What is the most important thing in psychodrama? "Sharing from yourself"

considered psychodrama a science that seeks truth in a dramatic way:

"One of its tasks is to teachpeople resolve their conflicts in the microcosm of the world(groups), free from conventional frameworks, throughacting out your problems, ambitions, fantasies and passionshow. It requires maximum involvementof all those present in the study of current conconflicts in the form in which they exist, additionallybasing his research on early impressions and recalling remembrances."

The main thing in psychodrama is action . He himself called psychodrama “a method in which the truth of the soul is learned in action.” Most of us are accustomed to mentally delving into problems in order to get to the bottom of them, analyze, look for the reasons for their occurrence and draw certain conclusions. Psychodrama brings the problem into action. Here it becomes possible to consider it comprehensively, unfolding it in space and time, in the “here and now” situation, seeing it from different points of view and perceiving it with all mental functions: thinking, feeling, sensation and intuition.

It seems that in psychodrama everything happens playfully, as if by itself, but it is based on a very complex, consistently carried out action. Its Greek name is drama. A complex internal problem is dramatically depicted and brought into action. As a result of such psychodramas, the courage necessary to come into contact with forgotten memories, with voices and images of the inner world increases. Psychodrama can become a turning point for a person in his life, in relationships with others, in a conflict situation. A strong experience has great consequences, like the ripples of a fallen stone in the water. This experience continues to have an impact in real everyday life. It reaches to the depths of the soul, affects the content of the psyche and sets it in motion. Unconscious, depressed, for a long time pushed aside the content now requires work on oneself, comprehension, and then, finally, significant changes occur in consciousness. Therefore, it was not for nothing that Moreno called his method "deep emotional surgery".

Psychodrama, or Moreno psychodrama, which is due to the name of the creator of the technique, is a psychotherapeutic method. The founder is Ya. Moreno. The traditional concept of psychodrama involves conducting group therapeutic processes, where the main tool is the improvisation of patients as actors.

Drama therapy has several goals - to explore the inner world, develop creativity and expand the possibilities of human interaction with society. Moreover, dramatherapy can be used both as psychotherapy and as training.

Important Features

The psychodrama method is based on psychotherapeutic action, which is role-playing games. During this game, a kind of dramatic improvisational actions are carried out, due to which it is possible to study the inner world of a person and create conditions for the patient to spontaneously disclose feelings, experiences or emotions that are directly related to the problems that have arisen. That is, the patient himself comes to awareness of the problem through play.

There are various forms and types of psychodrama, which were once proposed by Jacob Moreno. Over time, drama therapy did not stand still, but actively developed, expanding its capabilities.

Gestalt psychology and drama therapy have a close connection with each other. Modern Gestalt psychology provides for the need to understand one’s own needs, sensations, feelings and emotions, as well as preferences in society. Psychodrama's goals are largely similar. These methods are incredibly popular and effective in psychotherapy.

The technique of psychodrama, which Moreno himself developed, was created largely by accident. We can say that the very first psychodrama technique that a specialist observed took place in a park in Vienna, where children were playing. They acted out imaginary scenes. Moreover, as it turned out during the observations, each of the participants was assigned their own role. As a result, the game developed into real free creativity, developing into contact.

The basis of psychodrama as a method of psychotherapy is called insight. This also includes catharsis, roles and spontaneity. Insight is a sudden awareness, a sharp understanding of the situation, the position in life in which a person finds himself. Insight occurs during the game and allows a person to achieve the main thing - awareness of the problem.

Psychodrama techniques have an important difference from the classical concept of a theatrical stage. After all, it also has its own actors and roles. However, what is psychodrama? This is an action based on almost complete improvisation. Here only roles are given out, a kind of foundation for each participant. It is practically not limited by any boundaries, that is, the scope for creativity and improvisation is enormous. If in the theater the ending is known in advance, then the psychodrama technique always provides for an unexpected ending.

The patients or participants themselves are responsible for the distribution of roles, while the therapist’s task is to observe and see how well this or that person copes with his tasks, position, and how he behaves in a particular role.

Varieties

Moreno emphasized three main types of psychodrama. The difference between them lies in what exactly the problem is dedicated to.

1. The problem of an individual. Here we are talking about conducting exercises during psychodrama that are aimed entirely at the problem of one of the group members.
2. Group problem. Here the emphasis is on relationships within the group between the participants themselves, as well as the leader, who is actively involved in the process.
3. Theme problem. This technique is based on a topic that concerns all group members.

In fact, drama therapy allows you to solve many problems, answer a number of questions and help a person find his own self. Currently, people are actively using the family practice of psychodrama, monodrama, and communication with the unemployed to get answers about their failures. The psychodrama with the unemployed makes it possible to understand in many ways why exactly the person found himself without work, and whether others are really to blame, and not himself.

