PD in College classes

[thana ag]

Dear Adam,
Well put,if we decide redefine  ourselves as Moreneans, something some of us have been doing already,without noticing.  . But until then,if  I understand Rebecca's response,  and  I am in total agreement with her, no one who is not properly  trained as a psychodramatist be allowed  or encouraged to do a demonstration of psychodrama. Too many people were hurt and turned off. To  present a particular technique:  empty chair,Role reversal,will not do much harm. But a whole psychodrama  ?! 
When Moreno Institute in NYC had open sessions,I remember quite a few times  audience  members  wanting pointers from me as to how to  present PD  in their  classroom. Could they? Like Rebbecca,  I discouraged them actively.  Of course some of them went ahead and did it. On occasion they would come back wandering why it did not work. Like watching  a surgeon perform an operation,and embarking on doing the procedure without a training ....and wondering why the patient is bleeding ...
Few year ago I was invited to a psychodrama group reconstituted from members of a psychodrama group I was running for 16 years. I was appalled by what passed as psychodrama. It is exactly the subtleties that make this method  an art. Otherwise it is the relationship that is the most healing aspect of any encounter ,as was the case of that group.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
anath garber

 
From: adam at blatner.com
To: list at grouptalkweb.org
Subject: PD in College classes
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 20:29:04 -0600










 

I agree with Rebecca in so many 
ways!
    Another colleague who taught 
"psychodrama" had that class bounced in favor of evidence-based 
(Cognitive-Behavior-Therapy) approaches.
     I'm thinking that the 
focus on the method is misleading. Relationship is more central, and good 
psychodramatists often use non-action methods.
 
    What if we thought of ourselves 
as Moreneans---in the context of trans-therapy applications---and, in the domain 
of therapy, as multi-dimensional psychotherapists? It's not a method, it's an 
intelligent capacity to include all relevant approaches as seems appropriate to 
the moment (and responding appropriately to the moment is the essence of 
spontaneity). 
     Some of the dimensions I 
refer to include
  -- encouraging creativity and making the 
client's creativity a goal that engages and strengthens the treatment 
alliance
  -- re-framing resolution not as knowing or 
finding "right answers" but rather learning the art of improvisation, actively 
seeking and utilizing feedback, re-adjusting response, improvising again... a 
dynamic process
  -- using role concept as the basis for a 
more inter-disciplinary, user-friendly language for psychology
  -- attending to relationship dynamics, 
social network dynamics, cultural influences (using sociodrama to bring out 
collective or role-based attitudes), etc.
   -- taking into consideration the power 
and prevalence of interpersonal preference, rapport (what is addressed by 
sociometry)
    -- addressing the wider society 
as a place for social action, community effort, rather than just seeking 
personal adjustment in an often pathogenic environment
   -- appreciating the need for and 
utilizing experiential forms of learning, action insight, act hunger, feeling 
the body in action, direct encounter rather than talking "about," 
   -- noticing and raising awareness of 
the impact of nonverbal communications, one's own body language
   -- recognizing and utilizing the power 
of warming-up, the need for it, the need for gradual warming-down, 
too..
   -- integrating other dimensions of 
group dynamics and using the other advantages of groups
   -- re-evaluating and using other 
time-dimensions, from brief interventions to more time-extended sessions; not 
locked mindlessly into the convenient-for-the-therapist or 
economically-reimbursable "hour." 
   -- making use of the client's imagery, 
power of imagination
   -- when appropriate, asking 
clients to develop and exercise the skill of empathy towards others in their 
social network,
   -- addressing spiritual issues 
and integrating the idea that there is a creative process in integrating 
individualized concerns with larger belief systems
    -- appreciating the power of 
self-expression, being seen, witnessed, feeling heard, understood (the audience 
function)
   ... and others. The point is that 
many of these dimensions are insufficiently (or hardly, if at all) included in 
many if not most ordinary psychotherapeutic approaches---especially those tied 
to a "method."
       
        What 
Rebecca suggests, as I interpret it---or perhaps this is my own bias---is that 
relationship is the primary element and methods are then utilized as adjuncts. 

 
               
Warmly, Adam

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: 
  HV Psychodrama 
  
  To: dkarner ; list at grouptalkweb.org 
  Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 6:36 
  AM
  Subject: Re: PD in College classes
  

  Dear Deborah,
  Thanks for helping get the word out that 
  psychodrama is not just a group of action techniques but part of a larger 
  system including a  philosophy. It is so frustrating that people still 
  are being 'taught' psychodrama as either a bunch of techniques or as a re 
  enactment without warm-up, safety and containment. It gives what we do a very 
  bad name.
   
  The other thing I have encountered a lot 
  are college students being asked to present psychodrama in their classes. 
  "Everyone had to pick a topic and I picked psychodrama and now I want to do 
  one in my class to show them...what would you suggest I do?" Often they will 
  then attend an open session and then want to go into their classroom to 
  demonstrate.
   
  Recently I have been refusing to give 
  them exercises to do in the class, saying talk about it, don't do it if you 
  have no training. I have been encouraging them to have their profs contact me 
  and I would be glad to send a trained person in to 'do 
  it."
   
  It is like someone reading about a 
  medical procedure, possibly observing it once, and then saying, Oh I can do 
  that procedure, without practice, without supervision cause I saw it 
  done.
   
  So thank you again. And depending on 
  where you live, there might be a skilled psychodramatist quite willing to 
  present to your social work class.
   
  Rebecca 
  Walters 

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