Psychodrama and Christian Counseling - Christian User-Friendly Psychodrama

Psychodrama and Christian Counseling - Christian User-Friendly Psychodrama

The psychodrama began in 1921 with JL Moreno, a doctor who immigrated to the United States from Austria in 1925. Blatner defines psychodrama as a method of psychotherapy in which patients enact the relevant events in their lives rather than just talking about them. This involves exploring not only historical events in action, but more importantly the dimensions of psychological events not normally addressed in conventional dramatic processes: unspoken thoughts, encounters with those not present, representations of fantasies about what others might feel and think, and imagining future possibilities, and many other aspects of the phenomenology of human experience.

Even before he left Vienna, Moreno was a pioneer of many concepts that most counselors today take for granted: terms like group psychotherapy, action methods and warming up. Psychodrama, in its most comprehensive definition, has developed a variety of applications: group psychotherapy, clinical role play, supervision, marriage and family therapy2, drama games, games, social drama and therapeutic community; and offshoots such as Playback Theater, developed by Jonathan Fox. It has influenced many schools of therapy: Fritz Perls (shape and technique of the empty chair); Virginia Satir (family therapy and family sculpture, which Moreno called Action Socio Gramm); Eric Bern Transactional Analysis). Perhaps one of the most brilliant recent developments for Christians is Peter Pitzele's bibliodrama3, rendered as a form of midrash, an experiential form of Jewish biblical storytelling.4 Why psychodrama is wonderfully suited to Christian counseling One of the greatest attractions of psychodrama for Christians is the fact that it can be so Christianly user-friendly. 5 Although Moreno was born into a Sephardic Jewish family, he embraced Christianity. He once said that Christianity can be considered the most ingenious and powerful psychotherapeutic operation ever invented.6 Moreno's appreciation for the healing properties of religion, a concept that goes against the grain of most psychological thought in this century, is a common thread throughout all of his works.

Moreno envisioned a religion based on recognizing the Godlikeness in each person and the ability to bring forth the Creator in each person. The expression of these religious beliefs would be in action, interacting with others according to principles based on the sacredness of spontaneity and creativity in each individual. He posited that when we become sick in relationships, we should become healthy in relationships, a therapeutic service that the Body of Christ should offer to all who become members. While most talk therapies emphasize the verbal nature of healing, psychodrama brings the actions of body language, role play, and behavioral rehearsal into psychotherapy. Since most of what happens to us is a whole experience, much more than just verbal, the techniques of psychodrama allow life to be reproduced in a way that it can be relived, understood, confirmed, reformulated, treated and new behaviors rehearsed in a safe and protected atmosphere. Relationships between group members reproduce society as well as their own personal forms of relationships in a microformat within the group, giving us the opportunity to see in situ how members interact, give them feedback, and even work through conflicting relationships to acquire new ways of interacting.

The basic framework of psychodrama: The basic framework of psychodrama requires a director (the therapist), a support person (co-therapists or group members), a stage (where the action takes place), the audience (other group members) and the protagonist (group member chosen to work on his problem). The beauty of this structure is that the protagonist can project onto the stage what he or she wants to work on. The story belongs to the patient and not the therapist. Anything within a person's imagination can be worked on, including metaphorical and religious themes, such as: B. the relationship with God.9 Once the various objects/people have been brought onto the stage, the protagonist has the opportunity to explore their meaning and what he or she wants to do with these things on a concrete level. He or she can even try different methods with the assurance that the customer can delete them, try again or return to the state they are in if they do not work on the stage.

Psychodrama has the added benefit of providing a safe environment in which certain conversations can take place. Many patients are encouraged by their therapists to go home and talk to the significant other who they believe has wronged them. Sometimes that person is unavailable due to death or distance, or sometimes it is simply not advisable. In contrast, the psychodrama stage offers a unique opportunity to bring these conversations to life. The healing that is usually achieved in such situations is permanent and irreversible. Find a therapist to get a solution to your problems.

Even though it wasn't with the real person, there was a real conversation and a real resolution. Perhaps the jewel in Moreno's crown of psychodrama techniques is role reversal. Putting yourself in someone else's shoes leads to feeling that the person has feelings, looking inside that person's soul, gaining new insight into what makes the person tick, and possibly discovering what makes the person do what they do. It often means dying from opinions previously expressed about that person and their motivations. It is impossible to return to your role and be the same after a reversal. One knows something that one did not know before.10 Perhaps the best example of role reversal is that of God himself when he takes on humanity in the person of Jesus Christ. It is interesting to note (as a psychodramatist, not as a theologian) that the redemptive work of redemption culminates in the cross, where God, in the person of Jesus Christ, reverses roles with humanity, feels our pain, sin, and lust, and then dies in our place. Resurrection is the final seal that establishes our access to the Lord. From there nothing can separate us from the love of God.

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