Treatment is actively carried out, combined with simple trainings for the self-development of children. A child who takes part in an activity such as theater therapy or drama therapy gets to know himself and adapts better to society. Important auxiliary benefits of psychodrama for children are the opportunity to develop a creative personality and develop the ability to improvise. That is, this practice also has a preventive effect. Children's psychodrama is becoming increasingly popular.

Goals of drama therapy

Theater therapy or psychodrama touches many aspects of a person's life. Such psychotherapeutic activities can be used in various areas:

• when working with children - child psychodrama;
• with parents and their children at the same time, creating mixed groups;
• family therapy, where literally everyone takes part, from grandparents to great-grandchildren;
• marital trainings necessary to solve existing problems in a couple;
• with work teams, companies or organizations.

A person who has lost his job, motivation or himself may turn to psychodrama for help. This method of psychotherapy is highly effective. Although not everyone can decide to take such a step.

For some, monodrama is more suitable, that is, the play of one actor and the disclosure of one’s own problems. Only one person takes part here. For others, sociodrama, that is, psychotherapy with a group of people, is important and useful. A psychodramatist works with them. To conduct psychodrama, a special psychodramatist must undergo very serious training. Not everyone can do this task.

Elements of psychodrama

All psychodrama techniques combine five basic elements that are used in every psychodramatic method.

• The first or main actor. A more common designation for this element of training is the protagonist. This is the person who is central to the action. In the process of therapy, he explores his own personality. An important feature is that the first actor should not act or try to be an actor. The task is the opposite. He is expected to reveal himself and his own inner world on stage. That is, you need to be free, to carry out all the actions that come to mind. To be yourself, and not to portray someone, is the main essence of the protagonist in psychodrama.
• Director. This is a psychodramaist. Each therapy is carried out with the mandatory participation of a facilitator or psychotherapist in the group. He is usually called a psychodramatist. His task is, together with the protagonist, to determine the course of the process and create certain conditions in order to form individual dramas. In total, the psychodramatist performs four functions at once. We'll tell you about them later.
• Additional "I". These are mainly members of the psychotherapy group, whose function is to play the role of people important to the first actor. Due to this, the process of drama develops. Also, additional “I”s are assistants for the psychodramatist. They are required to follow his instructions and follow all directions. But still, their main task is to help the protagonist. They can portray both very real and fictional characters from the life of the first actor. It is with these characters that the actor associates the problems he has encountered. To solve them you need to meet with them. This is where the additional selves come into play.
• Group or just spectators. This is part of the people from the psychotherapeutic psychodrama group who do not take part in the drama process. Despite this, the audience remains active participants in the entire process, receiving a certain pleasure from it and, most importantly, benefit. Don't underestimate the importance of spectators. Moreno clearly compared them to ordinary moviegoers. You can imagine for yourself what it’s like to watch a tsunami on the screen, or watch such an action live. This is roughly how Moreno identified the difference between ordinary spectators and spectators of psychodrama. The presence of spectators manages to achieve a double effect. First of all, they provide support and assistance to the main actor, set him up, encourage him or, on the contrary, criticize him. It is not uncommon for a viewer to spontaneously become a participant in the action. The more isolated the first actor feels, the more the audience will play a role as people who empathize, recognize and understand him. The second important feature is the opportunity to look at your situation from the outside. Psychodrama sessions are often conducted with people united by one problem. Therefore, the action carried out by the first actor or protagonist directly affects each of those present.
• Scene. In most cases, this is a regular platform with enough free space to carry out various types of physical activities. Although Moreno has developed a special stage for this purpose, where the process can be played out at various levels.

Director's functions

As we have already noted, when theater therapy or a psychodramatic session is carried out, the psychodramatist is an important part of it. It has its own specific functions.

• The primary task of the director or psychodramatist is to organize the process, start the action and stimulate the participants to be active. A kind of stage director. Observing the processes of the protagonist, psychodramatists should strive to bring the actor closer to the deepest possible self-knowledge and disclosure of the situation into which he has entered.
• The director serves as the facilitator for the psychotherapy group. In this capacity, the responsibility falls on his shoulders to ensure that the emotional connection between the main actor and the rest of the group is maintained. The main goal is to create an atmosphere of support and understanding with each other.
• The director can perform both an active and passive role. The passive role is fulfilled if the protagonist takes the initiative and does not need stimulation. If the first actor behaves quite passively, the therapist’s task is to get him talking and lead him to certain actions. For these purposes, various methods and techniques can be used - attack, shouting or even jokes towards the protagonist.
• Analyst. Last but not least is the role of the therapist. He should not be involved in the process of dramatic actions, but is obliged to give everyone the necessary instructions. The therapist analyzes what is happening, monitors moods and evaluates the current thoughts, feelings or behavioral characteristics of each individual group member. Based on this, appropriate conclusions and conclusions are drawn, topics to be discussed are selected, etc.

How is therapy carried out?

Both adult and child psychodrama are mainly carried out in groups. Initially, only group psychotherapeutic sessions were conducted. Today, individual training is also possible.

