Feigning injury. The history of psychodrama: how role-playing became one of the key methods of modern psychotherapy

Psychodrama is a method of psychotherapy in which people experience their pain through theatrical play. This technique helps to work through traumas, resolve conflicts, and improve relationships in the family, team, or other group. In addition, psychodrama helps to put an end to relationships with that person who has died or with whom it is impossible to contact.

The technique is suitable for working through past traumas, solving psychopathological problems in the present and visualizing a happy future. Let's take a closer look at what psychodrama is in psychology and consider its basic concepts.

Definition of the concept of method

The author of the psychodrama method is American psychiatrist and social psychologist Ya.L. Moreno. The psychodrama method was founded in the 20s of the 20th century. If we talk about the opening briefly, Moreno was inspired by the role-playing games of children, the sincerity and openness of the participants. The name of the technique is derived from two Greek words: psyche, which translates as “soul”, and drama, which means “action”.

Psychodrama is a method of group psychological therapy based on plot-role play. One person is the main character. All other participants are performers who help the main character solve the problem. The roles are strictly assigned by the presenter (psychologist). The main character plays himself, the rest of the people copy the verbal and non-verbal characteristics of the characters they got.

In psychology there is still no single definition of the concept of “psychodrama”. However, all psychologists agree that this technique allows a person to reveal his creative potential, become better acquainted with his inner world, develop and improve skills in interacting with society, and change his beliefs, attitudes and attitude towards current events. This is the goal of psychodrama. Psychodramatic, emotional feeling is what underlies healing through psychodrama.

The founder of psychodrama, Ya.L. Moreno called this technique art. The psychologist gave the following definition to this method: “Psychodrama is a method in which the truth of the soul is learned in action.” The main thing in this technique is play, improvisation, action. To fully understand your problem, you need to fully feel it and live it. Playing back allows you to look at the problem from different angles, remember and see something important that was missed until that moment. Psychodrama helps a person look into himself and change his thinking and behavior.

Psychodrama involves 5 main elements:

1. Protagonist. This is the main participant of the session. He tries to understand himself, the other participants help him in this. He plays himself. The goal is the maximum disclosure of the true Self. It is extremely important that a person throws away all prohibitions and masks and becomes who he is. That is, it turns out that, on the contrary, he needs to stop playing, relax and give free rein to his feelings, thoughts, and emotions. During psychodrama you can do whatever you want.
2. Director (psychologist, presenter, therapist). He helps to recreate the situation and distribute roles, guides, supports, controls. He does not indicate what to do and to whom, the protagonist is in charge of everything, but the psychologist helps to interpret everything that happens. In addition, the psychologist monitors the safety and health of all participants in the process, maintaining communicative and emotional interaction.
3. Other Selves Follow the instructions of the presenter and protagonist, help the main character lose the problem. Others depict significant characters from the protagonist's life.
4. Spectators. Active observers, listeners. They express their attitude to what is happening, support or criticize. At this time, the audience themselves are charged with emotions, and the protagonist reveals himself more actively. At any moment, one of the spectators can become a participant in the unfolding drama.
5. Scene. The room itself, the platform where the action takes place. Moreno had a special, complex, multi-level design. Nowadays they don't pay much attention to this.

Psychodrama treatment is appropriate for psychological trauma. But besides this, psychodrama is suitable for working with dreams, fantasies and for preparing for upcoming stressful events. For example, you can play up an upcoming presentation with a report at work, reproduce the successful development and completion of the situation. This will help relieve stress before the upcoming real performance.

Interesting! Psychodrama is a method of group and individual psychotherapy. In the latter case, other people can be replaced with any objects.

The essence of the method

The founder of the method is American psychiatrist, psychologist, sociologist Jacob Levy Moreno. The scientist himself perceived psychodrama not only as a method of psychotherapy and creativity, but also as a separate form of art, a philosophy of life.

The theory of psychodrama is one of the most vague in psychology. The founder did not leave clear instructions, descriptions, theses, regulations, or rules. There is not even a general definition for the term "psychodrama". Attempts to study the method and structure the theory are still ongoing.

Psychodrama - role-playing, games with elements of improvisation, close to theatrical productions. The basis of the method is children's games. Psychodrama makes adults return to childhood, give free rein to their imagination, and surrender to the game. There are no restrictions in the game. There you can shout, behave cheekily or, on the contrary, be weak - after all, this is a mask, a role.

