There is no shortage of acting techniques for the actor in training. From Stanislavsky and Chekov to Demidov and Meisner and Adler to Strasberg and everything in between. There is a shortage however on methods for safely accessing and regulating emotion in the process of using these acting techniques when developing a Character.

The Traditional

Traditional acting techniques have their own philosophies on how to access emotion. From Demidov’s “passively surrendering” and being guided by their “intuitive perception” to find the Character’s “impulses” to Stanislavsky’s Active Analysis and experiencing the physical life/actions of a Character that the actor will, “as a reflex”, experience “the inner feelings” of the Character. Fast forward to the 21st century and what we know now about trauma. As amazing as imagination, empathy and physical action is to immerse oneself in a fictional experience it’s also an excellent conduit for stirring up vicarious trauma or personal resonances and potentially reactivating past trauma. For actors whose own traumas are being activated by the scripts content, they are more likely to have a fight, flight, or freeze reaction than a healthy intuitive, and spontaneous response that the great acting teachers spoke of. I believe what’s missing is the absence of a device to manage emotional dysregulation which can be caused by engaging empathetic imagining and physicalization of a Character’s emotional life.

A Trauma-Informed Approach

I just want to take a minute and explain what a trauma-informed approach is to acting and why it’s important. In my opinion, any Character worth watching on stage and screen has been traumatized regardless of whether the trauma appears in the story or not. Writers and directors are continuously giving voice to traumatic experiences which translates to more actors embodying them. Which translates to finding new ways to work with actors that ensure a healthy working environment. “Trauma-informed” is having an understanding of the harmful effects of traumatic experiences and involves employing fundamental principles of compassion and respect. In my practice, this is true when working with actors in prep and when exploring their Characters. A large part of the trauma-informed lens is understanding the importance of emotion regulation when acting in the style of psychological realism. I define emotion regulation in acting as a process in which emotion is managed through the acknowledgment, acceptance, and articulation of its expression for the purpose of increasing emotional range, fluency, proficiency, and control when crafting a Character.

For the actor who is carrying unresolved trauma, they have found ways to cope emotionally and are now living in a protective state. However, in some of these instances, cognitively they may think they’ve moved on from their trauma but symptoms can remain hidden for years until something triggering happens. Like acting in a traumatic story. How many of us have been in a situation or have witnessed actors struggling for a line as soon as they start to feel an emotion they’re not used to? They may well be tapping into unchartered emotional territory, most likely caused by a past trauma, that has not yet been regulated. Hence, they freeze or have a ‘deer in the headlights’ response and lose their train of thought. What’s actually happening is the Broca’s area has shut down. This is an area in the left frontal lobe of the cortex that controls speech. It allows you to put your thoughts and feelings into words. What happens during a traumatic event and even during a flashback is this area shuts down. The point is, actors push themselves or allow themselves to be pushed by educators or directors to the point of unintentionally triggering their symptoms. And in other instances actors are aware of their trauma, have not moved on, and intentionally shut down or plow into their emotions and get overwhelmed and struggle to regulate afterward. In either case, the traditional acting techniques for accessing emotion do nothing to support, regulate, or further develop their emotional apparatus.

Decompressing From Distressing Characters

In 2020 Danielle Szlawieniec-Haw conducted a study that found when actors are decompressing from distressing Characters, emotions can be challenging to label and give words to which makes it harder for the actor to express and therefore process. She concluded that having a space for processing is a “fundamental part of the actors’ health and wellness”. My own practice of Actor Care® works backward from Szlawieniec-Haw’s conclusion. In other words, it gives actors the space to first articulate emotions for their character. Then embody them affect by affect before they dive in and experience it as a whole. You might think this takes the spontaneity out of a performance but it’s actually quite the opposite. Because of the containment it provides, it allows for courageous choices to emerge thus greater emotional depth and dimension. It also increases emotional range and fluidity. It slows down the entire process of Character development. The basic premise is to embody strengths before embodying vulnerability. It operates on the principles of Resilience, Boundaries, Defense Management, and Self-reflection. All four principals are designed to accommodate the actors mental wellbeing by methodically and safely constructing a Character’s emotional life. The principals not only support the actor while in Character but also provide the necessary containment before and after embodying the role.

The Actor Wellbeing Facilitators Collective (AWFC)

When it comes to psychological realism in acting and the potential for experiencing vicarious trauma or (re)traumatization and the resulting impact on actor wellbeing, the many acting techniques for tapping into emotion are not a ‘one size fits all’ approach. While they are useful for some actors, for others they can be harmful to their emotional wellbeing without proper support. Integrating emotion regulation techniques that support brave choices is an admirable goal for actors, trainers, educators, and coaches. Actor Care® is among the dozens of specialized offerings that are available in the Actor Wellbeing Facilitators Collective (AWFC), a global group of educators, researchers, therapists, acting coaches, well-being practitioners, and specialists of which I am a founding member along with my colleague, Dr. Mark Seton. Our intention is to support the well-being of actors in education, production,n and lifestyle. Not one of us do exactly the same thing which speaks to the vastness of the gap we are filling. Techniques like Inscaping, developed by Dr. Sara Lovett, to Emotional Fluency Training for Actors, developed by Tom Stroud and Innis Buchli, all have a place in the world of actor/performance wellbeing.

As research suggests, the world’s population has experienced some form of trauma. The impact of which alters our mind, body, and brain. It’s time to expand the wheelhouse of acting techniques to include our new understanding of how trauma impacts human nature. It’s time to bring wellbeing approaches to acting into the training institutes, onto film sets and rehearsal studios. ‘Trauma-informed’ is not a term to shy away from but rather embraced and respected for the insights it can offer in our approach to acting and actor training. Having DIY tools to regulate emotion during performances is a game changer. It’s the difference between an actor suffering for their art and an actor being in control of their craft.

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