking dramatherapy bookings across the West Midlands & South Staffordshire

E-mail me

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The above book has just been published  by Routledge.  'Dramatherapy with Children, Young People and Schools       Enabling    Creativity, Sociability, Communication and Learning'  Edited by Lauraine Leigh, Irvine Gersch, Ann Dix, Deborah Haythorne. I have been lucky enough to contribute to Chapter 3. 'Dramatherapy & Drama Teaching in School - A New Perspective: Towards a Working Relationship'. The first book of its kind which has been contributed to by over 30 professionals. It is well worth a read. Available from all good bookshops. Click on the cover to find more details.

My name is Clive Holmwood. This website is about my past and current work as an educational  and community drama        specialist and Dramatherapist. I have worked in this field since 1988 in and around Dudley in the West Midlands, UK. I have carried out a wide range of creative drama work mainly within 'special needs' settings. I have also developed my work over recent years and become more involved in project management of arts based initiatives, and as a Dramatherapist currently within the National Health Service. 

Please visit the links to the rest of my site to find out more about myself and my work. I am always happy to discuss the possibility of carrying work out with new organizations. Please visit my consultancy page for more details.

The purpose of this site is not to attempt to explain the way I work with a range of individuals with complex needs; or to attempt to describe the complexity of some of the work I do, but is more about a general introduction to my work. It is also about my inherent belief  that all people regardless of ability have a creative aspect to their personality and that using this creativity is an important aspect in allowing each of us to reach our full potential in life.  Creativity  is important and useful to us all especially to those who may be unable to express themselves in more conventional ways through spoken and written words.

I also specialize in working across art forms with a variety of other visual and performance artists and have worked in both mainstream and special schools as well as in non-school settings.

Brief Biography                                                                       

I have had a life long passion for theatre and drama. I joined Jigsaw Youth Theatre in 1978 and went on from there to join the National Youth Theatre in 1981 before completing a drama degree at Bretton Hall College in 1988. I went on to complete a masters degree in Educational Theatre at Leeds and qualified as a Dramatherapist at Hertfordshire University in 1996, and completed management training at the Open University in 1999.

My work changed significantly in September 2003 when I left the mental health charity Rethink after seven years running Act Up Theatre Company, see Mental Health page for full details. In April 2006 I commenced a part-time PhD at Warwick University looking at the connections and similarities between drama and dramatherapy. For further details see my Research  page. In February 2007 I finished working as a Dramatherapist for Coventry Primary Care Trust (National Health Service).  I then began a new job as a therapist for   Foster Care Associates.

This site does not contain a dedicated links page but links from each page will direct you to sites of related interest. I try to update as often as possible.

I have had many queries on dramatherapy specifically, visit my Dramatherapy page for basic information and the official site below

Please visit my colleagues:

The Official Site of the British Association of Dramatherapists, for all your queries on training courses etc:

Sue Jennings -one of the founders of dramatherapy in England at:           

Also: Mandy Gutsell, Dramatherapist and life coach at: 

For books on all arts therapies please visit JKP below at:

Special Thanks to old school colleague Stuart Marsh for Community Drama logo design - most appreciated