The psychodrama method is used to restore family, work, love, and friendship relationships. Psychodrama is a universal way of stabilizing and harmonizing the state of a group and its individual participants.

Basic principles

Spontaneity and creativity are the main principles of psychodrama as a method of psychotherapy. Only under such conditions can a person fully open up and heal. And the main components of psychodrama according to Moreno are the theory of roles, the theory of spontaneity and sociometry.

Spontaneity theory

This means a flight of creative energy. It is either suppressed by a person, or finds expression in rapid adaptation to new conditions and new reactions in response to old stimuli. Creativity is the search and creation of something new, self-expression. In a broad sense, our whole life is a creative process.

Sociometry

A special technique that allows you to identify likes and dislikes in a group, the nature of the relationship between all participants, microgroups within the group, obvious and hidden leaders, outcasts, stars and neutrals. The result of sociometry is a detailed psychological portrait of the group (sociogram). Sociometry is needed in psychodrama so that the presenter correctly distributes people into groups.

Role theory

In psychodrama, the role is the participant’s habitual patterns of behavior. These are his verbal and non-verbal reactions in real life, his experience, beliefs, worldview. We constantly change roles depending on the situations and conditions in which we find ourselves.

Types of roles:

• bodily (somatic), for example, the role of the eater;
• mental, for example, the role of a jealous person, or a merry fellow;
• social, for example, the role of daughter, mother, wife;
• integrative (non-material), for example, the role of a believer or a person in love.

Roles are mastered in parallel with human development and precisely in the order in which we described them. Individual roles are repeated so often that they become the framework of the personality.

Psychodrama techniques

Today there is an entire institute of psychodrama, the purpose of which is to assist in the development and application of various techniques and tools of psychodrama in various fields of activity, for example, in psychotherapy or education. Therefore, psychodramatic practice is distinguished by significant technical equipment. Most techniques were developed and put into practice in one specific situation. However, there are also universal techniques that do not depend on the content of the problem situation.

As a rule, at the beginning of work, the technique of introducing yourself is used. It allows the subject to introduce himself or portray significant personalities in short scenes. This technique can be performed in a monologue or in the form of an interview. The presentation in it is aimed at providing information about the true behavior of the subject, and not about his fantasies regarding himself. In this case, the subject himself decides what information to provide, which contributes to a feeling of security. Entering into a psychodramatic act through this technique increases the warm-up effect and provides the opportunity to concentrate on the problem.

The technique of playing a role involves recognizing and being in the role. Mainly, it is performed by the auxiliary “I”, assisting the protagonist in setting up a plot from his own life.

The double technique involves the auxiliary “I” playing the role of the protagonist. In this case, the “double” is recommended to be located behind and slightly to the side of the protagonist. At the beginning of the process, he should try to become a kind of shadow of the protagonist and, with the help of movements and manner of speaking, gets used to the state of the protagonist. At the same time, the auxiliary “I” receives feedback from the protagonist, is guided by it and adjusts its own behavior accordingly. After this, the “double” tries to deepen his own understanding and express a meaningful aspect that is not demonstrated by the protagonist. The prototype, in turn, can either accept the proposed variation or ignore it. He may also disagree and express disagreement in a calm manner or with violent emotional reactions. At the end of this technique, the remaining participants connect to discuss the actions of the “double”.

In many modern countries, the Institute of Psychodrama provides the opportunity to study and apply all kinds of techniques for further use in practice.

Directions of psychodrama

Modern directions of psychodrama:

1. Hypnodrama. The game is combined with immersing participants in a hypnotic trance. Under such conditions, the subconscious is included in the work as much as possible, the participants relax and recover, rest mentally and somatically.
2. Biodrama. People portray animals that they resemble. This technique is more often used when working with children, since it is easier for them to talk about themselves through other characters, for example, through animals.
3. Sociodrama. Within a stable group, a person acts out the conflict in which he became a participant in another group.
4. Puppet drama. Dolls are used instead of people. This direction is often used when working with children.
5. Improvisation. There is no script, all participants act freely.

Interesting! Moreno did not leave direct instructions and theoretical foundations of psychodrama. Psychologists had to recreate the theory bit by bit using the materials that had survived. Therefore, there are many varieties of this technique, but the principles and structure are preserved.

