defending psychodrama

[PATRICIA DESERT]

Dear Kaya --The "Psychotherapy Networker" published an article a few months 
ago on the Evolution Conference and said much the same thing that you have 
reported.  Initially I was quite disturbed reading about Meichembaum's 
behavior, after all he is a guru in our field and should know better right? 
As I reflected on it I reminded myself how I forget that the masters in our 
field are also human and, as such, are subject to act in unkind, 
disrespectful, and arrogant ways.  Intelligence and creativity do not 
automatically give any of us the awareness, the willingness, and the ability 
to corral our hurtful behavior.  I don't always remember that unfortunately. 
{sigh}  On my best days though I do and that helps me keep my own behavior 
in check and to choose to learn and grow with those learned folks in our 
field who can do likewise.
    And I agree with you that our conferences have similar experiences, 
particularly around the issue of safety.  I believe presenters have the 
responsibility to make sure safety exists in workshops before any movement 
into action.  Experiential methods are powerful and although professionals 
attend the workshops at our psychodrama conferences they are bringing their 
histories and personalities into the mix.  We don't like to admit it 
perhaps, but many of our colleagues are walking wounded, with unhealed 
trauma managed by the sense of control that the role of "healer" offers. 
That veneer of control in participants can slip away in a psychodrama 
workshop where a presenter pushes for abreaction.  I have been in a workshop 
where the presenter continually pressured an obviously anxious and reluctant 
protagonist to express his anger.  The presenter was so invested in making 
this happen, which it never did, that we ended up having about 10 minutes 
for sharing before the end of the workshop.  The frustration was palpable.
    So I look for that safety being created, know that it won't always be 
there in conferences, and don't subject myself to experiences where it 
doesn't exist.  And isn't it wonderful that our conference organizers 
recognize this too and provide a place for folks to go when they need 
support?  Anyway, that was my two sense, or more {smile}.
    Kaya, sounds like you are one of those folks who is searching for your 
answers to all this. I think your community is blessed to have you willing 
to grapple with it all and to continue bringing psychodrama into the mix. 
Blessings and peace, Patti Desert in Baltimore, MD.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <drjb at mindspring.com>
To: <list at grouptalkweb.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 2:08 AM
Subject: Re: defending psychodrama


