Opher Shamir (he/him), MA, LCAT, RDT, is a drama therapist and therapeutic theater artist. He is a practitioner of Developmental Transformations and a student at the Institute for Expressive Analysis. Opher is an award-winning researcher and former coordinator of NYU’s Theatre & Health Lab, reviews editor for the Drama Therapy Review, and poster curator for the North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA). He studied psychology, political science, and applied theater (artivism) at Tel Aviv University, and drama therapy at NYU. Before becoming a drama therapist, he was a youth counselor and teacher of social sciences and learning strategies. Opher is a queer man who is able-bodied and has an invisible disability. He is an immigrant from Israel, who identifies as white, Ashkenazi Jewish, and secular.
Opher’s therapeutic theater experience includes inhabiting the roles of director, stage manager, and playwrite with various populations concerning different themes. These include LGBTQ+, older adults, incarcerated people, and polarized communities. In addition, Opher provides in-home psychotherapy for people of diverse ages, abilities, identities, and challenges, as part of a group practice in Brooklyn. Opher is passionate to incorporate the principles of the Disability Justice Movement in his clinical, activist, and artistic work.
Degrees Held
- B.A.
- M.A.
Awards
- John W. Withers Memorial Award, NYU
- Graduate Research Award, Drama Therapy Fund
Courses
- Therapeutic Theater
Research Interests
- Therapeutic Theater
- Developmental Transformations
- Psychoanalysis
- Neurodiversity
- Social-cultural aspects of mental health
- Gender Identity and Expression
- Postcolonialism
Selected Publications
- Stevens, A. D. F., Bleuer, J., Morris, M. E., Shamir, O., Weisman, P. S., Wichmann, S., ... & Nasser, K. (2020). Black Lives Matter: A call to action and position statement from the Cultural Humility, Equity and Diversity Committee of the North American Drama Therapy Association. Drama Therapy Review, 6(2), 239-246.
- Dunphy, K. F., Baker, F. A., Dumaresq, E., Carroll-Haskins, K., Eickholt, J., Ercole, M., Kaimal, G., Meyer, K., Sajnani, N., Shamir, O. Y., & Wosch, T. (2018). Creative arts interventions to address depression in older adults: a systematic review of outcomes, processes and mechanisms. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2655.
- Vainapel, S., Shamir, O. Y., Tenenbaum, Y., & Gilam, G. (2015). The dark side of gendered language: The masculine-generic form as a cause for self-report bias. Psychological Assessment, 27(4), 1513.