Psychodrama Moreno

The development of group methods of psychotherapy as a separate therapeutic direction is closely connected with the name of Ya. Moreno. Psychodramatic practice has been successfully used over the past few decades in almost all European countries and the United States.

The core concepts of psychodramatic practice include: roles and various role-playing games, body, spontaneity, insight and catharsis.

It is necessary to comprehend the fundamental difference between psychodramatic practice as a method of therapy and the theatrical form of acting out role images. If in the theater absolutely all roles are distributed and painted by the author, then in psychodramatic practices they do not imply any predetermined scenario.

In psychodrama, all participants themselves recreate the scenario as the plot develops and have no idea what this may lead to. The roles participating in the scenario are chosen and shared among themselves. The therapist simply explains the main rules and, within their limits, encourages all improvisation and spontaneity.

The concept of “body” is akin to transfer (transfer) of S. Freud. By transference analysis, Freud meant one of the technical tools of the practice of psychoanalysis, through which he tried to describe the patient’s personality and identify the causes provoking the occurrence of neurosis. And coretransference means the process of compassion (empathy) by a psychotherapist of the client’s feelings and emotional states.

Moreno, in his own method, combines under one concept “body” transference and countertransference, which characterize the mutually directed process of empathy - psychotherapist-patient and between all participants in the psychodrama. Along with this, in psychodrama, transference and countertransference are used not so much for the ability to characterize the personality of the subject, but for the purpose of therapeutic influence for his self-disclosure and victory over certain complexes and neuroses, to strengthen the group process.

By spontaneity he meant the naturalness (unintentionality) of response and perception. Many clients are too caught up in their own psychological defense mechanisms and standards of behavior. Finding such spontaneity and naturalness helps individuals effectively free themselves from their own complexes and, as a result, from neuroses. In order for individuals to gain spontaneity, the psychotherapist should only push them to act “here and now” without imposing his own scenario of role-playing game.

Catharsis in ancient Greek tragedy meant the so-called purification, illumination through suffering. In psychoanalysis, Freud used the concept of catharsis in the sense of uncovering the causes of neuroses through intense emotional disturbances and the resulting relief, that is, healing. In a psychodramatic scenario, catharsis must be experienced not only by the protagonist and all participants in a specific storyline, but also by all other individuals who are not involved in a specific situation, but are spectators. For Y. Moreno, the process of catharsis is the key task of the participants in the psychodramatic process and empathetic spectators. It has a psychotherapeutic effect on them.

The concept of insight, translated from English, means “unexpected insight” and means an unexpected understanding of the subject’s own problems or a modification of the view of one’s own person, expanding the possibilities for solving problems. Insight usually occurs due to catharsis. The atmosphere and dynamic action of psychodrama should lead subjects to catharsis, and through it, to insight.

A psychodrama session consists of explaining to the group the meaning and core tasks of psychodramatic practice, describing the stages of implementation. The practical implementation of psychodrama contains several stages and three stages of organization of the psychodrama itself.

Today, children's psychodrama is gaining particular popularity to treat their neurotic behavior. Play in psychodrama is not only a symbolic play out of conflicts, but also an active processing of experience. In psychodrama, real work is being done to overcome and resolve conflict situations. In the gameplay, kids feel and experience themselves as a creative design engineer, creator, co-creator of their own life. Psychodrama provides an opportunity for children to be “born again,” as it were, into a more satisfying life. Children's psychodrama is focused on the creation of a creative and natural personality, so it is not limited to the elimination of disorders, it sees its own key task in promoting the development of an expressive, creative personality. Children's psychodrama serves to stimulate and support spontaneity, naturalness and creative activity in children.

Kinds

Moreno identified the following types of psychodrama (forms of psychodrama):

1. A psychodrama led by a protagonist. The pain of one of the participants is played out.
2. Psychodrama that focuses on the group. A problem involving a group of people is being sorted out.
3. Psychodrama focused on the theme. A problem that is relevant to everyone present is discussed. We can talk about both internal conflicts and events in the outside world, including global news.

As for the areas of application, this method is universal. There are no special names or classifications for this. Psychodrama is suitable for working with children, adults, parents, couples, teams, companies, states, countries, etc. Psychodrama is suitable for counseling and treatment in all categories of problems.

Main types and methods of psychotherapy

Art therapy

A unique technique based on treatment through conversational therapy and creativity, the essence of which lies in the hypothesis that creativity is an external expression of internal emotions, the correct reading of which is the main task of an art therapist.