> Yikes Kaya-- I have been  scheduled to do a short course for the  6th 
> Brief Therapy Conference on December 7, 2006 in Anaheim. It is organized 
> by the Milton Erickson Foundation, the organizers for The Evolution of 
> Psychotherapy Conference with a similar format and with many of the same 
> presenters as the Evolution Conference. I hope it will be a kinder and 
> gentler place than when you attended. My workshop is called Couples 
> Enacting a Lasting Solution with Psychodrama. It runs for 90 minutes on 
> the first day of the conference.
>
> Thanks for your interesting  and honest reporting of the 2005 conference. 
> This conference meets every five years. I attended the 2000 Evolution of 
> Psychotherapy conference with Zerka. She was one of the master faculty and 
> she represented us beautifully--a lecture on tele, a 3 hour workshop with 
> a drama, a wonderful 1 hour demonstration drama using the photo technique 
> and a conversation hour plus a dialog with Salvadore Minuchin on family 
> therapy and a commentary on Paul Wachawitz's lecture, What If? I was 
> privileged to be her companion and so to be invited to all of the faculty 
> meals and functions. It was a wonderful sampling of all of the therapies 
> and their founders. There was also some infighting-- EMDR was the 
> scapegoat that year and some of the older faculty was quite rude and 
> unkind to Shapiro (especially Meichenbaum).
>
> The good news is that you can read Zerkas  lecture in her new book, The 
> Quintessential Zerka, pp.289-301 and she does quote van der Kolk. Also you 
> can obtain tapes of Zerka's work by contacting the Milton Erickson 
> Foundation, 3606 North 24th Street, PhoenixAZ, 85016-6500    Phone 602 
> 956-6196 www.erickson-foundation.org.
>
> Jeffrey Zeig invited Zerka to the 2005 Evolution Conference but she was 
> not physically up to it. He was not willing to take a substitute for that 
> conference because  the master category is for the originators of the 
> theories.
>
> Wasn't it exciting to have Moreno cited among the few in the Beyond Freud 
> article in Newsweek this year? Psychodrama kicks still.
>
> Please wish me well in Anaheim and wish us all well as we continue to 
> teach this modality in all of the ways we do. Jeanne
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: k.kade at att.net
> >Sent: Jul 28, 2006 2:39 PM
> >To: list at grouptalkweb.org
> >Subject: defending psychodrama
> >
> >Hello I want to tell a little story of mine that still echoes inside 
> >me.... I went to the Evolution of Psychotherapy conference last December. 
> >I think attendance was over 6,000 people and it was overwhelming... All 
> >the top names...it was like being at Woodstock or what I would imagine 
> >Woodstock to be.... Who do you choose to see etc.   I went and saw Van 
> >Der Kolk (Spelling is not my forte)  I really enjoyed his presentation 
> >and enjoyed the research that he was discovering.... All those 
> >mathematical and statistical formulas that was supporting his findings 
> >that the body needed to be included etc.  All these things that we can 
> >use to support us.  Then he showed us a video tape of working with 
> >teenagers who have experienced a big trauma..rape etc.  and he is using 
> >theatre and they re-create the stories and present them.... He has a 
> >director etc. etc. etc.  So I am very curious about this as he's a big 
> >name and he's doing theatre as a way to heal these issues that he is one 
> >of the int
> >ernational recognized known experts  on. So I went up to him and asked 
> >him why he did not call it psychodrama, what he thought of psychodrama 
> >etc.  His answer to me was that he attended a psychodrama conference and 
> >had three incidents that he was turned off by it.  One of those incidents 
> >had something to do with people coming out dressed in black robes with 
> >masks and that he felt that there was no safety involved.
> >
> >Now this conference was heavily ladden with the CBT people.  The opening 
> >session was done by ohhh that guy that Robin Williams played... Patch 
> >Adams  Really interesting man who has done a lot and for me I think I 
> >learned alot from him.  However he showed us pictures from some of the 
> >stuff he has done and really I left that feeling traumatized..... I wont 
> >describe the pictures so I don't traumatize any of who... Then Cloe 
> >Madanes and Anthony Robbins did a live presentation working with a 
> >couple...Now it may not be my style of working but it looked to me like 
> >the couple got something..... Later the next day I met the couple and 
> >they said they were very happy they had done it and they felt that it had 
> >done something for them.  I asked them if it felt like it was going to 
> >stick and they said they thought so but how would they kknow until it had 
> >stuck.... Well that couple and Cloe got a lot of hard time.  Madaanes and 
> >Robbins poster was actually defaced and written all over..... People
> >were coming up to the couple saying how sorry they were for the stuff 
> >that was said etc. etc. etc....   Lastly I went and saw Meichenbaum and 
> >Van Der Kolk have an interactive discussion and I was horrified at the 
> >discussion.  I was shocked at the condescending and rude way in which 
> >Meichenbaum treated Van Der Kolk... I was astounded.  I have the 
> >recording just because I could not believe that one professional would 
> >treat another in that way.
> >
> >I know this is long and thank-you for hanging in there with me.  I do not 
> >hear people saying they will never attend this again even though all this 
> >kind of stuff happened..... I do not think there was any more safety at 
> >this conference than what we provide at ours....We are professionals when 
> >we attend conferences.  What I wonder is why does Psychodrama seem like 
> >it is the scapegoat in our professional arena?  Why do the "stars" of our 
> >profession get given a lee way that we are not?  If we approach it from 
> >this star idea and we maybe the rejectee star how do we sociometrically 
> >change that?  Does mathematical numerical equations that support us will 
> >that change this "role" that we are in?  Questions that I am pondering as 
> >I forge a path into the Alaskan Frontier....Trying to avoid accepting the 
> >position that seems to be assigned to this beautiful, powerful method/way 
> >of life.  Kaya
>
> Warmly, Jeanne
>
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