Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy
The Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy is the professional journal of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama (ASGPP). It publishes articles and brief reports, including research, case studies, practitioner's techniques, and contributions of spontaneity and creativity, as well as book reviews. Our journal provides a window into our profession, through which the greater mental health and professional community can gain knowledge and understanding of our method. The American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama is rooted in the philosophy of Dr. Moreno. The ASGPP promotes the development of creativity, spontaneity and encounter to enhance the relationship between individuals, families and communities; and works actively to heal and transform society through the knowledge and practice of psychodrama, group psychotherapy and sociometry in all its diverse applications. Open Access Policy: All articles of the journal are published open access with a CC Attribution 4.0 License. Please read the terms and conditions of this license type here. There is no fee or cost associated with publishing in our open access journal. We are committed to accessibility and increasing the visibility of content in our journal which has led us to the decision to publish all article open access.
American Society of Group Psychotherapy & Psychodrama
Psychodrama and Poetry in the Service of Gender Empathy
Gender identity is a central theme in most adult psychodrama groups. It appears in verbal check-in stories, relationship-themed game offers, and free interactions. Nowadays, it is essential to consider the social context regarding gender, which often highlights the defining and limiting role of a country’s culture at a particular age. Some forms of poetry are similarly prevalent in the psychodramatic warm-up methodology: for example, shaping important keywords into poems, utilizing the conciseness of haiku to form a theme, or expressing a common experience within a smaller group of members. In this case study, the authors highlight the intersection of these two phenomena through a play that our previous group had performed. The location is Hungary, with its Central and Eastern European traditions and restrictive gender policies. The misunderstanding between the genders that emerged as the group’s theme, the resulting tension, and the helplessness experienced in the face of the broader social environment led us to the play, in which the genders had to switch roles. Both groups were tasked with writing a poem about the everyday challenges and lifelong experiences of their gender and putting it on the stage. The enormous empathetic impact on both group members and leaders is also noted.
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Spontaneity and creativity were central to J.L. Moreno’s understanding of mental health and social functioning. He developed spontaneity tests, spontaneity training, and role training to help people have more access to their spontaneity and creativity. In The end of trauma, Bonanno (2021; Bonanno, G. A. The end of trauma: How the new science of resilience is changing how we think about PTSD. New York, NY: Basic Books) lays out two factors—flexibility mindset and flexibility sequence—that work together to promote resilience in the face of traumatic events. These two factors help explain both inverse link between anxiety and spontaneity and what happens mentally in the process of spontaneity. By bringing the past and the future into the present moment on the psychodrama stage, psychodrama provides a way to help participants expand their access to spontaneity and creativity, develop a flexibility mindset, and practice the flexibility sequence.
Spontaneity, Psychodrama, Resilience, Flexibility Mindset, Flexibility Sequence
Book Review: Impromptu. By J. L Moreno. United Kingdom: The North-west Psychodrama Association, 2010. (Original work published 1931.)
Book Review Impromptu. By J. L Moreno. United Kingdom: The North-west Psychodrama Association, 2010. (Original work published 1931.)
Book Review: The Theatre of Spontaneity, By J. L Moreno. United Kingdom: The North-West Psychodrama Association, 2010. (Original work published 1983.)
Book Review The Theatre of Spontaneity, By J. L Moreno. United Kingdom: The North-West Psychodrama Association, 2010. (Original work published 1983.)
Book Review: The First Psychodramatic Family. By J. L Moreno, Zerka T. Moreno, and Jonathan Moreno. United Kingdom: The North-West Psychodrama Association, 2011. (Original work published 1964.)
Book Review The First Psychodramatic Family. By J. L Moreno, Zerka T. Moreno, and Jonathan Moreno. United Kingdom: The North-West Psychodrama Association, 2011. (Original work published 1964.)
Book Review: The Words of the Father. By Anonymous. United Kingdom: The North-West Psychodrama Association, 2011. (original work published 1922.)
