Danielle Levanas, Relationship Coach and Drama Therapist

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Santa Monica, CA
Danielle Levanas, Relationship Coach and Drama Therapist

I am a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist and Registered Drama Therapist/Board-Certified Trainer based in Los Angeles.

My work focuses on family systems, vicarious trauma, intersectional identities, anti-racism, and relational healing.

11/27/2025

Me in New Mexico, as seen through the eyes of my 8 year old. Gratitude feels so elusive in moments of chaos, but bountiful in times of stillness or loss. Ever holding the contradictions. I aim to find the space for gratitude today and every day. Love to you and yours ❣️

10/29/2025

As we enter into the season of darkening days, it might be hard not to let any latent anger, sadness, comparison, or grief overwhelm. And yet, there is deep beauty and satisfaction in the being enveloped by the dark when we are not fighting with ourself. Rituals bring meaning. They allow for us to be intentional around moments that would otherwise pass by in a haze of anxiety or hustle or distraction. Community rituals connect us to the fact that we are not alone. Descanso Gardens creates an ofrenda each year in the Mexican tradition for Dia de Los Mu***os. My family and I wrote the names of family members who have passed, then read so many other names and messages from others who have done the same. We are connected in a web not only of the happy times, but also in sorrow and pain. We can externalize our inner monuments and elevate them through community action and sharing.

10/01/2025

I have been lucky to be a part of Walking the Beat, a devised theater process at under the leadership of Theo Perkins and Elizabeth Youth Theater Project, for the past 5 years. Tonight we saw the final performance of this year’s cast of teens and police officers who collaborated on a deeply moving piece about Democracy. Didn’t think I’d be feeling such hope at this stage in 2025, but damn this ensemble represents everything good in our world! Through community, not through uniformity of ideas or beliefs, we can find our way out of the mess we are in. Keep meeting in person, folx. Keep talking, creating, sharing, making food, taking care of each other. Keep gathering in person. ❤️ We can be so powerful.

09/28/2025

09/27/2025

So this is what it feels like most of the time these days. Life is full and rich with urgency (mostly others needing me RIGHT NOW for another Dino nugget or bandaid or hug or deep chat). Life is not very abundant in rest or ease. Life is a mess, and I often feel like I’m at the center of the storm just hanging on as all the beautiful people and events and feelings and stories and meals and connections and relationships and challenges spin on by. I’m grateful AND it’s a lot. I’m happy AND I’m filled with anxiety and discontent. I’m open AND I’m just too tired. I’m ready AND I’m scared. So many contradictions. So many uncertainties. So many unknowns. And we ride the in-between.

09/17/2025

Saturday October 4th from 10-12pm! Join us for a conversation about Grief and Love and Sudden Loss and Joy. I’ll be reading a bit from my essay featured in .us ‘s magazine “it’s ok to try” and we will share coffee and chat and connect and try to make some glimmers in this shattering time. Gathering at in Lincoln Heights ❤️

02/14/2025

Today for Valentine’s Day: Revisiting Home. A piece I wrote for MOM WORLD on the proximity to loss and the structures that hold us ❤️‍🩹 .us

Link in bio.

01/28/2025

Read on Substack. Link in bio

Address

Santa Monica, CA

Website

http://www.daniellelevanas.com/

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What is Drama Therapy?

We all play roles in our lives – Some we choose, some are given to us, and some we embody fully. Some we object to but cannot seem to avoid. Others we are forced to play by our families or society.

In Drama Therapy, health is viewed as the ability to fluidly transition between roles – even roles that seem to be in contradiction to each other. For example, I can be the competent professional, the anxious one, and the warrior in my life all at the same time.

Being stuck in unhealthy patterns, likewise, can be viewed as being restricted to a small cluster of similar roles. For example, if I only see myself as the depressed one, the lost child, and the outcast, I probably won’t find myself with the resources needed to lead a balanced, healthy life.

Drama Therapy can help us identify the roles we play and start to create meaning around our story. We try to move away from the binaries of right/wrong or good/bad, and instead see ourselves as constantly changing, complex, and dynamic individuals in relationship to the world around us. Drama Therapy can serve individuals of all ages dealing with trauma, depression, anxiety, addiction, relationship ruptures, life goal blocks, and social/behavioral challenges.