Early Research

 

1967/1978 Goodmayes Essex

Sesame Goodmayes Pilot Project with long stay schizophrenic patients where Founder Billy Lindkvist asked for “people for whom all hope has been abandoned”.  This project was run by Jung/Laban trained Audrey Wethered with the Billy and the Sesame KATS demonstration team who toured the UK in the 60s and 70s.   In the pilot project there was no control group so the research failed as not being scientifically controlled. The work was revisited under scientific control some years later.  A control group met at the same time as the Sesame group and outcomes were compared.  The research was quantitative and used to assess the value of drama and movement therapy with an emphasis on bodily movement and inter-personal interaction.  It was written up in the British Journal of Medical Psychology 1974 Hudson, Stapleton and Bender.

1971/1973 Leavesden Hospital

The Sesame Research Project with withdrawn and disturbed young men with special needs.  This work shows how the men in the Sesame group responded to weekly sessions of drama and movement over a period of six months. 

1974 Smith Hospital Henley on Thames

The Sesame research Project with children with autism January to June 1974 worked with children who were considered to be psychotic or on the autistic spectrum. They were too isolated to follow the usual approach used by Sesame.  Communication is gradually built in to the work, and the report and DVD show how the children were encouraged to take the initiative in relationship over a period of time.

1976 Smith Hospital Henley on Thames

The Sesame team return to Smith Hospital to report on the work begun in 1974 showing the progress achieved over two and a half years.

Harperbury Hospital –

The Sesame Research Project with people with severe learning disabilities. The KATS team worked with the most extreme closed ward – the patients on this unit were not allowed out, even for Fete days in the hospital grounds.  The report tracks the progress and outcomes. 

 

If you are interested in learning more about these projects, please contact the Sesame Office