How we work with psychodrama
How Phoenix psychodrama can help you
Basically in a group of people the facilitator/director will use different icebreakers to help the group warm up. Out of this warm up a protagonist is chosen to work on an issue that is important to them. For example it could be an argument with their partner, wanting to change careers, or deciding to take a holiday by themselves these could all be a motivation to start the process of change.
Psychodrama can work within a group setting, with individuals or with large groups. Most people feel quite fearful of the ’acting out' but it isn't like ’pretending‚ to be somebody else because the protagonist plays themselves and so they know the situation and their own story. In order to help them explore these issues, the director will ask them to 'show' the situation and people in it. The protagonist then ’acts‚ out the situation with other group members taking on rotes.
Therapy on a one to one basis or in a group
Psychodrama can help clarify issues, increases physical and emotional health, foster learning and help people develop new skills. By use of experiential methods, and backed by our understanding of the self based on role theory, and group dynamics, psychodrama can facilitate positive change in ourselves and in the groups we work and live in.
How Psychodrama works for you in groups or as an individual
Show us don´t tell us
Rather than talk about problems in psychodrama we want you to show us what the problems you face are.
Dramatic Re-enactment
By using dramatic re-enactment of significant scenes we can then help you see how you respond to the difficult situations you face. We use other group members to play the other significant people in your life.
This has a way of bringing the problem to life right in front of us. Often people refer to this as part of the magic of psychodrama. We want to trace the origin of the roles you have that either don´t work or don´t work very well. Often these roles begin in childhood.
Action Insight
Gaining insight into the origin of our own behaviour is a key component of the change process. Psychodrama offers a place to explore new roles with safety. It places a lot of emphasis on gaining insight and fostering change by seeing ourselves as others see us. We call this action insight.
Creativity
In this way Psychodrama stimulates personal growth, and integration on the cognitive, affective, and behavioural levels. By helping you gain insight into your own behaviour we believe that this can help unlock your own creativity and your ability to create new roles and to begin to solve your life problems.
Role analysis
We all have roles in life such as our role as a man or father or wife or mother. Psychodrama uses role theory to understand why someone might feel trapped in someway in their life. By letting us into your world and showing us your problems and by re-enacting key events we can build an idea of where problems in certain roles my lie. We work using many different styles and techniques to tailor therapy to the needs of the individual in the moment.
Valuing individual experience
Implicit in psychodrama is the belief that everyone has their own private experiences and their own language and symbolism. In psychodrama we begin by recognising and valuing this. By entering into each others inner worlds we stop seeing each other in stereotypical ways and begin to see each other as individuals.
Empathy
The director (Therapist) facilitates the group to explore solutions to sometimes very old problems, other group members help and are helped themselves by taking the roles of significant others and by sharing how they personally relate to and can learn from the presenting issue at the end of the session. This fosters trust and empathy.
Psychodrama can be used in groups or individually for therapy and personal growth. It can also be applied to organisations and work teams as well as families or couples.
Is psychodrama for me?
Whether your focus is personal growth, solving life problems in therapy or you want to use psychodrama techniques for your organisation. Psychodrama is for everybody. We think that everyone could benefit from experiencing the beauty and magic of using psychodrama.
If you are interested in ongoing personal or group therapy please email us by clicking here or call us on 07765968361