Who will it help:

• the method has no contraindications and is used in work with both adults and children;
• individual patients, couples, families, groups, communities;
• children and adults with speech impairments;
• clients who have difficulty expressing themselves;
• people who have experienced trauma;
• susceptible to childhood fears and somatic disorders;
• patients experiencing communication problems;
• experiencing difficulties in learning and education.

Methods:

Theatrical performances, music, drawing, sculpting, sculpture, any other art.

Client-centered psychotherapy

One of the most popular methods among modern psychotherapists, which is based on the assertion that the patient is able to independently become the best version of himself, identify the causes of his problems and find a solution to eliminate them.

Who will it help:

• people who lack understanding, sympathy, warmth;
• those seeking to explore their thoughts;
• susceptible to neuroses, anxiety and depression;
• those wishing to resolve social and family conflicts;
• in solving child development problems.

Methods:

The therapist, through a confidential dialogue, only accompanies and guides the client, suggests what to pay attention to.

Cognitive behavioral therapy

It is based on the theory that human behavior is a kind of reaction based on past experience. The main task of the psychotherapist is to help the client change their behavioral responses to stressful events.

Who will it help:

• those suffering from obsessive and compulsive disorders;
• susceptible to fears, phobias and addictions;
• those who want to overcome bad habits;
• those in a state of chronic stress;
• experiencing anxiety and worry.

Methods:

The therapist and patient explore together in what situations negative thoughts automatically arise. Through methods of softening rigid beliefs and special exercises, new skills are reinforced, and gradually the patient learns to live with more flexible views.

Body therapy

This is a set of methods that helps to deal with the client’s psychological resistance as delicately as possible for quick access to his unconscious. As a result, the psychotherapist gets the opportunity to analyze the relationship between the human mind and body and achieve the ultimate goal - a change in psycho-emotional well-being in a positive direction.

Who will it help:

• those suffering from psychosomatic diseases;
• for depression, stress and anxiety;
• to improve overall health;
• people with bad habits;
• susceptible to panic attacks.

Psychoanalysis

The founder of this popular teaching, Sigmund Freud, based psychoanalysis on the task of recognizing the patient’s unconscious processes (through the analysis of words, thoughts, dreams and fantasies), discovering true internal problems and building new relationships with the outside world.

Who will it help:

• those who want to answer their internal questions and build positive relationships with others;
• for various neurotic conditions;
• people with low self-esteem.

Methods:

The session goes like this: the patient lies down on the couch, tries to relax as much as possible and tells out loud everything that comes to his mind. The main method of psychoanalysis is free, flexible associations, which give the therapist access to the patient's subconscious.

Desensitization and reprocessing using eye movements

A method of working with the patient’s traumatic and negative memories.

Who will it help:

• people who are unsure of themselves;
• for post-traumatic stress disorder;
• to get rid of the consequences of emotional trauma;
• patients with low self-esteem;
• with obsessive thoughts, resentments, feelings of guilt.

Methods:

During the session, the psychotherapist asks the client to imagine past negative situations and at the same time moves a finger or pointer in front of the face, triggering the mechanism for processing information using specific eye movements. After this method, the memory of the painful events that occurred is preserved, but the person no longer perceives what happened acutely.

Dance movement therapy

One of the most dynamic and expressive forms of psychotherapy, based on the relationship between body and mind. Movement to music promotes self-expression, improves emotional state and appearance, and forms a positive image of oneself, so patients enjoy dancing. Psychotherapists include dance movement therapy in their rehabilitation programs, because this method has virtually no contraindications and is suitable for children and adults.

Who will it help:

• people of any gender and age who want to improve self-esteem, motor and coordination functions;
• those seeking to work through emotional tensions;
• susceptible to depression;
• suffering from emotional disorders and interpersonal communication disorders.

Family therapy

Family counseling is a field of psychotherapy that focuses on family problems, helping all family members (including children) cope with conflicts, establish mutual understanding and harmonious interaction with each other through the right decisions and new behavior.

Who will it help:

• families wishing to regulate parent-child and marital relationships;
• families with a problematic, disobedient child;
• any family member with a neurotic or psychosomatic disorder;
• people who are grieving the loss of a family member.

Methods:

The specialist talks with the entire family and with each member individually. The counseling process uses tests, drawings, games and homework to create new relationships and behaviors that will satisfy all family members.

