Current Use in Psychodrama

8/4/2019 Current Use in Psychodrama

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PergamonThe Arts in Psychotherapy. Vol. 24. No. l , pp.

( 'opy,;~h! Ij') 11)


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ED HUGrving the spontaneous play of children in the parksf Vienna. Almost three decades later, after emigrat-g to the United States and settling in New York, heeveloped his method and began writing about itspplications. By the I60s, he had introduced thechnique to professionals in Europe, Japan and Southmerica. In the last few decades, there are signifi-antly more psychodramatists internationally thanere are in the U.S. My travels to Spain and Norwayave impressed me with variations that deserve to beoted and which may forecast changes in Americansychodrama. I have been especially impressed withe work of Dr. Jaime Rojas-Bermudez, who is rec-gnized as one of the pioneers of psychodrama inatin America and is now teaching primarily in south-rn Spain. I shall be discussing some of his contribu-ons in the context of combining psychodrama andxpressive art methods within an integrated frame-rk governed by analytic considerations.There appear to be developing two interrelated andnterpenetrating ways of doing psychodrama: (a) whate could call an action-oriented style. which is ca-artic and tends to be charismatic and which largelynforms psychodrama in Norway, and (b) what weould call a reflective style, more rooted in southern

pain. In the psychi.itric hospitals in Norway at thesl.. ~_. " ~.~-.,+ 'C ;:,"I . :: F~; .y("h \ :Hry from 1 1 ~ . .~ny ~1r~glc~..

nd slo ... J} Int.-n... ..L:... developing self-help pr()J~l'(Sithin psychiatry, creating their own workshopshere also other people and patients can come. Manyf those who have come into psychodrama have comerom the psychotherapy field and have their ownxisting work-ground. They have come exploringor more techniques as an adjunct to other ways of

Many psychological problems are related to distur-ances with early ego development, which Rojas-ermudez (1971) conceived as involving basic so-atic and psychosocial experiences. He defined annderlying s!ructure "the nucleus of the ego," andoted its functions, parallel to what Freud termed theral, anal and phallic phases, but emphasizing theirunctions as roles: ingestor, defecator, micturator.hese roles come to form boundaries between threereas of infantile experience (body, mind, environ-ent). Disturbances in the development of these so-atic roles creates weaknesses in the ego and renderater development susceptible to stress and, in ex-reme cases, this may even result in later psychotic

EcJectic ApproachesFrom this starting point. psychodrama madapted for treating more disturbed patientsleads to a psychodrama style in which elemesocially-grounded reality are clearly delineatewoven together with the imaginal reality of pdrama, creating, as it were, a fabric of here-an

with fantasy-and-imagination. but keeping verboundaries between the two.Another aspect of this style of psychodramwork between visual, image-based expre(through the use of artistic materials, masks,fabrics, etc.) and the verbal, bodily expressionmore typical of Moreno's classical approachleads to a way of working in therapy groupcombines the bi-modal use of descriptive andsive modalities. In this approach, visual imageverbal/bodily expressive modes become combthe process of exploring the inner world of clietheir relationship to the social reality of theThis bi-modal approach was formulated byBermudez (1995) and Rojas-Bermudez, Cia, &ser (1973) for working with psychotics and alsoentirely separate literature) by the psychoanalysHandler Spitz (1988) for working with childre

This ar-proacn is also resonant with the inter~~\pr~~~S~\~-:1!'"!S approaches such as describednings (1992) and McNiff (1992). In their boobining art therapy and drama therapy, JenninMinde (1993) see the normal development of thas expressing a range of emotions, as welldevelopment of a system of symbolic explinked to the child's own creative develothrough the use of objects that are originallytional objects, thus creating a world of reality-ilinked to the symbolic bases of the child's culthis process one learns to project one's feelinsymbols in a manner that is appropriate to thein which one lives and thereby becomes mhealthy. "Transitional phenomena represechild's first attempts at symbolic action" (JennMinde, 1993, p. 137).These symbols are used both dramaticallytistically. This created world, which emergespotential space of the child, is both real and syThrough its creation, the child explores the rship between the dual experience of fantasyeryday real experience. Such dramatic andplay serves the dual purpose of (a) providing alearn about the real wor1d and (b) providing the


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CURRENT TRENDS TN PSYCHODRAMAf grasping the ungraspable, expressing those parts ofne's experience that cannot be put into descriptivenguage. In many who have become "mentally ill,"is process has gone tragically wrong.

