Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Eating, sleeping, sneezing -- and other roles we play

The minute that we are born, we immediately take a number of roles, including eater, sleeper and sneezer.

As we grow older, we are called to play and practice many more personal and social roles, which is how we develop, grow and mature.

Here's a little "Box O' Roles" that explains psychodramatic role theory in a fun and graphic way, courtesy of my psychodramatist colleagues Nina Garcia and Dale Richard Buchanan.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Theatre for healing, as a basis for a reality show? I say yes!

Drama therapy and psychodrama are kind of "cousins" in the world of creative arts therapies.

I like this video from Blair Glaser, MA, LCAT, RDT, a healing teacher and drama therapist in New York, as she pitches her idea for a fun-filled  reality show in which she uses drama therapy with individuals, couples, companies, and with groups in need such as inner city kids and Iraq veterans.

Blair wants to show that using theater for healing can help participants feel "dramatically different" about themselves and their lives after the sessions.  In "her" show, wiewers will learn the value of play, of listening to the various voices we carry inside, of face-to-face contact in a hyper-techno world, and the importance of engaging the body in healing the mind and heart.

I voted for Blair while making a statement that she also include mention of psychodrama in her work. Vote for her too right here.

In the meanwhile, here's footage of a real drama therapy session, including sculpting and body movement, in this video:

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Worth listening: online interviews about psychodrama

Investigative reporter Jon Rappoport recently has given some very good air time to the gifts and advantages of psychodrama on his online radio show on the Progressive Radio Network.

His show with Zerka Moreno, the "mother" of psychodrama, is here. It is a rare interview with Zerka T. Moreno, who at 93 years old, is still conducting groups in the living room of her home in a retirement village in Charlottesville, Va. She tells stories about the early years of psychodrama with her late husband, Dr. J.L. Morneo, some of which I've not heard before.

Rappoport's interview with Ed Schrieber, a psychodramatist in Massachusetts and the editor of Zerka's memoirs, is here.