Maitri Gopalakrishna
SHE/HER
Maitri Gopalakrishna, PhD, RDT is drama therapist, counselling psychologist, community arts practitioner and practice-researcher. She is Based in Bangalore, India. Maitri is currently executive director of the Foundation for Arts and Health India. Maitri has worked with performance, community building, preventative care, mental health support, psychotherapy, and training in a variety of institutional and community contexts. Her approach is strongly influenced by intersectional feminism and anti-oppression practice.
Maitri’s doctoral research looked at drama therapy as an intervention for women who wanted to explore traumatic residues of childhood sexual abuse. Maitri’s other research interests are in the applications of the Natyashastra in drama therapy practice and the power dynamics, ethical considerations and languaging in community-based care work. Her research work often includes arts-based participatory research methodology where performance and film are outputs of the research process.