The more people take part in therapy, the greater the opportunity to cover the most significant and problematic situations during classes. They are called sessions. Each session includes three stages. Moreover, at each new session repeated steps are carried out:

When, as a result of psychodrama, it is possible to understand the problem of the protagonist chosen at the first stage, a decision may be made to go through a second round. That is, start again with the process of choosing a protagonist, carry out the action and complete everything with sharing.

An important feature of psychodrama is the possibility of obtaining results not only when playing out real life situations. A person receives some help even when participating in processes that have never actually happened to him. This mainly has to do with the negative emotions experienced. With the help of psychodrama, you can solve problems such as feelings of hatred, fear of something or someone, as well as despair or anger.

The main task of psychodrama is to rid a person of emotional blockers, change his attitude towards the world around him in a positive way and solve existing internal problems.

The psychodrama method is widely used in addiction medicine and psychiatry, as it is an excellent tool for searching, understanding, analyzing personal problems and creating ways to solve them.

Psychodrama by Jacob Moreno - what is it?

Jacob Moreno (1889-1974) was a physician who specialized in group psychotherapy. He is famous for having invented a new method of psychological counseling and treatment - psychodrama. Psychodrama dates back to 1921, when Dr. Moreno first presented a theatrical production with the participation of guest actors. After the initial failure of the production, the doctor continued in-depth study and improvement of the new method, founded an entire institute in the USA for the implementation of psychodrama and received a patent for the invention.

Having moved to America, Jacob Moreno began opening centers for the treatment of people with various psychological difficulties and diseases, uniting them in groups and recording “lessons” on tape. The doctor had many students, so over the last century the method of psychodrama has spread widely throughout the world, and in our time it is used on all continents without exception. Congresses and conferences of Moreno's followers are regularly held, books and scientific articles on the method of psychodrama are published. So what is it, what is the essence of the method?

Classical psychodrama is a group therapeutic therapy, the main tool of which is dramatic improvisation. This helps to study in detail what is going on in a person’s soul, to understand what the prerequisites for certain problems are.

Any person lives in a society, so it is in a group that many of his problems can be solved. Jacob Moreno was not satisfied with the patient’s usual visit to a psychotherapist and a calm narrative about his difficulties: only the active participation of the person, his loved ones, family and friends, and the recreation of life situations will help him understand himself and understand where the “root of evil” is hidden.

In contrast to the classical psychodrama invented by Dr. Moreno, now there is such a variety as monodrama, or individual work with the patient to reveal his potential and increase the craving for adequate worldview and behavior. And yet, group therapy is more often used, which for many decades has allowed people with psychological difficulties to heal.
On the video about what psychodrama is:

Who will it help?

Psychodrama is actively used in treatment:

• Corrections of deviations in behavior (deviant behavior);
• Neuroses and psychopathy of borderline forms (not requiring more active intervention).

Forms, types and techniques of psychodrama in narcology

As already mentioned, there are two types of psychodrama - classical (group) and individual, or monodrama. As a rule, for drug addicts and people suffering from alcoholism, a group method is used with a group size of 6-9 people. In a smaller group there will be too few spectators; in a smaller group it is too difficult for the director to track different individual reactions.

All group participants must be heterogeneous in experience, gender, abilities, etc., but classes are also allowed in a homogeneous group (for example, among alcoholics with approximately the same life history).

The group can be:

• Open – The goal is for each participant to gain independence at a fast pace.
• Closed – participants act more unitedly, using a collective approach.

There are such forms of psychodrama:

1. Protagonist centered. The method is focused on the main character, who is helped by the director, presenter, and partners to show a real situation from his own life (or a fictional situation). The result is re-experiencing and awareness of the problem.
2. Topic centered. It is usually used in a newly created group, where a problem (topic) that is relevant to everyone is selected, which is played out individually by each participant (often used among alcoholics).
3. Directed towards a group. The main “actor” describes a situation that is relevant to all members of the group. An example is a group of drug addicts who stole money from home or lost their jobs because of their addiction.
4. Group centered. Group members sort out relationships and common difficulties among themselves.

The main techniques used in psychodrama are:

1. Monologue, or self-presentation. This is the simplest technique, which is composed of a series of role-playing actions, where the protagonist portrays himself or another person. He is the only participant trying to convey to the audience his problem and point of view on it.
2. Double. The protagonist is joined by an understudy who follows the monologue and helps solve the problem as soon as the protagonist runs out of thoughts and speaks about the unsaid. The double represents the inner voice of the protagonist, his subpersonality.
3. Exchange of roles. In psychodrama, this technique is very important; it allows you to see yourself from the outside and learn to understand other people.
4. Image or mirror. The protagonist watches how other members of the group try to portray him, seeing themselves through the eyes of other people.

