Adam Reynolds (he/him/his), PhD, MFA, RDT/BCT, LCSW is a drama therapist and clinical social worker. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College and most recently Adjunct Faculty in the graduate program in Drama Therapy at NYU. With Tami Gatta he is the Co-Director of the Institute for Developmental Transformations (DvT) training program in NYC and is the Training Director for the DvT program in Taipei, Taiwan (發展性轉化法). He has a private practice working primarily with children, adults, and adolescents who have had experiences of interpersonal trauma as well as with LGBTQ+ clients.
Adam’s work in clinical settings initially focused on acute psychiatric care, working within Mt. Sinai Hospital, Interfaith Medical Center, and Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center; and during his doctoral studies, he worked at a number of community-focused clinics and organizations dealing with young people and helping to implement and research trauma-informed practices. His doctoral research focused on mutuality within the clinical encounter as expressed through the phenomenon of vicarious resilience – experiences of transformation, growth, and meaning that clinicians can have when working with people who have experienced traumatic events.
Adam is an Alternate Route-trained RDT and is currently on the Board of Directors of the North American Drama Therapy Association, serving as the association’s Ethics Chair. Prior to that, he served two terms as the NADTA Education Chair. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Drama Therapy Review.
Degrees Held
* BA – International Studies/Cross-cultural Communication, American University
* MFA – Theatre, Columbia University School of the Arts
* MSW – Group Work Focus, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College
* MPhil, PhD – Social Welfare, CUNY Graduate Center
Courses
* Developmental Transformations (NYU)
* Research Methods and Analysis (CUNY)
* Social Work and the Arts (CUNY)
* Spirituality & Healing (CUNY)
Research Interests
* Mutuality and play within the clinical encounter
* Developmental Transformations
* Role and Roleplaying Games in Clinical Practice
* Spiritual Dimensions of clinical practice
* Trauma-informed practice and pedagogy
Selected Publications
- Wood, L., Reynolds, A., Savage, M. (in press). Presenting a model of knowledge competencies within drama therapy: Phase one. Drama Therapy Review.
- Reynolds, A., & Davis, C. (2018). Love Songs for my Perpetrator: A musical theatre-based drama therapy performance intervention (M. Carr & A. Oldfield, Eds.). In Combining music therapy and drama therapy: Experiences, challenges, and opportunities for collaboration in clinical and training contexts. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley.
- Reynolds, A. (2011). Developmental transformations: Improvisational drama therapy with children in acute inpatient psychiatry. Social Work with Groups, 34(3-4), 296-309.