psychodrama treatment

[Adam Blatner]

I know Elaine does good work and is one of the pioneers of psychodrama in America.
          But I want to note an interesting problem: I think that the symptoms of many if 
not most patients not only reflect their own dynamics, but also serve to disguise or avoid 
a deeper characterologic condition. In such conditions, people still hold on to symbolic 
goals, often serving to promote their own sense of self. (Alfred Adler's perspective is 
relative here.)

        A related dynamic point: Guilt about issue 1 that might evoke sympathy from others 
often disguises a more shameful guilt about a dynamic that is still operating and/or clung 
to.
         the clue in this case:
     E. wrote: "... in this drama there were lots of other cues-M's addictions, living 
with Gmother and her rules-absent F, etc.

          Addictions are powerful themes, often reflecting profound deflections of life 
force from a more wholesome goals (Adler's concept of social interest or a more 
transpersonal perspective about developing a sense of fullness from within may be 
relevant.)

         Point is that as much as I find psychodrama to be a profoundly useful complex of 
tools, there are some jobs that require a lot more work over more time, more commitment, 
more investment, etc. than can be accounted for by any type of therapy.
     It isn't the approach, it's the whole complex of person, diagnosis, commitment, 
resources, and many other factors.

            (This is in part stimulated by a question some professionals asked me at a 
workshop yesterday: Can psychodrama be used to treat PTSD?  My answer was that the 
treatment involved a thorough diagnostic process throughout the working process. That 
tools don't substitute for the wider field of therapy.)  If others are interested, I'll 
comment further.
              Warmly, Adam