Gestalt therapy

A method of psychotherapy based on the belief that people strive for mental and physical health, but patterned behavior creates obstacles to this. Gestalt therapy, with the help of special exercises, helps a person work through unlived feelings and unfinished stories, teaches them to live “right now,” activating responsibility for their behavior, cravings and the ability to live a full life. Gestalt therapy is an effective approach to working with children and adolescents.

Who will it help:

• those striving for a fulfilling life;
• with a tendency to suppress feelings and desires;
• people who have difficulty communicating;
• for fears, anxieties, apathy, bad mood;
• those who want to deal with their past;
• patients experiencing severe anxiety in unfamiliar company;
• with uncontrolled aggression.

Methods:

Individual or group consultations, during which methods of independent choice of behavior are mastered. At the first conversation, the psychotherapist and client(s) agree on the desired result and discuss ways to achieve it, plan the duration and number of meetings.

Hypnosis

Hypnotherapy puts the patient into a deep state of relaxation and altered state in which the unconscious mind is able to unimpededly perceive new possibilities, thoughts and behavior patterns.

Who will it help:

• when solving a specific problem;
• those who want to change behavior or attitude towards an acute situation;
• for the treatment of pain;
• for stress, anxiety and worry;
• those seeking to get rid of bad habits;
• people who want to develop.

Methods:

The psychotherapist uses special metaphorical language during a conversation to touch upon the patient's unconscious.

Jungian analysis

Jung's analytical tactics are based on the analysis of personality archetypes and dreams and are able to expand the patient's consciousness in order to build new values ​​and achieve emotional harmony.

Who will it help:

• in achieving harmony and integrity of the individual;
• in solving family and interpersonal problems;
• people experiencing a crisis situation;
• people striving for a positive perception of the world around them;
• for young children to correct strong and painful experiences;
• to relieve psychological pain and suffering;
• for anxiety disorders, depression and other neurotic conditions.

Methods:

A confidential conversation, during which the client talks about everything that comes to mind - there are no taboo topics. The therapist also invites the client to be creative - to express his feelings and thoughts through drawing, journaling, and poetry. In a word, everything that can help a person understand himself is used.

Psychodrama

An area of ​​psychotherapy that involves the participation of a group of people in a role-playing game in which acute life situations from the real life of one of the participants are played out.

Who will it help:

• those who want to see their emotions from the outside and begin to confront conflicts;
• seeking to learn new effective ways to solve problems.

Methods:

A dramatization of actions based on the plot of real events experienced by one of the participants, during which he and the people in the group are immersed in a stressful situation, “living” it in order to get answers to their questions. The support of group members and a psychotherapist helps to find the right solution in a specific situation.

Types of relationships

Moreno identified three types of relationships between people from the perspective of psychodrama (three types of connection):

1. Transfer. One person attributes to another such negative qualities and actions that he actually does not have. Usually this happens for a reason, but based on trauma. For example, a person transfers his mother’s cruelty to all women who look somewhat similar to her.
2. Feeling (in the author's terminology). A person perceives another as a separate and unique person, tries to understand him, look at the situation through his eyes, feel what that person feels.
3. Tele. By this Moreno meant mutual understanding between people or mutual alienation.

The last two types are related to adequate perception and self-perception. The ability to empathize with another person and understand his attitude towards his opponent is a sign of mental health.

Psychodrama: the essence of the approach

Psychodrama is one of the tools of psychotherapeutic work. Initially, the direction belonged to the psychoanalytic school, then smoothly flowed into neo-psychoanalysis, Gestalt and humanistic schools. It is also used as one of the techniques

at an individual appointment or group lesson, and
independently
, for example, as part of an intensive course (full-fledged psychotherapeutic sessions that can take 2-3 full days).
Psychodrama is based on the example of theatrical art. Participants are involved in a certain storyline, try on various “roles” and improvise
. Nowadays there are a huge number of shows on television based on improvisation, but in psychology the method appeared more than 100 years ago. Jacob Moreno is credited with creating psychodrama in the early 1920s.

Stages of psychodrama practice

There are three phases of psychodrama:

1. Warming up At this stage, the facilitator offers the participants several exercises for unity, getting to know each other, and recreating a trusting atmosphere. This is important so that participants can be open and talk about personal things. At this stage, topics for discussion are identified.
2. Action. Direct dramatization of the selected problem. The presenter appoints the protagonist and helps him assign other roles.
3. Schering. Analysis of the situation, active discussion of the completed game. The protagonist talks about what conclusions he made. The facilitator helps interpret what the person is feeling.