Thus, psychodrama uses some techniques that are inherent in other methods of group psychotherapy for alcoholism and drug addiction (in particular, the 12 steps), but there are also unique techniques.
On the video of psychodrama techniques:

Basic elements

The whole group, according to Moreno, is an open system, a whole organism. To measure events occurring in a group, the concept of “sociometry” was introduced, which reflects the search for a partner or several partners in a group suitable for analyzing a particular situation. Sociometry is the basis, the basis of work in psychodrama, like some of its other basic elements:

• Roles, role-playing games. In psychodrama, unlike a regular theatrical production, there is no set plot; it is created by the group members along the way. This brings the psychodrama technique as close as possible to life itself. Patients choose all roles themselves, and the therapist helps them and praises them.
• Spontaneity. All reactions of people in a group are unintentional, unpredictable. Initially, many participants in the performance may be complex, as they are afraid of that very spontaneity in feelings and emotions. But after gaining freedom of expression, they will quickly get rid of their addiction.
• Tele. The concept was taken from Freud, or rather combines two Freudian terms (transference, countertransference). Together, the result is a kind of empathy by the doctor for the feelings, the state of the addict, as well as taking emotions “personally” between all group members.
• Catharsis. According to the translation from Greek, this word means purification through suffering. In psychodrama, catharsis is the experience of a problem and subsequent healing that the main participants of the group undergo during a theatrical performance
• Insight. It means a sharp understanding of the problem, a sudden change of view, which will help get rid of the existing problem.

Stages of conducting classes

In the psychodrama method there are four main periods, following each other. The steps for carrying out the action are described below.

Distribution of roles, or preparation

At this stage, the psychotherapist distributes roles and selects types. An important goal is to create a better atmosphere and start work in the right, optimal direction, as well as maintain the good mood of the group members until the very end of the performance and stimulate improvisation.

Warm-up, warm-up

The protagonist enters the “stage”, the necessary material for discussion is given, and a preliminary assessment of the problem occurs.

Warming up includes three substages:

• Liberation of group members;
• Increased spontaneity in actions;
• Focusing opinions and thoughts on a specific issue.

During the warm-up phase, addicts perform some exercises that will help them perform their roles better in the future. Auxiliary techniques for achieving warm-up goals can be improvisation, living sculptures, etc.

Psychodramatic action

A group member talks about a situation that worries him (for example, a family quarrel over drug addiction). This will be the central plot in the upcoming action. The narrator speaks in detail about the situation and its participants. Next, group members act out the action of the psychodrama, working through real situations and words. It is here that the basic techniques of psychodrama are used - monologue, double and others.

Discussion

At the final stage, group members analyze the “performance” they have just completed. Initially, the audience speaks out - those who did not take part in the drama. Then the protagonist and other members of the “troupe” talk about feelings and emotions. The psychotherapist concludes the discussion with his vision of the situation.

Basic exercises from the course

Typically, the duration of a general psychodrama session for addicts (drug addiction, alcoholism) is about 50 minutes, but real meetings can be longer or shorter in time. The approximate time frame is from 15 minutes to 4 hours, while the duration of individual exercises is not regulated.

The following exercises (examples) can be used within the steps described above:

1. Empty chair. The protagonist interacts with the antagonist, periodically changing roles with him, while sitting on a chair that rises above other people to realize strength and significance.
2. Personification. A person endows himself with qualities that he lacks and tries to act out the situation with new personal characteristics.
3. Return to the past. Pictures from the past are recreated during the performance, and then analyzed in detail by the participants. The “step into the future” exercise can be done similarly.
4. Talking behind your back. The protagonist sits on a chair with his back to the others and listens as they discuss him.

One of the most striking and popular incarnations of group therapy is the psychodrama of Jacob Moreno.

Psychodrama- a widespread method of not only treating neuropsychiatric disorders, but also revealing personal potential and creative abilities was developed by Jacob Moreno.

Even among prominent psychologists and psychiatrists, Moreno stands out for his eccentricity. This originality starts right from his biographical data. Usually all popular works about Moreno begin with this fun fact. Biographers point out that the only undoubted fact of his birth is the date - May 20, while the year of birth turns out to be either 1890 or 1892, which now no one can either confirm or refute. His birthplace is considered to be Bucharest, although in fact he was born on a ship during the trip of his parents Nissim Levi and Paulina Moreno along the Black Sea. The reference books indicate that Jacob (Jacob) Moreno is an American scientist, although he moved to the USA only in 1925, and received citizenship in 1935, being by that time already a famous Austrian psychiatrist and researcher of social problems and even the inventor of an analogue of future tape recorders .

His parents moved to Vienna from Bucharest in 1897, when Jacob was either five or seven years old. There he lived until emigrating to the USA in 1925. After high school, he entered the University of Vienna, first at the Faculty of Philosophy, and in 1912 he switched to medicine. Perhaps this decision was influenced by his passion for the works of Sigmund Freud. Moreno was especially interested in the hidden motives of people's behavior. Although, unlike Freud, who was mainly concerned with individuals, Moreno was interested in the behavior of people precisely under the influence of their relationships with others. Nevertheless, Moreno’s theoretical approaches can rightfully be called psychoanalytic, which has given many researchers reason to believe psychodrama one of the directions neo-Freudianism.