Relationship Trauma Repair: An Experiential, Multisensory Model for Working with PTSD
The following exercises are taken from Relationship Trauma Repair. RTR is a multisensory, experiential, and relational model for treating PTSD that was designed by the author. RTR offers a cohesive progression for treating PTSD and relationship trauma issues within the context of a treatment center, outpatient clinic, or private practice. The exercises are based on an integration of sociometry and current research on subject areas being explored in each unit They may be used with or without psychodrama, depending on the level of training of the clinician using the model. Exercises are a hybrid developed by Dr. Dayton in response to a need within the addiction field for user-friendly approaches to experiential work that are both safe and effective, and that honor the field’s longtime tradition of a psychoeducational approach to treatment. The model is composed of four parts: two books, a DVD, and a CD.
The Alcoholic Family Sociodrama Explores Social Atom Roles
Sociodrama is an excellent tool for working with substance abuse concerns. This article shows how to help family members who have experienced alcoholism and addiction in the family setting explore social atom roles. Clinicians and educators are well aware that psychodramatic enactments sometimes can become so intensely personal as to increase resistance rather than dissolve it. Sociodrama is an invaluable educational tool that allows for greater emotional distance from the subject being explored. It supports the exploration of issues such as family dynamics, for example, in a less direct but still-engaging way, and particularly the traditional roles of the hero, scapegoat, lost child, and mascot.
THE DENIAL BUSTER (c), A Structured Psychodrama: An Illustrated Description
Classical psychodrama assumes that the action begins in the present to establish the issue, moves to the past to enact the origins of the issues and determine a corrective, then moves back to the present to reenact with the new corrective. It also assumes that the director "follows" the protagonist wherever the psychodrama goes. Structured psychodrama, as in The Denial Buster, imposes a format of roles, and it starts in the present, goes into the future, then returns to the present.
The Subjective Genogram: An Action Therapy Tool for Family of Origin Work
While a person's extended family of origin typically provides numerous role models for expressive behavior, only a limited number of these are incorporated into one's role repertoire. Wiener's (1999) Dramaturgic Model posits two of five theatrical meta-roles needed for adequate psychosocial functioning: the embodying, expressing Performer; and the responsive, self-witnessing Spectator. A case example illustrates the combined use of a "subjective genogram" (an impressionistic visual representation of the client's family of origin) in identifying the client's limited meta-roles and of dramatic role-play in expanding the client's emotional role repertoire.
Comparison of interpersonally oriented verbal and action-oriented psychodrama groups by graduate student participant/ observers
Twenty-six graduate student members of both interpersonally oriented verbal and action oriented psychodrama groups evaluated their experience in both styles of group therapy on the Semantic Differential and on Yalom's Therapeutic Factors. The results indicated that the psychodrama group was rated on the Semantic Differential as of higher value. as more potent, and as more active than the verbal group. The psychodrama group was also rated higher overall on Yalom's Therapeutic Factors, and separately on three of the eleven therapeutic factors (Altruism. Catharsis, and Existential Factors). While this study took place in an academic setting, the results support the proposition that psychodrama groups are perceived to be as effective as, or more effective than, interpersonally oriented verbal groups.
Non-clinical Psychodrama: Lawyers and the Psychodramatic Method
This article describes what happened when non-clinical psychodrama was introduced into Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyers College, a post-graduate training program for trial lawyers. Psychodrama was first utilized to give the students of this program an introduction to personal growth and development. Role training as the method of teaching trial skills came next. A number of innovative applications of psychodramatic method and techniques to both training and practice evolved as the College's instructors became more familiar with the psychodramatic method. The author describes these innovations and presents the events that occurred as an argument for greater use of psychodrama beyond psychotherapy and the mental health field.