Participants choose one of the psychodrama techniques: duplication, mirror or role exchange.

In the first case, the other person becomes a reflection of the main character's subconscious. The understudy speaks out, portrays what is suppressed in the main person. If the understudy is right, then the hero agrees and repeats it.

When using the “Mirror” psychodrama technique, another person portrays the main character, and he looks at him as his reflection. Both help the protagonist understand himself, understand himself better, and look at himself from the outside.

Swapping roles makes it possible to look at a situation through the eyes of another person. At any moment, the main character changes roles with one of the participants and continues the game in his role. This helps you understand the other person better.

Basic methods of psychodrama

Psychodrama is a therapy that has numerous variations, and its main methods are considered to be: the double method, display, monologue, role exchange.

Double

What is the principle of the technique? One of the group members, who is chosen by the rest, either the protagonist herself or the psychologist, becomes the understudy of the “main character”. He carefully analyzes his monologue, preparing to pick it up at any second, continuing his search for a solution to the problem instead when he begins to plunge into it. This method has a variation: the double tries to say for the main character what was “left behind the scenes.”

This method assumes the ability to empathically understand the protagonist and the ability to identify him with oneself. In psychodrama, doubles and protagonists are regularly changed so that everyone takes on different roles.

The participation of other group members is allowed, acting as auxiliary selves - they complement what was not expressed by the double and the main character.

It is important to understand: the double cannot speak on his own behalf - he must feel the protagonist within himself, his inner voice. Different types of doubles are encouraged - ironic, skeptics, active, frank and others. The diversity of characters will allow all participants in the process to see from the outside not only the feelings of the main character, but also their own. Representatives of the vast majority of types of psychotherapy believe that the key to mental health is a comprehensive perception of one’s own personality, others and general reality.

Display

The method implies a feedback mechanism. The protagonist begins to observe how other members of the group portray him. He sees himself through the eyes of others - this gives him a more complete opinion about himself, making some corrections to his usual worldview and behavior.

Monologue

Statements by the main character and his auxiliary selves. The monologue sounds on a topic important to the protagonist. He tries to fully convey it to the listeners, simultaneously rethinking it. Analyzing the group's reaction, he finds new important facets in the exciting issue.

Exchange of roles

In psychodrama there is an exchange of roles. The client can be a double, a protagonist, an auxiliary self. This is how he learns to analyze what is happening around him, to better understand others, and himself.

The methods are divided conditionally, because in each of them common elements are combined - just in different proportions. An experienced group leader will be able to successfully combine them, sensing the moment in time for a successful replacement.

Let's briefly look at some other methods used in psychodrama.

Candle technique

During the lesson, each group member gets to be a double, a protagonist, an auxiliary self.

Projection of the future

The main character voices fantasies of what will happen in the future (near or distant).

Conversations by candlelight

The main character stands with his back to the group, listening to how other group members discuss his behavior, fantasies, and thoughts.

Elements of psychodrama have found application in every type of group psychotherapy. The therapy is also successfully used in the treatment of alcoholism, mild and severe nervous disorders, drug addiction, and behavior correction.

Exercises

Let us briefly consider several popular exercises using psychodrama.

Shop

Participants are divided into sellers and buyers. Subsequently, dividing into pairs or subgroups, the participants reproduce conflicts and find a way out of them. Different themes are used, and participants often change roles. This exercise helps develop social and communication skills. Each participant learns to defend their position and overcome conflicts with dignity and seek compromises.

Bus

All participants are divided into “hares” (free riders) and controllers. The first sit in the inner circle, the second in the outer. Free riders make excuses, and controllers try to shame them, but at the same time put themselves in their position. At the end of the action, the participants discuss each other's game. During interaction, internal blocks, complexes and problems of people are identified, those features that prevent them from interacting with society. Each participant learns to defend their opinion, refuse, resist, and maintain composure in uncomfortable situations.

Family

The protagonist distributes roles in the game, also assigns his role to someone and describes what situation from his family the participants should reproduce. This exercise allows the main character to look at himself from the outside and look at other family members differently. After reproducing the situation, a discussion is held.

Techniques, methods, methods

Self-presentation

The simplest and mandatory method of psychodrama. It is a monologue or a series of short scenes in which the protagonist portrays himself. He is the only participant in the action. His goal is not only to introduce himself to other group members, but also to identify his problem.

