What is Psychodrama? – Psychological therapies.

What is Psychodrama

Psychodrama: Its history.

Jacob Levy Moreno was the main creator of psychodramatic therapy. His interest in human psychological nature caused him to focus on Freud’s psychoanalytic theories. However, he later abandoned them to focus on what would later become his main paradigm: Psychodrama.

During his student years at the University of Vienna, Moreno started a project in which he told stories to children in the parks. By observing them, he discovered that they enjoyed and “lived” the stories if they were allowed to act as the characters in the stories.

“Jacob Levy Moreno observed that children live the stories of stories and tales.”

Later, Moreno worked with disadvantaged groups (refugees, prostitutes, patients with schizophrenia …). He observed how the care and support they gave each other favored the healing of their psychological wounds. In 1921 he founded “the theater of improvisation”. During that time, Moreno confirmed the therapeutic power that joint performance and group intervention created.

Moreno adapted what he had observed during all those years to form his psychodramatic paradigm. Psychodrama became a therapy where patients solved their difficulties on stage.

“Through psychodrama, patients resolve their conflicts on stage.”

In addition, the participation of others became an aspect of problem solving. Patients improved their mood thanks to the group format contributing to:

  • Normalize the situation the person was going through.
  • Bring new perspectives on the problem.
  • Foster ties of support and cooperation among participants, etc.

This therapy can be given in various formats. Individual therapies, family or couples therapy also have a place in psychodramatic therapy, for example.

What is Psychodrama?

So what is psychodrama? Basically, it is a method in which the person stands on a stage and dramatizes relevant (and usually problematic) events in his life.

“That is to say, in psychodrama, the person does not limit himself to talking about his problems, but acts on them.”

This implies exploring in a deep and direct way the psychological difficulties that a subject usually faces. On stage you can dramatize and explore multiple facets of your life: non-verbalized thoughts and emotions, people around you, fantasies, future projections …

In these representations there is always the figure of the therapist, in charge of caring for and guiding the patient during the process.

Through acting, the person’s problems are expressed.

Therapeutic principles of psychodrama.

This process is based on five basic therapeutic principles:

  1. Psychodrama is based on concrete representations.
  2. The behaviors, emotions, thoughts … shown by the person during the role play should be as authentic as possible.
  3. It is important that the details of the depicted episodes accurately resemble the original situations.
  4. Psychodrama offers a context to expand the experiences of the subject from a new perspective.
  5. Psychodrama involves a succession of simulated episodes and interrelations.

In Psychodrama, a series of techniques are used to pursue the goals of therapy. These usually involve:

  • Become aware and improve understanding of the different thoughts, behaviors, emotions, motivations, relationships … involved in the problem.
  • Explore and find new ways to respond to the situation from a different perspective.
  • Give a space to rehearse and learn this new way of proceeding that was found to be more convenient. Acting on the behaviors beforehand will increase the confidence of the person when they have to take them to real life.

Role theory and Psychodrama.

Role theory is one of the fundamental theories of Psychodrama. In psychology, we know the importance of being able to detect the dynamics by which people suffer. In Psychodrama, these dynamics occur through the roles that people play in different contexts.

For Psychodrama, people are continually playing roles (the role of “mother”, “good friend”, “responsible student”, etc.)

Roles are built on the basis of each other. In other words, “I am what I am because of how I have built myself on the basis of others.” However, some of these roles can become pathological, causing problems for the subject (eg, very rigid, decontextualized roles, inappropriate for the subject’s age, etc.).

Psychodrama would treat those pathological roles in therapy and would provide a context to direct them towards less problematic ones.

Psychodrama conceives three types of main roles in the human being:

Psychosomatic roles.

It is about bodily roles constructed in relation to others. It not only has to do with physical appearance, but with the subject’s own health. It is a global vision of the image and physical conception that others have transmitted and that we have assumed. It includes physiological, motor and psychological aspects.

Roles sociodramáticos.

In this case, we refer to social roles. They are what a “parent”, “friend”, “partner”, etc. is expected to do. in our social and cultural context. That is, there are a series of characteristics that that person has to fulfill in order to be assigned that role.

There are three different types of roles in psychodrama.

Psychodramatic roles.

It is the particular way that each one has to conceive and represent a specific sociodramatic role. That is to say, not everyone assumes and fulfills the characteristics of a sociodramatic role at the bottom of the table. Each one has their own style of behavior when playing that role.

Elements of a Psychodrama session.

Normally, a Psychodrama session has a series of elements where the therapeutic work is developed.

Stage.

It is the physical space where the dramatization is going to take place. In this, the protagonist will represent (with the support of the director) what is causing a problem.

“The setting, the protagonist and the director are essential in psychodrama.”

Good stage preparation is essential. The clearer the details, location, limits … of it and the better it represents the reality of the subject, the easier and more effective the development of the dramatization will be.

The protagonist.

The protagonist is the patient who is going to recreate his problem during the Psychodrama session.

Director.

The therapist is the director in the psychodrama. He is responsible for organizing the session and attending the representation that takes place on stage. As a professional, he is knowledgeable about the different floor-coding techniques and principles necessary to achieve therapeutic goals.

