About psychodrama

Psychodrama is used as a method in personal development, guidance and for therapeutic purposes. Psychodrama has cognitive and behavioral elements – you can e.g. practicing in different situations and both by participating in one’s own and other people’s dramas one can develop new sides, increase one’s “role repertoire”. The focus is on developing resources and thereby increasing one’s competence to handle different situations.

Psychodrama is usually used in groups and is a form of group therapy but has much in common with artistic therapies. At the same time, psychodrama is unlike anything else. Dr JL Moreno (1889 – 1974) was the founder of psychodrama. He emphasized the genuine equal meeting. His philosophy of creativity and spontaneity and role theory underlies the psychodramatic method.

Psychodrama has its roots in the theatre, and mainly improvisational theatre. On the psychodrama stage, the main character’s (protagonist’s) questions are staged with the help of the leader (director) and other participants (auxiliary self). Together, a drama is created without ready-made lines and where the plot develops in the moment.

The dramas can be about realistic situations, dreams or fantasies. Because psychodrama involves activity, the body, emotions and all the senses are engaged so that the experience together with cognitive anchoring becomes a powerful learning moment. Everything happens “here and now”, which means that the logic of the self dissolves so that one does not distinguish between the past, the present and the future. Role reversal is a fundamental instrument in psychodrama, and looking at oneself through other people’s eyes and experiencing situations from perspectives other than one’s own is something that increases understanding both for oneself and for others. Psychodrama takes a stand for humanistic values, for the need to consider existential questions and last but not least the healing power of humor.