Duplication

The essence of the technique: after the protagonist has played all possible roles in his situation, he is replaced in the skit by another member of the group. The latter tries to “duplicate” it and the conflict, but at the same time unconsciously introduces his own vision, a spontaneous reaction, which may unexpectedly turn out to be a way out of the problem. But still, the main task is to try to completely repeat all the actions of the main character.

Indications for the use of the duplication technique:

• stress;
• loneliness;
• resentment;
• depression;
• fears.

The duplication technique cannot be used if:

• the participant must make an independent decision;
• the protagonist is open and copes well with his role;
• members of the group are schizophrenics or persons with paranoid personality disorders.

Psychodrama also involves the use of multiple duplication techniques, when several participants in the action try to take on the role of the protagonist.

Exchange of roles

It differs from the duplication technique in that the new hero should not repeat the actions and words of the leading protagonist. He must play the role as he sees fit. This can give a completely new perspective on the situation. Moreover, the main character becomes secondary, replacing the one who became him.

Indications:

• the need for a new vision of the problem;
• removing psychological protection from the protagonist (playing a secondary role, he forgets about it);
• resolving conflicts between loved ones.

Contraindications:

• panic fears, phobias, psychotraumas;
• psychotic personality type;
• physical and psychological fatigue.

This technique is often used in children's psychodrama. It helps schoolchildren and adolescents socialize and self-integrate. For example, children willingly play in such scenes of parents and teachers, demonstrating how they personally see the resolution of a conflict situation.

Mirror

First, the protagonist plays out his problematic situation, then leaves the hall and watches what plays out next through an online video recording. At this time, his role is taken on by another member of the group, with whom the psychodrama therapist has worked in advance. He doesn’t just mirror everything the main character just said and did. He grotesquely emphasizes some specific feature of his behavior, which prevents him from making the right decision and adequately responding to the problem.

Indications:

• autism, closed-mindedness, social maladjustment;
• apathy, lack of will, indifference, fatigue from life, reluctance to change something and make responsible decisions;
• depression, inappropriate behavior, obsessions, obsession with fantasies.

Contraindications:

• high sensitivity;
• low self-esteem;
• suicidal tendencies;
• paranoia.

After mirroring, the protagonist comes out of the shadows and tries to play the situation correctly, correcting the trait (mistake, reaction) indicated to him. This technique is often used for teenagers so that they can see and evaluate themselves from the outside.

Preface

The first question a student beginning to study psychotherapy asks is how quickly

and
effectively
master the theory and practice of therapeutic influence. The answer to this question, no matter how important it is for the student who almost always fails to do everything on time, is very indicative for the teacher. Most teachers of psychotherapy can be divided into two types: “esoteric” and “exoteric”. The former tend to view the process of learning psychotherapy as an introduction to some kind of sacrament, revelation; second - how the solution may not be trivial, but, in general, quite accessible to students of an educational task. Accordingly, the answers to the previously posed question will vary - in one case, mastering psychotherapy will require almost your entire life, in another - the time allotted by the curriculum. Of course, the truth is somewhere between the first and second points of view and, of course, there cannot be an answer at all, without specifying which (which) methods of psychotherapy we are talking about.

Harold Stern, founder and longtime president of the Philadelphia School of Psychoanalysis, said in one of his interviews that to master most methods of psychotherapy, a careful reading of three or four fundamental books is usually sufficient. But in order, he emphasized, to master psychoanalysis as a method of treatment, intensive study of at least a hundred books is required (it is not entirely clear how such calculations are made). At the same time, G. Stern recommended taking into account the fact that psychoanalysis is the only psychotherapeutic method that requires that the future specialist himself be analyzed.

My colleagues and I believe that even very careful reading of more than four major books is clearly not enough to become a therapist. Experience in interacting with patients and supervisory training are of great importance. Therefore, we must disappoint those who hope to gain professional skills in psychotherapy only by reading relevant literature.

The second question (but by no means the least important!) asked by students beginning to master psychotherapy concerns the degree of impact of the therapeutic procedure on the patient’s personality and its effectiveness. It cannot be answered without taking into account what therapeutic methods we are talking about, without taking into account the mental (psychological) disorders with which the therapist works, without taking into account the personal characteristics of the therapist himself and, finally, without analyzing what measurement tools are used to assess effectiveness one or another therapeutic procedure. Articles and books have already been and continue to be written about each of the listed components of the effectiveness of psychotherapy, to which I refer the reader interested in these problems.

