Group Centered Psychodrama

[Walter Logeman]

Thanks for the wonderful replies!

I love hearing about couple therapy and psychodrama. I have developed
Psychodramatic Couple Therapy Training (PCT) and it is thoroughly
Psychodrama in that it uses all the psychodramatic principles.  I sue
sociodrama as a training tool so trainees get a deep experience working
with a “sociodramatic couple”. When I say it is psychodrama I mean it,
enriched by Imago, Hedy Schleifer, EFT, NVC and some solution focused ideas
(got that from you Bud). Often I use psychodramatic language for things I
learn from other modalities, in that process the work is deepened.  For
example, the "talker/sender/host” becomes protagonist and the other partner
the auxiliary, that brings in riches.  I may not use the terms with the
couple.

I'm limiting the training to the consulting room at present. Anything more
anyone knows in detail about what Moreno and Zerka did with couples would
be great.

❋

The term "group centered" is used in Australia and New Zealand with respect
to warm-up and also with respect to the drama itself.  I recall some
teaching from Max Clayton when the group was under the misapprehension that
sociodrama was always group centered i.e. without a specific protagonist,
and psychodrama always had a protagonist.  He then demonstrated
a protagonist centred sociodrama, i.e. one based around the social roles in
a person's work situation.  On rare occasions I have seen a group
centered psychodrama, in that sense, for example one that began as a
sociogram.  An isolate emerges and the group then works to include that
person.

❋

I am currently working with a personal development group that includes a
couple.  I've been in many groups where the "third entity" of the
relationship remains invisible.  Or the relationship is worked with in an
individualistic way. I have seen this go not so well.  One partner, against
my best intentions, creates a drama where the other feels attacked.  The
sharing is tricky, as the principle that the audience share from their
personal experience becomes distorted when the other partner's personal
experience is included in the drama. It can become hard for the protagonist
to accept the sharing from their partner.

I'm successfully avoiding these difficulties.  One is by producing
dramas with both on the stage followed by sharing with both partners on the
stage.  Sharing can also be to the "relationship".  I've also included
group members to "create a group sculpture of the relationship as you
intuit it", the couple then watch and give instructions to maximise certain
aspects.

I have called these dramas "relationship centered psychodrama" using the
word "centered" in the tradition I describe above.

This made me curious if there was any precedent for this use of the word in
past practice or the literature.

Warm wishes, Walter




On Sun, 27 Jun 2021 at 9:56 AM, Thomas Treadwell <ttreadwe at grouptalkweb.org>
wrote:

> Walter
> It would help me if you described what you mean by Group Centered
> Psychodrama?
>
> For example, my research and clinical work focus on 'group centered
> experiential psychotherapy' including a dominant components of CBT &
> Psychodrama.
>
> I am interested in you inquiry and look forward to learning about your
> method.
>
> Tom
>
> On Sat, Jun 26, 2021 at 11:24 AM Walter Logeman <walter at psybernet.co.nz>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi all
>>
>> I'm writing an article on what I'm calling “couple centered psychodrama”.
>> That got me thinking that we already use the term “group centered
>> psychodrama”.
>>
>> Does anyone know of references or have ideas about producing such dramas?
>>
>> Walter
>> --
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> Thomas Treadwell         Group Cognitive Action Therapy
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