The Latin Schools of Psychodrama in ContextFrom the mid-60s in Sao Paulo, Jaime Rojas-ermudez and, later, Dalmiro Bustos, Alfredo Neto,

ose Fonseca Filho and others had been training psy-hodramatists in Brazil. These were the early years ofe military regime in Brazil, Rojas-Bermudez wasrguably the most prominent among the early trainers

psychodrama in Latin America. The line descend-g from his early work became a scientific line

ooted in ethology, neurophysiology and neuropsy-hology. Another prominent line in Brazil followedhe work of Bustos with some concepts introduced byeto and was more rooted in historical materialism,s was also that of Augusto Boal and Paulo Freire. Weould also mentic n the existential-phenomenologicalne of Fonseca and Wilson Castello de Almeida andthers (Andrade, personal communication, 1996).

The scientific line of Rojas-Bermudez remainedithin the broad context of psychodrama, but withertain rnc.hodoo.rica! and r~ilosophical differences.ac ie la f : : \ J . . . i~ - ~ ~ . _ ~ . " : : .idez J l : , . ' - : ) 1 5 , h ,J~ m os t recently.e l inca ic .. : t l~ ~ c -; I_ J j _ . : . D; t:'ic }~ ~ ;)J as ~3ern) UG~z ap -roach as rollow :,:

1. The work maintains a well-defined distinctionamong three contexts: (a) the Social Context(the social/cultural medium outside the group inwhich the individuals normally live), (b) theGroup Context (the here-and-now context of thetherapy group once formed) and (c) the Dra-matic Context (the "as if"frame of the group,focused on one or more protagonists, in the pro-cess of an enactment in the context of fantasyand imagination).

2. The- work in the Group Context begins as awarmup to a group theme and to the discoveryof a group sociometry in relation to this theme,leading to one or more protagonists on whichthe Dramatic Context will focus. The move-ment of the warmup is toward nonverbal as-pects that reveal spatial forms that suggest whatis coming up for the group.

3. The work in the Dramatic Context employs"Intermediary objects" which permits the pro-tagonist(s) to communicate through images and

wordless movement as a bridge betweeinner images and those of the group.discussed below.)

4. The objective of the work is to producein the protagonist(s) by a combinationcomplementary lines of work: (a) em(role playing, verbal, temporal) and (b)tual (construction and differential undeing of the Dramatic Image, which is funtally spatial). These complementary linespond to left-brain (action orientedtemporally linear) and right-brain (imaented and spatial).

5.. The catharsis of abreaction is discouragegoal of this work. The goal is rather thromutual complementing of emotional anlectual elements.

6. The director must remain extremelywith regard to interpretations he or sheinclined to offer, and ask what mayto explore further what is really comingthe session, rather than to try out inteinterventions.

On this last point. Winnicott (1971) also war.;nJ\ySts need :~.)beware lest they create a'~:'J:i: '_,~ . C ' ( ' ~ - ~ . ,;'idi~;.ce ~~idan intermediate arwhich play can take place and then injectthis area or inflate it with interpretations theffect are from their own creative imaginatiAnalytical Considerations: The Potential SThe psychodramatic frame of reference

understood in relation to the psychoanalyticD. W. Winnicott (1953, 1971) who definedtennediate area" of human experience as "tthat is allowed to the infant between primaryity and objective perception based on reality-te(1953, p. 238). The development of this pspace is essential to the later mental healthdeveloping person. It is the locus of the persoative adaptation to their culture. And it is themaladaptation, which can lead to a variety oillnesses. And it may be employed as theapplication of reparative approaches, to suchillnesses, bridging the creative fantasy of tvidual with their reality testing function.

This "potential space" develops in resp"good enough mothering."


