Building Character: The Internal Conflict (level II)

Alan Powell, Actor-Care Specialist

For over 30 years I've been working in the arts. Since 2005 I have directed hundreds of actors in trauma-based educational dramas under contract with Western University and the Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children in London, Canada. In 2016 I decided that training as a psychotherapist would further enhance my directing skills. During this time I spent three years as a placement therapist under clinical supervision working one-to-one with clients with complex PTSD, anxiety and depression. Although I never became a psychotherapist, the experience was richly rewarding from a professional and personal development perspective. The fact was, I always knew that I preferred working with actors. So, it seemed my training path had come to a natural close after obtaining certificates from accredited institutes in the United Kingdom in humanistic integrative counselling, psychodynamic integrative counselling, psychodrama, and in the USA the Therapeutic Spiral Model - Experiential Trauma Therapy (level 2). The application of all these modalities now informs my process of supporting actor wellbeing and the development of emotionally challenging characters.

The intersection of my six years of training in various therapeutic modalities and directing trauma-based narratives created the seedbed for Actor Care, a trauma-informed model, based on international research, for actors who want to develop emotionally layered and nuanced characters. It supports authentic expression by prioritizing resilience and increasing capacity for embodying distressing emotions while in character. Actor Care is highly effective in managing the actor's emotional experience of their character while maintaining safeguards for their own well being. ​Currently, Actor Care, forms part of a resilience research project being undertaken at Rose Bruford College in collaboration with London South Bank University in England. Although the process is not therapy, in the interest of my own continued learning and for ethical standards, I have chosen to have supervision with a qualified clinical supervisor. My academic work is also peer reviewed.

I have presented my work internationally at the International Association of Group Psychotherapy and Group Processes (Italy), Musicians’ and Performing Artists’ Health and Performance (Norway), the Australian Society for Performing Arts Health, Association for Theatre in Higher Education (USA), Stanislavsky Research Centre (England), Performing Arts Medicine Association (USA) and, Association of Acting Coaches & Educators (Canada). I work with educational institutions offering resilience workshops as well as with industry communities like Spotlight and the Association of Acting Coaches and Educators. I also work with entire casts as well as one to one with actors in rehearsal/production. I also work 1-1 outside of production with actors who want to develop a healthier/self-care approach to developing emotionally challenging characters.

I am a member of Actors Equity UK, ATHE and the Association of Acting Coaches & Educators (AACE) and abide by their code of ethics.