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СКАЧАТЬ 1944, Moreno introduced the concept of Sociodrama, the drama of groups, in the journal Sociometry: A Journal of Inter-Personal Relations.

      Psychodrama and Its Origins

      Philosophy

      To understand the nature of psychodrama means to be aware that it is framed in philosophy. It is phenomenological in that it is centered upon the human experience, as philosophers have discussed throughout the ages in one form or another since Plato and are still engaged in. However, the dramatic nature of our work also makes that aspect of it relevant to anyone in drama. One of Moreno’s sources of inspiration was Aristotle.

      GREEK THEATRE

      Psychodrama, or “The Mind in Action,” was originally inspired by Greek drama, though it is not identical to it. Drama means “action” or “a thing done.” The word theater comes from Greek mythology: Thea, a Greek goddess, was a companion to another goddess, Artemis. The original plays were known as tragedies; they were about a central figure, the “protagonist,” whose life had become problematic. Greek theater was the first theater known in the Western world, though it existed in many other cultures in different forms as well. It is the basis of many theatrical terms we use today. But psychodrama differs profoundly from Greek theater in that while we recognize, explore, and respect the person in conflict, we do not stop there; instead we intend to lead that heroic figure to resolve the difficulties.

      QUANTUM PHYSICS

      I believe psychodrama is also close to quantum physics in that we deal with probabilities, not certainties or absolutes, as posited by Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle (Slobonowski 2009). Quantum physicists found that our observations determine realities and that human presence influences the outcome of any experiment. My hope is that in future psychodrama research this principle can be looked at in social interactions.

      Research

      It is impossible to predict the exact results of our work. We know only that there will be results. Although much of its effectiveness has been anecdotal, reported by those who have experienced it, often as life-changing, its effectiveness has been researched since the beginning, despite many claims that it cannot be researched. It has already been done on the use of psychodrama with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Hudgins, Culbertson, and Hug 2009; Hudgins et al. 2004; Hudgins, Drucker, and Metcalf 2000; Hudgins and Drucker 1998). (Editors’ note: see Chapter 5 by Les Greenberg regarding research on the efficacy of experiential methods.)

      Those positive responses are not too surprising since current neurological research of humans actually supports many of Moreno’s ideas as it finds, among other factors, mirror neurons and muscle memory. Rauch, van der Kolk, Fisler, et al. (1996) have long demonstrated positive changes in brain structure from experiential methods, as Hug mentions in Chapter 4 of this book. I understand (Hudgins 2009, personal communication) that researchers at the Harvard Trauma Center are currently conducting pre- and post-MRI studies, demonstrating the effectiveness of experiential methods, some of which are derivative of psychodrama. It is conceivable that, in the future, additional bases and benefits will be found from action research and action therapy in terms of how the brain determines human emotions and behavior.

      My Many Roles

      In 1942 Moreno appointed me Research Assistant at Moreno’s New City Institutes and I continued to learn from him. What follows is a distillate of what I gained from him over the years, adding my own combinations and versions of that learning. Because Moreno’s manner of communication, both spoken and written, was hard for others to grasp, one of my first and basic contributions to spreading his philosophy and ideas was to present them in a more easily digestible form. I started to write about them in my own voice. A compendium of 60 years of my writings, from 1944 to 2004, was edited by Toni Horvatin and Edward Schreiber in 2006 under the title The Quintessential Zerka.

      The Core of Classical Psychodrama

      Spontaneity and Creativity Theory

      Moreno’s central ideas are directly applicable to life itself. The awareness that we are all improvising actors on the stage of life, that we shape ourselves according to the roles we play with others, that some of us fail while some succeed, is self-evident. No one hands us a complete script at birth, so we would know in advance how to live. We have to learn to do it in action. Fortunately, every child is potentially born with great gifts, which are essential throughout our lifespan and repeatedly called upon to be used: spontaneity-creativity.

      “Spontaneity” is defined as the ability to respond adequately to a new situation—and what is a newer situation than being born?—as well as a new response to an old situation (Moreno 1953). That has further been refined as a response of varying degrees of spontaneity to a situation of varying degrees of novelty. “Creativity” means producing something new that was not there before. Note that both center on the word “new.”

      “Adequately” is interpreted as befitting the situation in which the action takes place, producing a balance between the inter-actors that is integrative but not disruptive. Unfortunately, there has been a general misinterpretation of the term “spontaneity” in this country, suggesting doing whatever, whenever, and wherever one pleases is acceptable. That description actually refers to impulsiveness, or what psychodrama calls “pathological spontaneity.” We have found the spontaneous person to be an internally disciplined person, a discipline that is not imposed from the outside.

      Role Theory

      The role is a functional, usually observable, unit of behavior. The word “role” is derived from the bundle of parchment describing the actors” parts in the drama, which they held under their arms, literally rolled up. Understanding the greatest distinctions between human beings and other inhabitants of our planet involves us, among others, as role players.

      Moreno presented a table of the categories of roles in 1946 in Psychodrama, Volume I, reissued in 1994 as Psychodrama and Group Psychotherapy by the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama. There are three role categories: Psychosomatic, Psychodramatic or Imaginary, and Sociocultural.

      These categories are not mutually exclusive. To grasp their importance, just remember that the first thing a baby has to do to be able to live is to breathe—a psychosomatic role. Yet we have an enormous and growing number whose breathing is compromised by asthma and other bronchial and pulmonary diseases. Air cleanliness is absolutely essential for health. That brings this fundamental need into the realm of the sociocultural. For example, breathing smoke into someone’s face or nearby air is a genuine sociocultural offense, yet many persons do it and if a victim complains, the complaint is frequently not taken as seriously as it should be. We need only to be reminded of the danger of smoking. There is hardly any psychosomatic role that does not impinge, and depend upon, our environment. The roles of the eater, sleeper, walker, lover, etc. all eventually move from the psychosomatic into the sociocultural context.

      Some psychodramatic or imagined roles—that of the hero, for instance—in order to be realized have to be socially manifested. They remain only pipe dreams otherwise. I know two men who, at age eight, began to dream about the role of doctor and engineer. Both realized their dream and were successful.

      Shakespeare wrote, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them,” in his play Twelfth Night. But I believe that in any event, to fulfill it, there must have been at least a dream about it because how else would it have been recognized? But the hero role often results in disillusionment, sometimes with disastrous effects, privately and publicly. That is especially true if it is a distorted, malformed role, of which there are many examples. One СКАЧАТЬ