Thus, to roots Psychodrama primarily refers to psychoanalysis.

Zeitgeist(spirit of the times) prompted a shift in emphasis from individual-biological to social-psychological problems.

The third component of psychodrama is certainly personality the author himself.

Since childhood, Moreno had an artistic nature; already in his youth he wrote poetry and stories, but was especially interested in theater. He was interested not so much in classical theater as in the participants’ own improvisations, which emerged not according to a ready-made script, but as the action progressed, as happens in children’s games.

Already in his student years, he loved to stage such improvised mini-performances in Viennese parks with children, fascinated by their spontaneity and readiness for improvisation, which we are losing over the years.

Moreover, these were not just games, but a search for a future scientific and practical direction. Already in his first year at university, he published an interesting brochure “The Kingdom of the Child” (1908). Following it, other, first popular, but then increasingly scientific publications appear.

Together with like-minded friends (Alfred Adler and others), who considered it necessary to expand psychoanalysis towards sociology, Moreno began publishing popular psychology and sociology magazines “Conscience”, “New Conscience”, “Sputniks” (1918-1920). At the same time, he published a collection of poems “The Testament of the Father” and scientific and artistic prose “Speeches”, “Improvisation Theater”, “Royal Romance”, in which the main ideas of psychodrama are already emerging.

Scientific depth psychodramas Moreno, like Reich's body psychotherapy, can only be understood from the position of psychoanalysis, which sees the causes of all neuroses in unreacted emotions, which, being “squeezed out” into the subconscious, carry out their destructive work there, manifested in neuropsychic and psychosomatic disorders. That's why

the main task of psychodrama - react to these emotions, throw them out of yourself, clear your subconscious of them, gain the original naturalness and spontaneity of life. This will help eliminate or at least reduce not only personal mental tension, but also tension in communication with others.

Being a “social” person not only in the spirit of the times, but also out of spiritual kindness, Moreno sought to apply his method primarily to help socially disadvantaged people, marginalized people rejected by society.

In 1913, while still a student, he tried to apply his method to the prostitutes of the city of Spitelberg.

“Why do prostitutes need psychotherapy?” - you ask. And here we are faced with an interesting fact: it turns out that prostitutes have the greatest number of diseases of a neuropsychic nature (hysteria, depression), and not the genitourinary system, as it might seem at first glance. In such cases, they say that “everything is fine in public, but alone with yourself, you can climb the wall.” Hence both neuropsychic and psychosomatic abnormalities, as a result unreacted emotions. Sometimes you manage to convince others that you live better than them, and you don’t give a damn about morality, but somewhere in the subconscious sits that taboo that you violate and it will certainly get you and punish you in this way or that way (not externally, but internally). Even with outward prosperity, they feel like outcasts from society, while they are forced “at work” to demonstrate carelessness and charm, and outside of work to hide their main profession. This constant lie to oneself and others becomes unbearable for consciousness and is repressed into the subconscious, from where it returns with severe neuropsychic disorders. Remember Freud: “Don’t lie to yourself and you will be free.”

Moreno, using elements of a still unformed psychodrama, tried to help these women understand themselves and others in order to abandon their profession or honestly accept it as a conscious choice, along with all the ensuing consequences. Difficult crowd, difficult problem. It is unlikely that Moreno managed to solve it, but this was the first attempt to apply the ideas of psychodrama for concrete practical psychotherapeutic assistance to the marginalized.

During the First World War, Moreno worked as a doctor in the town of Mittendorf near Vienna, where refugee settlements were located, Tyrolean peasants forced to leave their cozy houses and live in squalid barracks. It was here that Moreno realized the meaninglessness of wars and social revolutions, the falsity and unreality of beautiful political ideas. He wanted to somehow help these unfortunate people, and he came up with his famous sociometry as a means of exploring and improving relationships and coexistence.

Moreno managed to convince the government to provide him with the opportunity for such research in refugee settlements. However, it didn’t work out. Apparently, the refugees, preoccupied with more pressing needs, had no time for the scientific help that the handsome young doctor was sincerely pushing on them. And the government did not support the wider implementation of this project. Moreno attributed this failure to European inertia and began to think about introducing sociometry in America, which was more open to new ideas. And he was not mistaken.

However, in order to move to America and convince Americans to invest in his project, he needed initial capital. His remarkable versatility helped him in this - he invented and patented the so-called radio film, which was the forerunner of tape recordings. The invention attracted attention, but Moreno did not continue to improve it, but used the money received for the patent to organize sociometric research. And he achieved recognition and funding for his large-scale projects. This was “helped” by the Great Depression that broke out in the United States at that time, which ruined many farms.

To the credit of the Americans, it must be said that most of them did not resign themselves to the blows of fate and, without waiting for government help, entire families moved from their homes, changed professions, and did everything possible to survive in the crisis. At this time, the migration of the population in search of a better life acquired such proportions that it was taken under control by a special association of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture. Moreno, who knew how to infect with his ideas and enthusiasm, was included in this project as the organizer of sociometric assistance, ranked in importance with economic and legal assistance to displaced people.

