PSYCHODRAMA: HISTORY, WHAT IT IS FOR, PHASES AND TECHNIQUES - ECONOMÍA - 2025

The psychodrama is a type of therapy that uses techniques such as drama, role plays and dialogues among several participants to investigate their psychological problems, resolve internal conflicts and improve your mental health. It was developed by Jacob Moreno in the early 20th century.

The name of this therapy comes from the fact that, in psychodrama sessions, elements of the theater are used. Therapy often takes place on a stage, with several participants. Each session seeks to visibly represent past or future situations, or internal mental processes.

Source: pexels.com

By seeing their mental states represented, participants in a psychodrama session can assess their own behavior and emotions, as well as more easily understand how a particular situation is affecting their lives. This therapy, therefore, provides very useful tools to solve personal problems.

Despite being done in a group, psychodrama is not usually considered a form of group therapy. This is because each session focuses on the problems of one of the participants. However, the rest of those involved in a session can derive some benefit from observing their colleagues' problems and analyzing them.

History

Psychodrama was developed in the early 20th century by a psychiatrist named Jacob Moreno, who conducted the first official session in 1921. One of his main intentions in creating this new type of therapy was to combine the benefits of group sessions from other approaches. with individual work with each client.

Moreno got the idea to develop a theater-based type of therapy by observing an actress with a typically violent temper, who seemed to largely calm down when she had to act like an aggressive character. This led him to think that the behaviors performed could influence the real life of an individual.

To develop this form of alternative therapy, he combined his knowledge of philosophy, psychiatry, theater, and mysticism. During the 1930s, she founded the Beacon Hospital in New York, which included a small theater in which psychodrama could be practiced as part of a larger therapy.

In 1942, Moreno created an association known as the American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama. During the rest of his life, he dedicated himself to traveling and teaching to use the techniques that he had developed in many countries; and after his death in 1974, his wife Zerka continued with this work.

Although Jacob Moreno was the main promoter of psychodrama, he was not the only one who contributed to its development. Among the most notable figures in this discipline we find psychologists such as Martin Haskell, Anne Ancelin Schtzenberger, Eya Fechnin Branham, Marcia Karp, and Gretel Leutz.

What is psychodrama for?

When he created this type of therapy, Jacob Moreno described psychodrama as a scientific exploration of truth through a dramatic method. His approach combines elements drawn from sociometry, group dynamics, and role theory, as well as trying to encourage creativity and spontaneity.

The objective of the psychodrama sessions is to generate emotional, behavioral and cognitive responses in patients, so that they are able to better understand the roles they play in different facets of their lives, the challenges they are facing, and the ways in which they interact with others.

The main benefit of psychodrama is generally considered to be that it enables patients to generate new perspectives on their past, present, and future lives.

By allowing people to explore their life "from the outside," they are able to think of new solutions and rationally observe what is happening to them.

Areas in which it is used

Although psychodrama originally emerged as psychological therapy, today it is applied to a large number of different fields. This technique, and others derived from it, have been used for several decades in areas such as business, education, and professional training, as well as in professions such as coaching.

Within the clinical world, psychodrama fits with different approaches and can be used as a complement to other, more traditional types of therapy. It is usually used in conjunction with techniques derived from Gestalt psychology, social intervention, deep psychologies, and cognitive-behavioral therapy.

The clinical field in which psychodrama is most used is in the treatment of all types of trauma. For example, this therapy has been shown to be especially effective in alleviating many of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

A special area in which psychodrama can be used is in treating people with unhealthy relational styles. The different types of insecure attachment are usually formed due to problems in the relationship with the parents; so reliving this relationship in therapy can help alleviate the problems that arise from it.

Phases of the sessions

All psychodrama sessions have three phases: warm-up, role-play, and sharing.

Heating

The warm-up phase serves to get the participants into the task they are going to do, build trust between them and the director, and familiarize them with the method to be followed. The idea is to put individuals in the right emotional state for psychodrama to take effect.

There are many ways to warm up. Moreno had all the participants speak and share their thoughts and experiences.

Other alternatives can be to do group dynamics, do presentation activities, or choose several volunteers to briefly show how the session will work.

Representation

In the representation phase, a volunteer shares a problem they want to work on with the group, and together with the director instructs the rest of the participants to behave according to the situation they want to relive or represent.

Generally, psychodrama sessions take place in a certain setting, which is divided into three concentric circles. In each of them, the participants play a role. On the outside are the observers, in the middle those who represent the environment of what happened, and in the center the situation is carried out as such.

The protagonist can choose both to participate in the representation in the role of anyone involved, and to stay outside and become an observer.

Exchange

In the last phase of a psychodrama session, all those involved share the impressions that the performance has conveyed to them. Typically, the protagonist first shares what he has learned from the situation; but later on, the rest of the participants also talk about their experience.

The idea is that both actors and observers convey to the protagonist how they feel identified with his story. In this way, a situation that is initially traumatic and complicated is normalized, and new knowledge is acquired on how to deal with it.

This part of the psychodrama sessions is the most valuable. In fact, it is often said that if the exchange phase has not gone well, the whole process has been in vain. Therefore, the director has to try to get all those involved to participate and feel capable of sharing what they have experienced.

Finally, after the exchange phase, some type of exercise is usually carried out to help the participants to detach themselves from the sensations that they have taken from the session, and to return their attention to the real world.

Techniques

Psychodrama sessions are generally conducted as part of weekly therapy, in groups of 8-12 participants. Each session lasts approximately 2 hours, each of them being focused on a specific problem of one of the participants, with the rest of the group representing different characters of the chosen situation.

Although there are techniques for each of the phases, the most important are those that are carried out in the representation phase. Here we will see some of the most common.

Changing roles

With the change of roles, the protagonist abandons his role and acts as the character of an important person in his life. In this way, the protagonist can better understand the role that the other individual plays in the situation, in such a way that he can increase his empathy.

At the same time, role reversal can also help the therapist better understand what kinds of dynamics are taking place in the specific situation. This helps you find out what approach you can take to troubleshoot existing problems.

Mirroring

With the mirror, the protagonist becomes an observer of the scene, while another participant plays his role in the scene. In this way, the protagonist can look at himself from the outside, which helps to reduce the emotional impact of the therapy and to rationally reflect on what is happening.

At the same time, mirroring is very useful in helping the patient to realize the ways in which he is acting, something that is very difficult to see from within.

Duplication

In the duplication, one of the participants adopts the behavior and movements of the protagonist, and shares with the group the thoughts and emotions that he thinks he is feeling. This technique can be used to help the rest of the group members to put themselves in the patient's place.

On the other hand, the duplication is also very useful to confront the protagonist on his way of behaving. In this way, he can realize what he is doing that he does not like, and look for an alternative way to act.

References

1. "What is psychodrama?" in: Psychology Today. Retrieved on: March 29, 2019 from Psychology Today: psychologytoday.com.
2. "What is psychodrama" in: Fepto. Retrieved on: March 29, 2019 from Fepto: fepto.com.
3. "Psychodrama" in: Good Therapy. Retrieved on: March 29, 2019 from Good Therapy: goodtherapy.org.
4. "What is psychodrama?" in: British Psychodrama Association. Retrieved on: March 29, 2019 from British Psychodrama Association: psychodrama.org.uk.
5. "Psychodrama" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: March 29, 2019 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.