The Use of Art With Social Atoms in Substance Abuse Treatment Planning
J. L Moreno's social atom is an effective tool for use in treatment planning with substance abusing clients. It allows the clinician to quickly assess the client's willingness to change and the support necessary for maintaining sobriety. By using art materials and by giving clients latitude in the symbols used, clinicians increase their freedom in accessing creativity, resulting in clients disclosing a more accurate picture of their emotional state, quality of relationships, and strength of sobriety. Actual case illustrations are used to show the treatment planning process, and composite social atoms are used to protect confidentiality.
In Memoriam: David A. Kipper, PhD,1939-2010
In Memoriam: David A. Kipper, PhD, 1939-2010 by Adam Blatner
Book Review Hidden Twins: What Adult Opposite Sex Twins Have to Teach Us
Book Review Hidden Twins: What Adult Opposite Sex Twins Have to Teach Us. By Olivia Lousada. London: Karnac Books, 2009. by Zerka Moreno
The Willingness Exercise Structured Psychodrama
Structured psychodramas are enactments that have a predetermined beginning, middle, and end. As they create an environment of safety, they are helpful with new groups that might be reluctant to participate in psychodrama. Group members can see where the action leads and where it ends. This can give confidence to group members to step forward and offer themselves as protagonists.
Psychodrama and the Future of the Social Sciences
This article originally appeared in the journal Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama in 1974, just after the death of Jonathan's father. The article provides a brilliantly written brief history of the historical development of the social sciences, placing psychodrama within a phenomenological epistemology, which is interested more "in the essence of psychical phenomenon, and not in the facts purely as such." Psychodrama is interested in working with the "essence of perception," the author writes. "The person stands at the center of his intuited senses, the nucleus of his perceived world, about which revolves his social atom and his psychodramatic life-world." The author's thesis is that psychodramatic theory and practice represent a significant bridge between humanistic and behavioristic strategies in social sciences, then he boldly states that "it is the only bridge of this type extant in human society today." Even 37 years later, this article from the ASGPP Archive is significant today in its implications for the future of psychodrama and sociometry in social science theory, and it influences how we observe and participate together at a time when psychodramatic and sociometric theory and practice are needed more than ever.—Adam M. Barcroft
An Interview With Zerka Moreno Interviewed by Marcia Karp, At Holwell International Centre for Psychodrama, England August 12,1994
Empty Chair Grief Work From a Psychodrama Perspective
Counselors often use the empty chair method to help clients confront unresolved issues with an absent person. This article compares the empty chair approach created by Jacob Levy Moreno, who developed psychodrama, and Friedrich Peris, who developed gestalt therapy. The article also shows how psychodrama is applied in a one-on-one counseling setting. Psychodrama is most often used in group counseling. The case study demonstrates psychodrama & deux. It reflects a widower’s search for meaning and his adjustment to the loss of his wife.
Empirically Validated Treatment: Evidence-Based Application of Psychodrama in Interactive-Behavioral Therapy
Interactive-Behavioral Therapy has emerged over the past 25 years as the only empirically validated form of group therapy specifically designed to meet the needs of people with intellectual and chronic psychiatric disabilities. In 2005 it was the subject of the American Psychological Association’s first book on psychotherapy for those affected by these conditions and enjoys wide international usage for both psychotherapy and training uses. At the core of IBT are action methods adopted from psychodramatic practice. The following is a review of the research validating the IBT process in a variety of settings.
The Early Influence of Moreno and Psychodrama on Theodore Sarbin and Role Theory
Theodore Sarbin (1911-2005) was a significant figure in the field of role theory, social psychology, narrative psychology, and constructivism. Because constructivism has become a more prominent trend in psychology and psychotherapy, it is of historical interest to note how Sarbin's work was influenced by Moreno and, in turn, to recognize Sarbin's relevant to the advance of Moreno's contributions today.