What is the essence of sociometry? Its principles are quite simple and suggest:

• ? identification of internal attractions (attraction and repulsion) between people, mutual and one-sided likes, dislikes or indifferent relationships;
• ? on the basis of this - the development of recommendations for the compatibility of representatives of various ethnic and social groups for conflict-free living, the selection of team members most suitable for effective cooperation, reducing conflicts and mental stress.

The procedure for sociometric research is simple and can be carried out either in a small group or in the form of a survey of employees of large enterprises and even the population of entire regions. Of course, in each case, the questionnaire includes those questions that are necessary to solve the problems of a given population.

Since we are more interested in the psychotherapeutic direction in Moreno’s work, we will give examples of questions used in small groups, not only for adults, but also for children.

Group members are given a questionnaire to identify personal preferences and dislikes. These are usually the simplest questions. For example: “Who would you invite to your birthday (first, second, etc.)?”; “Who would you like to do such and such work with (first, second, etc.)?”

A simple procedure for processing survey results makes it possible to draw up visual graphs of attractions and repulsions, which can be used both for sociometric diagnostics of a given group and for identifying the individual psychological characteristics and status of its individual members. These results, in turn, make it possible to carry out scientifically based selection, placement and reshuffling of personnel, to give specific recommendations for improving relationships and interaction not only in work, but also in everyday societies, down to individual families.

Moreno approached societies like a true psychoanalyst, believing that the external structure of groups is not decisive, but is controlled by its invisible attractions and repulsions (like Freud, the invisible unconscious determines the behavior of the individual more than consciousness).

And just as in order to predict and guide an individual’s behavior, a psychoanalyst tries to penetrate his unconscious, so to optimize relationships in society (from family to state), sociometric studies are needed that reveal the informal, i.e., true picture.

Moreno proved the universality of the sociometric approach by conducting research for 25 years in hospitals, schools, prisons, wherever psychological tension and conflicts can have particularly harmful consequences.

The spread of sociometry was greatly facilitated by the personality of Moreno, about whom the famous German sociologist L. von Wiese wrote: “An extraordinary person with amazing organizational skills, a great optimist, a psychiatrist, a doctor, a natural scientist, a man of art, a poet and even an artist.”

Encouraged by his successes and the growing popularity of sociometry, Moreno developed a system socionomy - sociodynamics - sociometry - sociatry as an independent scientific direction.

Moreno explained these concepts this way: “ Socionomy(the science of basic social laws) must realize itself in sociodynamics(lower-level science of processes, primarily in small groups), in sociometry(a system for identifying and quantitatively measuring interpersonal relationships in small groups) and sociology(a system of methods for healing people whose problems arose from a lack of behavior skills in groups).”

The term sociology Moreno, as a psychiatrist, wanted to emphasize the importance of social factors of psychocorrection.

Psychodrama, which he began to develop by performing improvised performances with children in Viennese parks and which he never parted with, became the main method Sociatry.

Moreno argued that a person’s mental health and adequate behavior depend on his position in the internal informal structure of relationships in a small group. Lack of sympathy creates difficulties in life. Correction of the mental state is carried out by psychodrama: the patient receives relief through playing out certain mental states and social realities, learns the necessary skills to act in conditions every moment and spontaneous creativity.(Feel mutual influence psychodramas And gestalt therapy - "here and now"?)

Moreno, like other psychoanalysts (and he underwent full psychoanalytic training), proceeded from the fact that many problems driven into the subconscious give rise to neuroses. And in order to heal, a person needs to spontaneously and naturally express his feelings, which many cannot do. This is close to ideas Wilhelm Reich, but if Reich released unreacted emotions with special physical exercises, then Moreno stimulated the spontaneity of the expression of emotions by involving patients (the term " client" into psychotherapy Carl Rogers will introduce later) in various games.

Moreno believed that most people did not fulfill their childhood need to play in front of an audience, and to play improvisationally, imagining along the way and throwing out accumulated emotions. And he provided such an opportunity to everyone, organizing amateur street theaters where amateur actors played for themselves and for local residents. Here he made many interesting discoveries about the psychotherapeutic effect of such performances.

Here is just one of many examples. The beautiful girl always played only positive roles, and at home she constantly argued with her husband, who was also a member of this amateur troupe and complained about the character of his wife. Moreno invited her to play the role of a brawler in a street theater. After some time, she and her husband happily noted that, having discharged her negative emotions on stage, she became much nicer and calmer at home.

We encountered similar compensatory replacement back in the 80s. XX century during the conduct of in-depth comprehensive examinations (ICI) of the USSR national teams. Hidden aggressiveness, revealed by Rosenzweig's situational frustration test, turned out to be the least among representatives of the most aggressive sports - boxers and hockey players, since they constantly splashed out their aggression in fights and did not feel the need to show it in everyday life.

