I use a variety of “action methods”, including psychodrama, in my work with couples, individuals, in groups, and in workshops. In psychodrama, “…people enact scenes from their lives, dreams or fantasies in an effort to express unexpressed feelings, gain new insights and understandings, and practice new and more satisfying behaviors.” (Garcia A. and Buchanan,
D.R., 2000, Psychodrama. In P. Lewis & D.R. Johnson, Current Approaches in Drama Therapy.)

Action methods are often referred to as “experiential”. That is, we tend to learn from experience. Role playing and other action methods allow us to experience our life situations in the moment, rather than just talking about the past or the future. By “enacting” scenes from our lives in the present moment, we have more clarity about our feelings and beliefs. This helps us to understand ourselves and our relationships, and to practice, or “rehearse” new behaviors in the session.

Psychodrama was developed by the psychiatrist Jacob Moreno (1889- 1974), who was born in Vienna, Austria, but immigrated to the United States in the 1920’s. Moreno is also one of the founders of group psychotherapy (he actually coined the term), and role theory. Regarding the latter, “Moreno believed that each person is a composite of the roles he/she plays. Human beings are known and evaluated by self and others through the roles they play.” (Garcia, A. and Buchanan, D.R.)

One of the cornerstones of psychodrama is the theory of spontaneity and creativity. According to Moreno, “The protagonist (that is, the client, or any human being) is challenged to respond with some degree of adequacy to a new situation or with some degree of novelty to an old situation.” (1964, Psychodrama & Group Psychotherapy). It is easy to see how our problems result from our inability to get unstuck. We need to find new, creative solutions to our problems. Moreno teaches us to be in the moment and “…to think beyond our own personal limitations and see the world in a new way.” (Garcia, A. and Buchanan, D.R.)

There is a great wealth of techniques and action methods in psychodrama. The two most important tools used by the therapist, or “director”, are role reversals and doubling. The client (protagonist) will often enact a scene that represents a problem or some concern, either with another person (e.g., family member, spouse, friend – living or dead), or with parts of themselves (e.g., inner child, inner critic, etc.). There will be a conversation between these roles, and the director will ask the client to “reverse roles”. This helps the client to have a deeper understanding of, and empathy with, the other person or internal part.

Doubling occurs when the therapist (director), or a group member stands behind the client (protagonist) and speaks for that person. The double actually speaks the words as if they were being spoken by the client. These doubling statements are designed to deepen the spoken truth and the feeling level of the client. After the doubling statement is made, the client is asked to repeat the statement if it is true for them, or to change the statement if it is not their truth.

Structurally, the psychodrama process includes three major parts:

	Warm-up – Prepares clients for the enactment by focusing on specific issues or themes. Many different types of warm-ups are used, including open discussion, meditations and visualizations, art work, pen and paper exercises, etc.
	Enactment – The actual drama, staged by the client with the director’s assistance. The drama includes conversations between the client and “auxiliaries” (i.e., spouse, family member, friend, etc.). The auxiliary may be an empty chair or a colored scarf that represents the actual person. In a therapy group or workshop, the auxiliary is a group member chosen by the client.
	Sharing – Generally in a group setting, everyone from the “audience” has an opportunity to talk briefly about how they experienced the drama. Group members talk about how they relate to the drama personally – what they have learned for themselves. The sharing phase is a time to reflect and to integrate the new learning.

Psychodrama is a recognized and validated school and method of psychotherapy. It can also be viewed as a type of training – to learn how to use our internal and external resources to respond more effectively to the demands and challenges of life. Moreno believed:

“…that one of the greatest dangers facing modern humanity, particularly in technocratic societies, is the habit of approaching life in a robotized way, not exercising one’s spontaneity. He was concerned that if people persistently acted rigidly and routinely in relation to their world, they would diminish their ability to be spontaneous, creative, joyful, and deeply
satisfied in their lives and human interactions. He devised spontaneity training techniques as a way of helping people enhance and restore spontaneity.” (Sternberg, P. and Garcia, A.,1989, Sociodrama)

To make an appointment, call Richard Loebl, LCSW at 561-955-6090,
or send him an email at Richard@RelationshipCenterofSouthFlorida.com.