About
Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
— James Baldwin.
Psychotherapist, educator and applied theatre practitioner
My name is Benjamin Rivers. I am a psychotherapist and educator with more than 20 years of experience across mental health, social work and community arts. My work brings together Internal Family Systems (IFS), somatic approaches, applied theatre and voice work. I offer psychotherapy, clinical consultation and mentorship, and facilitate international workshops, training programmes and retreats.
Based in Galicia, Spain, I work with individuals and groups internationally, both online and in person. Across these different settings, I am interested in how we come to understand ourselves, develop more compassionate relationships with our inner worlds, and discover new possibilities for living and relating.
A mending, a kind of fundamental healing takes place when a story is being told and heard.
— Barbara Myerhoff
My approach
My therapeutic practice is informed by the belief that healing involves more than understanding our difficulties intellectually. It can also involve listening to the body, exploring our emotional lives, and finding new ways to express experiences that have been difficult to articulate.
Internal Family Systems offers a framework for approaching the different parts of ourselves with curiosity and compassion. Somatic work, drama therapy, psychodrama and voice work provide additional ways of exploring experience through the body, imagination, relationship and creative expression.
I aim to create a space in which people can meet themselves with greater openness, make sense of what they have lived through, and develop a deeper sense of connection with themselves and others.
I am a Level 3 Certified IFS Therapist and Approved IFS Clinical Consultant, an Accredited Clinical Social Worker with the Australian Association of Social Workers, a Registered Drama Therapist and Board-Certified Trainer with the North American Drama Therapy Association and an Accredited Playback Theatre Trainer through the Centre for Playback Theatre. I hold a Bachelor of Social Work from Deakin University, a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology specialising in Drama Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies, and a PhD in Peace Studies from the University of New England, Australia.
A life shaped by art and social change
I was born in Scotland and grew up in Tasmania, Australia. My parents were part of the back-to-the-land movement and practised Tibetan Buddhism. They lived close to the land and later became involved in civil rights, feminist, anti-war and ecological movements. Our home was a gathering place for friends, family and travellers. I remain grateful for these early experiences, which continue to shape my understanding of community, social justice and the relationship between personal and collective change.
In my late teens, I discovered physical theatre, contemporary circus and the Roy Hart approach to voice. These practices introduced me to new ways of experiencing the body, emotion and consciousness. Through improvisation, I discovered the possibilities of listening, collaboration and creative expression, and experienced something of the transformative potential of the arts.
I began working in social services in my early twenties, in settings that included disability services, hospitals, child and family services, hospice care and the prison system. My interest in the relationship between the arts and personal and social change gradually led me towards psychotherapy and drama therapy.
Working with communities
In 2008, I moved to San Francisco to study counselling psychology and drama therapy. There, I worked with artists, therapists and activists exploring the intersections of community health, human rights and creative practice.
My growing interest in collective trauma and arts-based activism eventually took me to Palestine, where I lived in Jenin Refugee Camp for four years. I facilitated drama therapy groups for people affected by political violence, developed psychodrama training for Palestinian mental health workers, and co-founded The Freedom Bus, an initiative using interactive theatre and cultural activism to build connections and support struggles for freedom and justice.
I subsequently worked across the Middle East and other regions, facilitating workshops and supporting practitioners and communities affected by violence, displacement and oppression.
In 2012, I began teaching regularly in Egypt. In partnership with a group of Egyptian and Lebanese students, I founded Dawar Arts and Dawar Kitchen, two independent community organisations in Cairo. Through its programmes, Dawar has worked with thousands of people affected by sexual and political violence, including migrants and refugees. This work continues to inform my understanding of healing as both a personal and a collective process.
Retreats, voice and performance
Alongside my therapeutic work, I lead international workshops, training programmes and retreats bringing together IFS, somatic parts work, psychodrama and voice. These gatherings create opportunities for personal exploration, creative expression and connection, drawing on the depth of therapeutic practice and the freedom of artistic enquiry.
My own artistic practice remains an important part of this work. I continue to explore the relationship between voice, embodiment, identity and the stories that shape our lives.
I wrote and perform The Invaders’ Fear of Memories: A Play About the Colonisation of Palestine, a solo play directed by Linda Wise of the Roy Hart Theatre. Drawing on the diaries of my great-grandfather, Yosef Nachmani, the play traces his journey from Tsarist Russia to Ottoman Palestine and examines his role in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Through twelve characters and songs in Arabic, Hebrew, Ukrainian and Yiddish, the work explores ideology, violence, loyalty and grief. Since its premiere in 2023, the play has been performed in numerous countries around the world.
Beyond my work
Whether in psychotherapy, a training room, a retreat or on stage, I remain interested in how we make sense of our experiences, how our personal stories connect with the wider world, and what becomes possible when we approach ourselves and others with curiosity.
Outside my work, I fill my cup through reading, hiking, singing and spending time with family and friends.