Working with patients, Moreno tried to ensure that the process of psychotherapy was not boring, so that people, carried away by the game, would move away from their problems, stereotypes, become relaxed, freed from internal “pressures”, give freedom to feelings, i.e. return to natural life from “ shell,” into which they drove themselves with fears and social traditions.

Of course, one must respect certain traditions, but at the same time one should not bind oneself more than is required by legitimate necessity, etc. As one Greek philosopher said: “We are born free, and in the process of life we ​​voluntarily load ourselves with so many extra burdens and responsibilities that it bends us to the very ground and we barely crawl to the grave with this burden that we have shouldered.”

At the same time, we deceive ourselves that we sacrificed ourselves for the sake of others, but in fact we did not really help others with our joyless physiognomy, our groaning on all fours under this burden and constant complaints that no one appreciates it.

In order for classes psychodrama(as well as Gestal therapy) do not turn into meaningless games of adult eccentrics who have fallen into childhood, it is important to constantly remember that Psychodrama games are aimed primarily at gaining inner freedom and spontaneity in the expression of emotions and movements, and only then at playing out significant life situations.

Being a physician by training and at the same time a representative of humanistic psychotherapy and psychiatry, Moreno worked excellently with both sick and healthy people. He knew how to rearrange his work in such a way as not to transfer the model of interaction with sick people to healthy ones, which, unfortunately, is a frequent and dangerous sign of professional deformation of many psychiatrists.

Now in all civilized countries, not only psychiatrists, but also representatives of medical psychotherapy are required to undergo retraining and certification for permission to work with clients without a diagnosis of mental illness, i.e., for the ability to work using methods of humanistic psychotherapy.

Moreno considered the sociometric approach to be universal, allowing for the diagnosis of both large societies and small groups and even individuals. Moreover, in psychotherapy Moreno combined sociometry With psychodrama.

He united them into a tandem, which he characterized as follows: sociometry is diagnostics, psychodrama is therapy itself. In other words, it is first advisable to carry out sociometry (to make a diagnosis), Then psychodrama (psychocorrection) will be more scientifically based.

Please be warned that psychodrama, Despite its popularity, it is not suitable for everyone, but only for those who “have not killed the child in themselves”, who are inclined to play, improvise with adult seriousness and concern. Is this kind of adult psychology wiser than the direct perception of life? Remember Christ: “Be like children, otherwise you will not see the Kingdom of Heaven.”

If the ability to play is alive in you, psychodrama will definitely stir it up and allow you to rediscover the joy of natural, open experiences. Unfortunately, many of us have become too “heavy” in the process of life and there is no need to drag them to class psychodrama, as they can poison the atmosphere of the entire group with their sullenness and inability to play. And easy-going people who can and want to improvise with pleasure will find an excellent outlet for unreacted emotions and unrealized creative potential.

Psychotherapist, unlike psychiatrist, works not with an inadequate object, but with a conscious subject and must first set the client up for cooperation, and only when he makes such mutual contact with hope and interest will there be any sense.

Not in vain In all therapy contracts, you sign that you are equally responsible with the psychotherapist for the outcome of treatment and undertake to try in every possible way to help this process. The position “I paid you, you work, and I will look, listen and think about which of your advice to follow and which is not necessary” is initially unacceptable. There will be no point.

In progress psychodramas freedom and relaxedness give us the opportunity to feel better about ourselves and others. Moreno liked to give an example of the difference in the emotional impact of an ordinary performance and psychodramas. In the first case, the viewer from the side watches the eruption of a volcano, in psychodrama he himself is at its foot.

In an ordinary performance, the actors realize the author’s plan, and psychodrama they create as the action progresses, like children who, when starting a game of war or daughter-mother, do not themselves know how it will end. Children do this naturally; it is much more difficult for them to play according to the script, while adults, having lost the childish ability for spontaneous creativity, have a rather difficult time “getting going” in the first lessons. psychodramas, waiting for instructions and tips. But gradually this spontaneity nevertheless, it “stirs up”, and your desires and fears driven into the subconscious begin to gradually be released and free you from unreacted emotions being the main cause of neuroses and psychosomatic disorders.

Sometimes it is necessary for a person to throw out his problems and experiences, to realize and accept himself, but how can psychologists achieve this? Today we will talk about such a method as the psychodrama method.

What is psychodrama? Let's give it a definition.

Psychodrama is a group therapeutic method for understanding the inner “I” of a person, aimed at identifying problems. Dramatic improvisation is the main tool in this method.

What is the difference between an ordinary theatrical performance and this method of psychology? In the second case, there are no restrictions in improvisation; the person himself determines his role, without having a pre-memorized text in his head.

Using a technique such as psychodrama, the exercises of which are only group, you need to be able to classify groups of people:

• Children, that is, children's psychodrama.
• Parents and children are mixed groups.
• Entire families, groups in which the entire family is present (grandparents, aunts).
• Spouses.
• Colleagues – it happens that an entire work team needs help.