Germany, Nineteenth Century: Psychodrama Before Moreno
The emergence of psychodrama continues to be the subject of controversy, and Dr. J. L. Moreno himself has contributed to this confusion. The first time the term psychodrama appeared in English-language scientific literature was in 1937, in the first issue of Sociometry, where Moreno began publishing his theories and practices in the United States. While Moreno claimed to start developing psychodrama with children as early as 1911 in Vienna, the conceptual clarity and methodological rigor of the approach evolved over time, leading to inconsistencies in how it was defined and understood by both practitioners and scholars. His tendency to blend theatrical, experimental, therapeutic, and spiritual elements—often without clear distinction—further complicated its reception in academic and clinical communities. Interestingly, there are references appearing in German literature as early as the 19th century, starting with the work of Richard von Meerheimb (1825–1896), considered then “the founder of Psychodrama.” In addition to publishing several books since 1887, and to promote this new genre, Meerheimb founded in Bremen a “Psychodrama Literary Society,” with its “official organ,” a specialized journal. However, while the word indeed appeared earlier, the development of psychodrama as an exploratory, educational, and therapeutic method is still widely attributed to Moreno.
Psychodrama, Group Psychotherapy, Drama, Sociometry, Monodrama, Spontaneity
How We See God and Why It Matters: A Multicultural View Through Children's Drawings and Stories
The title of this book immediately impressed me, because I agree with it, especially the first part. As I have discussed in the fourth and latest edition of Foundations of Psychodrama. I think that our image of God-whether viewed as a harsh judge, a capricious king, or the unending source of creativity and spontaneity arising within the soul of every being-affects the way we feel about ourselves, others, the world, and how we should behave.
Gathering Voices: Essays on Playback Theatre
The need to give order and to understand meaning in life may be a uniquely human experience, coupled as it is with the wish to understand our small part in the larger reality of our world. The wish to speak and to be heard and understood is a core part of being human, as everyone, from mental health workers to advertising tycoons knows. Freud's patient, for example, spoke of the "talking cure," AT&T tells us to "reach out and touch someone," and a billboard proclaims: "Everyone has a story. Tell us yours." What all these concepts have in common is the need to connect, listen, and tell. And that is the heart of Playback Theatre, the brainchild of Jonathan Fox. The hunger for this new, yet old, art form, which can connect people and ideas and which is practiced in more than 30 countries, spread over five continents, can be gauged by the rapid growth of Fox's now-international organization.
Because of the Jack of coherence in Moreno's writings, the theory he produced seems, in certain instances, less a theory and more a collection of musings. Some see his Social Atom Theory (SAT) as one of those cases. In this article, the author provides a more cogent formulation of the SAT, extending Moreno's conceptualization. The author also makes a more convincing theoretical exposition, one more user-friendly and useful.
Although Moreno was arguably one of the most creative and productive thinkers of his time, his ideas are hard to follow because of his lack of coherence. In certain instances, the theory he produced seems less a theory and more a collection of musings. In this article, the author suggests a more cogent process for examining, organizing, and extending Moreno's conceptualizations to make them a more convincing theoretical exposition, one that is more user-friendly and useful. The author presents the process as a game that any number can play and wants the rules of the game to entice more psychodramatists to play by reducing the sense of competition and promoting spontaneity, creativity, and fun. The author credits Adam Blatner with endeavoring to engage the psychodrama community in this type of endeavor.
Virtual Reality as an Advanced Imaginal System: A New Experiential Approach for Counseling and Therapy
Virtual reality (VR), an exciting new technology, can be used as an advanced imaginal system: an experience that is able to reduce the gap existing between imagination and reality. In that sense, VR can improve the efficacy of a psychotherapy by reducing the distinction between the computer's reality and the conventional reality. That experience can induce in the patient an awareness of being more skilled in the difficult operations of recovery of past experiences through the memory and in foreseeing of future experiences through the imagination. Starting from the existing research in this area, the authors discuss the possible use of virtual reality in counseling and therapy, its underlying possible advantages, and its existing constraints.