We will only briefly dwell on the current controversial issue: how personality changes as a result of therapeutic influence.

What happens to a person during psychotherapeutic influence? Does the personality change in the process of this influence? A number of researchers

[1]

believes that the most obvious therapeutic effect is achieved during the treatment of depression and individual symptoms, such as anxiety. When it comes to personality traits such as neuroticism, for example, the desired effect is not achieved. This opinion is supported by many psychologists,

[2]

concluding that psychotherapy does not act on the basic structure of the personality, but helps the patient to become more flexible in meeting his needs and using his abilities.

Strictly speaking, personality changes, in the sense of the formation of any new qualities or the “disappearance” (where?) of existing ones, do not occur

(we do not mean those cases when a psychotherapeutic effect, used along with a chemical, for example psychotropic, leads to a genuine transformation of the personality; such effects, due to their focus on ruining the individual psyche, do not change, but destroy the personality).

Any of the properties (qualities) of a personality, as is known, is a fairly stable mental formation, and their presence actually makes the personality such. These stable mental formations are little susceptible even to age-related changes. The variability of personality and its adaptation to changing environmental conditions is achieved due to the fact that each of the qualities (in their interaction with others!) has such a wide range of situationally determined manifestations that sometimes it can be perceived as the presence of a quality opposite to that which actually exists. Psychotherapeutic influence, without creating new qualities in a person, seems to bring existing ones into conformity, for example, with a changed situation in life. This “matching” ensures the success of psychotherapy for minor mental disorders.

Confirmation of our thought is the lack of lasting positive effect in cases of severe personality disorders or psychosis, well known to experienced psychotherapists.
With these diseases, more or less noticeable destruction of the personality occurs, and therefore it is not possible to achieve a sustainable effect. The psychotherapist, working with such patients, essentially strives to revive what has already been destroyed in the psyche by appealing to what has been preserved, but such an “accretion,” as in the case of tissue incompatibility, turns out to be temporary. Supporters of psychoanalysis believe that this method of therapy is most effective for serious forms of pathology. To a certain extent, its effectiveness is ensured by the duration
of the psychoanalytic process, which can last for years. Regular psychoanalytic sessions become a kind of crutches for the patient, with the help of which he wanders through life.

Anyone who begins to study psychotherapy must clearly understand not only the strengths, but also the weaknesses of those methods that are fundamental to returning the individual to psychological well-being.

All of the above was noted in the preface to the first edition and, in my opinion, has not lost its relevance today. Five years have passed. I am confident that the book has found its reader, and above all, in the student audience. They bought it, read it (witness it themselves!) and even took the time to completely copy it for the Internet.

Today's student has a much larger selection of literature on psychotherapy than he did five years ago. One might even say that today it is not difficult to get lost in this diversity. Nevertheless, what can be called the classics of psychotherapy remains in demand, and without knowledge of these classics, modern training of future specialists is impossible. This is what the authors were guided by when preparing the textbook for republication.

It can be stated with regret that over the past years the process of dividing psychotherapy between doctors and psychologists has not stopped. Everyone pulls the blanket over themselves, and most often behind this is not a desire to help the suffering, but outright commercial interests. The realization that psychotherapy is exactly the same science as physics or chemistry, and requires the same attitude, will apparently come later. This is not the field of medicine or psychology. This is an independent science, and the sooner we recognize this, the more effectively it will develop and improve.

The authors express sincere gratitude to their many listeners, students and colleagues, each of whom contributed to the process of creating this book. Special thanks to the staff of the psychological editorial office of the Peter Publishing House.

The authors will welcome comments and suggestions from readers, which can be sent by email

L. F. Burlachuk Kyiv, August 2008

What to expect at the meeting?

It's better not to expect anything. The classes are not the same.
Games are not repeated. Everything is born during class . Therefore, if you decide to engage in psychodrama, just trust the presenter, the people around you, and most importantly, yourself. Try to discard all masks, embarrassments and prejudices, and then you will get the maximum benefit from the lesson. You will become part of the events and be able to solve any difficult situation in the most unimaginable way for you. They won't give you advice. They may not even allow you to fully talk about all your feelings and experiences. You will be given a role. And your task is simply not to interfere with yourself.