The groups are ready. It is necessary to take into account the basic aspects of such a concept as psychodrama; As a method of psychotherapy, it is a complex mechanism that includes the following concepts:

1. Definition of the role and the game itself. The most important thing here is not whether the character will be good or evil. The most important thing is to identify the material with which to work.

2. Spontaneity, improvisation. There should be no preparations, there should be no strictly defined gestures. It is necessary to allow the personality to open up and appear in all its glory, to show its versatility.

3. Awareness. The insight that descended on all group members is the very goal of psychodrama. The main characters understand and accept themselves, their mistakes and actions, while the secondary characters find a way out of their problems and become more confident.

The structure of the stages of drama

Any drama has its own specific structure, also in such a science as psychotherapy, psychodrama is divided into stages:

• Bringing group members closer together. This is necessary to identify the subject, that is, the protagonist. The problem is also identified.
• The very action of the drama. The protagonist is the main face of psychodrama; he plunges into his problems, achieving insight. The presenter looks from the side, watching each participant.
• Analysis. Group members express their thoughts and emotions that arise as a result of the action. The main character receives a return, seeing that he is not alone, their problem is the same.

This psychological technique allows a person to fully feel the problem, to throw out his emotions without withdrawing into himself. Psychodrama surrounds a person with understanding, compassion and relieves a person from loneliness.

Basic techniques

Psychologist Moreno gave the world an excellent technique - psychodrama. Over the years of its existence, it has become extremely popular. Many methods of this mechanism have been developed, and more and more new methods of psychodrama are still being developed and introduced.

Let's consider some psychodrama techniques:

1. Monologue. Let us remember the theater and the existence of the immortal monologues of Hamlet, Famusov or Prince Bolkonsky - how many problems and feelings sounded in them!

It's exactly the same here. The protagonist, who is given the main role, talks about his problem, doing it as clearly and expressively as possible so that the listeners understand it. In the process of explanation, he himself begins to consider his problem, eventually coming to an understanding of it.

This can be seen everywhere. For example, in a lesson, sometimes an excellent student is assigned to explain a topic to a poor student, which as a result gives the result: the second student begins to understand the topic, the first one comes to full awareness.

2. Double. The main character chooses a double, who becomes his reflection in the problem. The double must lead them out of the labyrinth of problems into which the protagonist has driven himself.

This method of psychodrama makes it possible to look at yourself from the outside in all its versatility. The inner “I” seemed to come out.

3. Exchange of roles. It's the other way around, the protagonist changes roles with his double. By comprehending your inner “I”, recognizing the depths of your inner world, you achieve unity with your “I”. In addition, this psychodrama technique helps to bring all participants in the psychodrama closer together.

4. Reflection. Surely those who go to theater clubs have come across the “Show someone else” exercise, and this is the essence of the following technique.

The group members show the “main character” - how they see and feel him. Thanks to this, you can see your mistakes from the outside, this allows you to learn something, adopt something from others.

Which method to choose, what their sequence will be, is chosen only by the presenter himself.

Selection of exercises

During psychodrama, some of the participants may be taken out of the game due to psychological defense. To prevent this and promote a speedy resolution of the problem, special exercises have been developed. These exercises are carried out at the beginning of psychodrama and help group members to be more open to everyone:

• Role-playing game.
• Dream. To understand the meaning of dreams.
• Chessboard. In order to find out the relationship in which the group members are located.
• Family. To identify intra-family relationships between family members.
• No remarks. It is necessary to express your opinion about each other, looking away to the side.

Is this psychotherapy?

Maybe psychodrama is not psychotherapy, but teaching the ability to analyze one’s feelings and emotions? The structure and methods themselves resemble developmental training. Let's figure it out.

Let’s say a person perceives what is happening not with emotions and sensations, but with a cold mind - then this is nothing more than learning, this is training. What if this same person is pulled out of his experiences and plunged into a new state in which he finds himself a helpless victim in need of a life preserver? This is clearly a psychodrama; psychological help is needed.

It all depends on the internal and emotional state of the individual. Depends on the situation and the problem that is meant. Everything depends on the client.

What is the meaning of psychodrama? Psychodrama is useful, it is necessary for people who have problems with others and with themselves.

There, in psychodrama, playing out and living through certain experiences and life situations, a person opens up. He opens up to himself, comprehends unknown facets, although this was unattainable for him before.

He lives and learns a new lesson. Learns new ways to build relationships with other people and with yourself. Learns to find a common language.

Psychodrama can be enjoyed by any age. Success will only happen if you work continuously and have a good specialist. You need the ability to finely select certain techniques and methods for different groups and specific situations.

The achievements of psychodrama are obvious - practice over many years has shown that the benefits are very noticeable. Psychodrama has developed in many countries, including our country. Many psychologists are improving it and adding new techniques to this day.

Psychodrama has shown itself to be an effective mechanism for treating the human inner world and helping to solve problems. We believe that such practice should be trusted entirely. Author: Vera Ivanova