Society and culture

Art, justice and healing

Dr. Christine Mayor is the first ever two-time recipient of the North American Drama Therapy Research Award.

Christine and Britton sit together on sofa before awards ceremony
Estimated Read Time:
2 minutes
Dr. Christine Mayor and Dr. Britton Williams
Dr. Christine Mayor and Dr. Britton Williams
Estimated Read Time:
2 minutes

Dr. Christine Mayor, assistant professor in the Faculty of Social Work, is the first-ever two-time recipient of the North American Drama Therapy Research Award for her work advancing anti-carceral and abolitionist practices in the helping professions.

The North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA) has named Mayor and Dr. Britton Williams, associate professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies, as recipients of the 2025 award.

The honour recognizes both Mayor’s individual scholarship and her collaborative research with Williams on anti-carceral and abolitionist practices and theory in drama therapy and across the helping professions. Mayor was previously honoured with the award in 2016. 

Mayor and Williams first began their collaborative research through funding from the Centre for Human Rights Research’s Small Grants Program and the Faculty of Social Work’s Endowment Fund.  

“These visionaries have transformed how our field engages systems of oppression, particularly within carceral and educational spaces. Their work asks us not just to study injustice, but to undo it through art, imagination and community-centered inquiry,” says Dr. Chyela Rowe, NADTA President-Elect.

“Together they model what it means to research with integrity, to teach with heart, and to dream beyond the walls of the academy, reminding us that art and scholarship are not opposites, but kin,” Rowe adds.

What is drama therapy?

According to the  North American Drama Therapy Association, drama therapy  is the intentional use of drama and/or theater processes to achieve therapeutic goals. It is a therapeutic methodology that often utilizes role, embodiment, play, storytelling and metaphor in its support of clients and communities.

Their work expands what drama therapy can be and what liberation, justice and healing can look like when research becomes an act of resistance.

Adam D-F Stevens, NADTA President

Mayor and Williams were recently awarded a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grant for a new project titled “Caring or complicit bodies? Addressing carceral logics in the helping professions.”

This project uses arts- and story-based research methods to explore how punitive and carceral logics are embodied in helping professions such as social work and education, and to identify pathways for more liberatory, care-centered practice.

Mayor integrates the arts into both her teaching and research as part of a creative, decolonial, and culturally responsive approach to social work practice.  

“My research in drama therapy includes a focus on trauma-focused drama therapy, school-based drama therapy, and abolitionist drama therapy theory and practice,” explains Mayor.

She has also developed new arts-based research methods using dramatic methods for data collection, analysis and presentation.

Previously, Mayor worked as a board-certified trainer, registered drama therapist, and registered psychotherapist, supporting individuals, families, and communities who have experienced trauma and traumatizing conditions.

“In this work, I was not only attuned to the ways in which systemic and interpersonal harms can be expressed, understood, and (re)narrativized using the arts as part of the healing, but also the importance of understanding how “helping professionals” can also be the source of these harms,” says Mayor. 

Learn more

Visit Dr. Christine Mayor’s  profile page. Results from her research studies can be found on Instagram: @cccresearch and @abolitionist_enactments  

Anti-carceral and abolitionist practices

Focusing on support, healing, and accountability instead of punishment, anti-carceral and abolitionist practices challenge systems like prisons, harsh school rules and coercive mental health responses, which rely on control and surveillance. 

Instead, they promote community-based solutions such as restorative processes and counselling, whic address root causes of harm and work toward safer, more just communities without relying on locking people up or pushing them out.

For nearly 150 years, UM has transformed lives through groundbreaking research and homegrown innovation. We push the boundaries of knowledge and do the hard work here in Manitoba to move our community and the world forward. With a spirit of determination and discovery, we are shaping a better future for our province and beyond.