In addition, monitor the mood of the protagonist at all times. Take care of and monitor the process to avoid possible harm to the protagonist and the other members of the group.

The Helpers (“I Helpers”).

The assistants are the people who act representing the characters that are part of the dramatized scene (eg family, partner … of the protagonist). Its function is to help the protagonist develop his scene.

The assistants can be either therapists or the rest of the members of the psychodramatic group. Now, the participation of the assistants must be agreed between the person, the director and the protagonist.

In more individual therapies, the characters can be represented by the same therapist or symbolically represented by objects (eg empty chairs). This format is known as “monodrama.”

The public.

Made up of the members of the therapy group. They participate in the scene, learning, remembering and sharing their impressions, experiences… about what was represented in the scene.

Structure of a psychodrama session.

Every Psychodrama session is usually divided into three fundamental parts:

Warming up.

In this first phase the group is prepared for therapeutic work. In Psychodrama you do not go to work directly, but rather, each person must be in an optimal state to be able to participate.

“The warm-up phase seeks to reduce feelings of discomfort, shame, etc. as much as possible. that would make psychodramatic work difficult ”.

In addition, it helps participants to “connect” with each other. There are several ways to achieve this relaxed environment: with activities that involve humor, relaxation sessions, physical activity, group dynamics, etc.

The protagonist acts and represents his conflict on stage.

Action.

Here, the person who wants to be the protagonist must take the stage and act out the conflict they want to work on. You must do it with enough emotional distance so that you can reflect, work and understand… your problem.

But, you must do it with enough involvement so that you are able to connect and experience this conflict. This task is not easy for the protagonist, but the director is there to support and guide him through the process.

“The objective of this phase involves changing the repetitive patterns of action of the past that caused problems so as not to repeat them again.”

Once alternative solutions to the problem have been found, they are put into practice on stage. The protagonist then explores how he feels about this new behavior. If he thinks it is the right one, he will rehearse it to put it into practice in real life.

Share.

Once the performance is over, the protagonist and the director meet with the group (if there is one) and prepare to exchange impressions of it. Each one expresses and shares how they felt during the performance.

It is important not to criticize, judge or interpret what happened. Thanks to this, the protagonist and participants can fearlessly express their impressions and support each other.

Psychodramatic techniques.

Psychodramatic techniques

Some of the techniques used in a psychodrama session are the following:

The double.

This technique is often used when the protagonist finds it difficult to express something. The director or the auxiliary self stands behind the protagonist. When this is not clearly expressed, the double helps him in his task:

“The double speaks in the first person and relates the feelings that the protagonist cannot verbalize.”

Afterwards, the director asks the protagonist if he feels identified with what the double has related and works on it.

Mirror.

Here, the auxiliary selves repeat what the protagonist has represented in the scene while he observes said imitation. It serves to invite the protagonist to reflect on their verbal and non-verbal behavior, emotions, attitudes, behaviors, etc.

Changing roles.

It consists of the protagonist playing the role of another. For example, if you are acting out a couple conflict, the protagonist takes the place of the partner and the auxiliary self takes the role of the protagonist.

“The task of changing roles in psychodrama puts empathy into action by putting yourself in the shoes of the other.”

Once the dramatization ends, they are invited to reflect on the impressions by putting themselves in the shoes of the other.

Role-playing.

This technique is used when the scene is directed as a monodrama. That is, the protagonists play all the roles alone (without assistants).

Once finished, the protagonist communicates what he has learned when interpreting another and the feelings that it has awakened.

Projection into the future.

The director can invite the protagonist to imagine a scene from the future. This is intended for the protagonist to “play” with his wishes and dreams … and to reflect on them.

You can represent a situation looking to the future.

Soliloquio.

In a soliloquy the scene stops and the protagonist begins to express his emotions or thoughts aloud (from his assumed role).

The goal of the soliloquy is the externalization and amplification of your feelings. This technique helps the protagonist increase awareness about them.

Conclusions.

In this article a few brief touches on psychodramatic therapy have been given. As a summary, we can say that psychodrama is one more form of therapy, which uses creative and dynamic elements as a way of working.

Its particularity lies in its way of conceiving therapy. The client is placed in a new environment, where real life situations are presented and internal experiences are made concrete.

The internal world of the person is taken out and with this that world must be recognized and later transformed. It is an active process, where the subject must act, feel and reflect to change what makes him suffer.

Psychodrama has proven its effectiveness in various disorders (personality disorders, ED, schizophrenia, etc.). However, there is still little evidence on its efficacy and scientific evidence. This is mainly due to the fact that this type of therapy has not been as well studied as others.

However, generally the reviews and scientific articles that have appeared in recent years conclude that psychodrama is an effective psychotherapeutic model in various disorders. More research will be needed to investigate the effects of this therapy.

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Alexa Clark specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She has experience in listening and welcoming in Individual Therapy and Couples Therapy. It meets demands such as generalized anxiety, professional, love and family conflicts, stress, depression, sexual dysfunction, grief, and adolescents from 15 years of age. Over the years, She felt the need to conduct the psychotherapy sessions with subtlety since She understands that the psychologist acts as a facilitator of self-understanding and self-acceptance, valuing each person's respect, uniqueness, and acceptance.

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