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ED HUGThe mother's adaptation to the infant's needs,when good enough, gives the infant the illusionthat there is an external reality that correspondsto the infant's own capacity to create." (Winn-icott, 1953, p. 238)understand "'good enough adaptation" as engen-ing what Moreno called "spontaneity," whichwe apply equally to both mother and group, theus of which is the potential (and potentiating)ce. So we may also say that "group spontaneity,"en good enough, gives the individual the "illusiont there is an external reality that corresponds to theividual's own capacity to create" (Winnicott,

Hence, the potential space is an important locus ofaratory or compensatory mechanisms and, inup psychotherapy, the group process becomes aondary mothering process (also in relation to theential space of the individual), an opportunity toonstitute reparatory mechanisms to compensate fordeeper root-causes of the illness, whether they beetic or biological in origin or be from earlyther-infant disturbances to the nuclear ego. Winn-tt (1971) exhorted his analytic community to payention to fds "P{'~(,'1tial space" of the child, theus of c.ilt. - L . . ~ ! F?\'~: r: .nce:I ~ugg;;qL~_,t t J : ; : . l~[f~ has come for psychoana-lytic theory to pay tribute to this third area, thatof cultural experience which is a derivative ofplay. Psychotics insist on our knowing about it,and it is of great importance in our assessmentof the lives rather than the health of humanbeings.good deal of the ensuing psychoanalytic under-nding of the arts and literature is based ons framework (e .g. Peter Rudnytsky's 1993These considerations about the transitional spaceve applications in addressing the application of psy-

odrama and its variants to work with mentally illpulations. Again Winnicott's (1971) perceptive

You may cure your patient and not know whatit is that makes him or her go on living ...Psychotic patients who are all the time hoveringbetween living and not living force us to look atthis problem ... these same phenomena that are

life and death to our schizoid or borderline patients appear in our cultural experiences. h ithese cultu rul experiences t h a i provide the con-tinuity in the human race that transcends per-sonal existence.Aesthetic Materials and the Intermediary ObjecThe "Intermediary Object" (10) was introducedthe literature as a named object in the therapeuspace by Rojas-Bermudez (1967, 1973) in the conof working with groups of psychotic individuals.distinct from the "Transitional Object" (TO) of Wnicott, it was not considered as a part of the norchildhood development, but rather as a tool induced into adult psychotherapy that has certain prerties enabling communication with undevelop(or encapsulated) roles in the ego of the psychoThe protocols demand that the 10 exhibit cer

properties: Innocuous (doesn't provoke an alarm reaction) Identifiable (easily recognized), Malleable (allows free-association and fantasy) Transparent (allows communication through it Adaptable (adequate to the needs of the subjec Instrumental (can be used as extension of subje

An example is the use of colored fabrics as Inmediary Objects. These may be, for example, abofeet by 2 feet, with variations and odd pieces, andbe used to externalize (by arranging them on the sas if an expressionist work of art), in a dramaticsuggestive way, internal images of such objectsemotional states, dream-spaces, contents of the band so forth. For example, one can explore the stach contents and how they are contained and howconnect to the environment. These images are elrated (with other objects, the relationship to otherjects, containment, opposition, etc.) and the protanist is asked to double with aspects of the fabimage, asked how they might be changed, andforth. This produces much rich material, which isdealt with in other ways (postural sculpting, contional psychodramatic vignettes, etc.)."Dramatic Images" (Rojas-Bermudez, 1formed in this way function both to connect andefend against primary process, allowing therapecontact without overwhelming the ego. In a psydrama scene, the 10 (and often a complementaryternal person) may also function to connect the


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CURRENT TRENDS IN PSYCHODRAMAtagonist's encapsulated ego role to external reality inthe course of i1 particular session. This eclectic usc ofartistic materials as intermediary objects in conjunc-tion with psychodrama is the rationale for the earliermentioned integration of psychodrama with the cre-ative arts therapies.

ConclusionOne of the more exciting aspects of psychodrama

is its growing cross-fertilization of ideas within anexpanding international community. I work with thechronically mentally ill and find the ideas of Rojas-Bermudez particularly helpful. Also, the work of Pet-ter Lohne (in press) applies many of these same con-cepts to group work with chronic drug abusers withina therapeutic community in Oslo, Norway. There is,in at least this part of the international psychodramacommunity, a growing eclecticism in the use of artis-tic materials as lnterrnediary Objects in conjunctionwith psychodramatic methods. The creative arts thera-pies, especially art and drama therapy, are enrichingand supporting such eclectic approaches. Psycho-drama will become a much stronger intervention mo-dality as i~becomes more eclectic in both theory andJ.[,?~l':-~'oC~.. ~\'~i 'hi; will increase its differential ef-~'(_~,.~"1r:, '~;~'L.:_~

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Current Use in Psychodrama