Between caution and hope: Reimagining therapeutic possibility

This editorial introduces a collection of research articles, commentaries, a performance review and a report that reflect the evolving landscape of drama therapy practice and scholarship. Spanning institutional, educational, ecological and community-based contexts, the contributions explore tensions between structure and spontaneity, clinical authority and creative autonomy, and individual vulnerability and collective healing. With a shared emphasis on aesthetic distance, relational practice and social justice, this issue challenges the field to reckon with its professional norms and expand its ethical imagination. Together, these works illuminate new paths for drama therapy to support inclusion, co-production and liberation across diverse settings.