Emily MacRae

Emily graduated from our MA Dramatherapy in 2025. Since then, she has worked with Tangled Feet, a theatre company with a large creative arts therapy offer in South London, is part of Chroma's Professional Excellence Programme and is about to start work with Roundabout Dramatherapy.

Tell us more about what you’ve been doing since graduating.

Firstly, I had a holiday! And then I started working as a dramatherapist for Tangled Feet. I'm working with teenagers who have a diagnosis of ADHD and/or ASD, and those who present with behavioural or emotional challenges. I'm working in a PRU (Pupil Referral Unit) where the young people are often having a 12 week respite away from their mainstream school.

I'm also about to start work with Chroma, a nationwide creative arts therapies organisation, on their professional excellence programme, predominantly working with looked-after children.

What did you do before coming to ARU?

I went to East 15 Acting School and then worked as an actor and a singer for a number of years. At the same time, I taught drama and music in schools. I got to the point where I thought I needed to get a “proper” job, so I transitioned to working in marketing, but I realised over time that it wasn’t right for me. I knew that I wanted to do something more creative and use my experience to help people in a different way, which is when I discovered dramatherapy.

What made you want to get involved with dramatherapy in the first place?

When I was working as a drama teacher, I really noticed the power that drama had to heal. I was working with children in primary schools at the time, and I think it just really struck me how amazing drama was as a tool for helping people with communication, healing and a variety of other things. I think that was the first time my interest was piqued.

As time went on, I realised that dramatherapy was actually a thing and I just became more and more curious about it. I had also begun to have therapy myself and I realised how important therapy had been for me. That was when I connected the two things together and thought “This is the time,” and just went for it.

Did you always know that you would go to university and if not, what changed your mind?

I always thought I would go to drama school and go down a creative path. Luckily, it was affiliated with a university so I got an honours degree, though it was much more practical than academic of course. I didn't necessarily think I would go back to do a master's. I just got to a certain point in my life where I really wanted to study again, and learn something new.

For me studying a master's was like starting again as I didn't have any experience of the traditional university model. I'd never written a dissertation before – I hadn't done any academic writing – so I had to learn all of that from scratch. That was a challenge, but it was also really good to flex those muscles and challenge myself again.

I started my master's when my maternity leave finished, so I was also doing this while raising my daughter, which added an extra challenge. But I think that was quite helpful in a way because it meant I had to be really boundaried and make sure that all parts of my life were still being managed well. Because if studying meant making sacrifices in my family life, I wouldn't have done it.

Why did you choose to study at ARU?

Anglia Ruskin was the only place I wanted to go. I’d enquired about a few different places and had conversations with people from other courses, but then I met Stavroulla Demetriou (Senior Lecturer, MA Dramatherapy) at an online Open Evening and really got on with her. I felt like we had a good connection straight away, and she was so helpful and understanding. I had lots of questions, and she was really happy to answer them, so I got a really good vibe from the start.

I also really liked that the dramatherapists and music therapists were quite connected. We had a lot of our lectures together, a group improvisational performance module, and some other projects that we did together as well. That really appealed to me because I'm a musician as well, and I'd been toying with whether to do dramatherapy or music therapy. In the end dramatherapy was definitely right for me, but it was still really nice to learn about music therapy as well, and be with the music therapists.

So it just got to the point where I was really sure that if I was going to do this, I wanted to do it at Anglia Ruskin.

What’s the most valuable thing you took away from your education?

That’s a difficult thing to say because I took so much away from the course. It isn't only about learning how to be a dramatherapist, it's also learning about yourself. In the process of training you do a lot of therapy – we had experiential groups, and group supervision. So that's probably one of the biggest things - just learning about myself, and making meaningful connections with my cohort, tutors and supervisors, making lifelong friendships and growing together. It was a really important part of the process. You’re constantly learning and growing, questioning and reflecting on things.

It was an amazing experience, really amazing, especially for me as a mature student and a new parent. There was just so much about it that was brilliant for me at that point in my life. I’m really grateful.

Which aspects of the course most helped your career development, and why?

What helped me most was definitely the placements, when I actually started practising. Before that, we’d learned all the practical skills and the academic side of things, but when we started meeting clients for the first time, that was when the real learning started.

It was really important for me to be placed with organisations that were going to help my future career but also be suitable for my situation and my life. As I was living in London, not Cambridge, I couldn't be travelling for two hours to my placement – it just wasn't practical. But the university and tutors really listened to that, and helped me find placements that were close to me.

It also opened so many doors for me in my community. My second year placement introduced me to other dramatherapists and the company that I work for now, so that was really important. I know in a lot of universities people have to find their own placements, which seems quite a challenging thing to do, so I was really lucky to be able to work with my tutors to find the ideal placements for both my first and second year.

What piece of advice would you give to other students in your field?

Follow your instincts. I realised quite early on exactly where I wanted to train, but really make sure you look into all the options and go with the place that feels right for you.

And remember you need balance. When you begin working as a dramatherapist, balance is really important, so starting to practise that while you're training is a really good idea because it can be all-consuming and overwhelming. It's a short amount of time to learn a lot so remember not to let it consume all aspects of your life – it will be good practise for after you graduate.

So my advice would be: balance and boundaries. Remember those boundaries. It's a really rich course and a really amazing course where you'll learn so much about yourself, but make sure you remember who you are outside, as that’s also really important.

What was your favourite thing about studying in Cambridge?

I didn't get to experience a lot of Cambridge. I travelled from London, got myself a folding bike, and commuted - which was actually completely fine. You just sit on a train and do your work because those were some of the quietest moments that I had in my week. I would get off the train at Cambridge, cycle to Uni, have my lessons, go straight home.

And it's absolutely commutable from London. It's just two or three days a week in the first year, and only one day a week in the second year. Obviously the tutors want everyone to be on time, but they were very understanding that some of us were commuting from London and couldn't be in control of the trains.

After my very final assessment, two of my friends and I went punting and had a bit of the Cambridge experience, which was really nice as I didn't get to experience a lot of the Cambridge life as I was always rushing home to my little girl. But I could see that it looked like a lot of fun!

What projects are you currently working on, both at work and outside it?

In terms of projects at work, I've been with Tangled Feet for a few months now and am working with Chroma on the professional excellence programme, which is really exciting. I’m also starting work with Roundabout which is great.

Obviously, I am very busy with work and parenting, but I was singing in an indie pop band for a long time and then, when COVID happened, it all stopped. I haven't really returned to it during my master's because there was too much going on. But now that I'm working, I actually have a little bit more time, so I've started singing with my band again. My friends have already written the album and I'm just coming in at the end and putting my vocals on it. It's nice to be doing something creative again.