Explaining that "strange" word of psychodrama

 

My friend and colleague Marlo Archer, Ph.D., does a great job of explaining the strange word of psychodrama and how  -- although it's not a great word in the current marketing world -- is wonderful for growth, change and learning in Psychodrama -- A Powerful Approach to Healing, just published the new print and online issue of Together AZ.

Here's the start, as Marlo writes:

"I was in a family feud over money and needed some advice. I invited my dad to have a talk with me about it on a picnic table near Lake Michigan at the Summerfest grounds, under the Hoan Bridge on a bright, sunny day in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He told me I didn’t need to worry about what my aunt and uncle thought, and he knew I’d make the right decision. We spoke of other things as well. We laughed and cried as I caught him up on everything that had happened in my life since he had died. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that my dad is gone?

"In fact, it was his estate and another estate that got us all into feud to begin with. However, through the power of psychodrama, I did, in fact, have a conversation with him and get all the advice I needed to move forward with my dilemma. Oddly enough, he was played by an Australian woman I had never met before, and she was perfect for the part."

What is she talking about? Here's the rest of the story.

Patricia Sternberg, drama therapist and friend of psychodrama, dies at 82

Patricia Sternberg died of acute respiratory failure in Hospice of Palm Beach County in Boynton Beach, Florida, on June 23 at the age of 82.

She played many roles her life, including drama therapist, friend of psychodrama and professor. She served on the faculty of the Theater Department at Hunter College in New York City from 1978-2005. she had previously taught in the Theater Department at Pennsylvania State University's Ogontz (now Abington) campus from 1971-1978.

She believed theater could heal. She wrote two basic textbooks in the field: Sociodrama: Who's in Your Shoes? with Antonina Garcia, a psychodramtist and drama therapist, and Theatre for Conflict Resolution: In the Classroom and Beyond. 

She wrote numerous plays for young audiences. While at Hunter College, the performances she directed were often the first theater experience for many of New York City’s public school children, an audience she cultivated through her commitment to public outreach.

Long before disability studies became known, she devoted her life to issues of accessibility in the performing arts.  Believing that theater was the route to achieving your full expressive potential, no matter the physical limitation, she gave acting classes for Hunter’s disabled students every semester as a voluntary overload.  She taught her colleagues to be disability-blind by example, as she cast students from those classes in the 27 productions she directed at Hunter.

She was the recipient of the 1998 Gertrud Schattner Award to recognize her distinguished contribution to the field of drama therapy in education, publication, practice, and service.

“The Theater Department mourns the loss of her generous loving spirit,” said Mira Felner, chair of the Hunter College Theater Department.

Born Patricia Sikes in Detroit, Mich., in 1930, she received her bachelor of arts degree from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, in 1952. After college she moved to New York City where she studied acting with Lee Strasberg at the American Theater Wing. She  received her master's in arts degree from Villanova University in 1972.

In 1956 she married Richard Sternberg to whom she remained happily married for 53 years until his death in 2009. While raising their family in Riverdale, N.Y., in the 1960s, she founded the Riverdale Children's Theater, the Riverdale Teen Repertory Theater and the Riverdale Community Theater, which is believed to have been the only active community theater in New York City at that time.

“My three greatest productions are my children,” Ms. Sternberg told the Palm Beach Post in a 2006 interview.

A memorial service will take place in Fall 2013 in New York City. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Patricia Sternberg's name to: The Drama Therapy Fund, 1626 Leavenworth St., Manhattan, KS 66502.

See more of her obituary in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Moreno as celebrity poster

Thanks to Marcia Karp, master psychodramatist from England who travels and teaches internationally, for this photo of a giant poster of Dr. J.L. Moreno being adored by a red-shoed fan. From the street sign, it looks like it comes from Russia, but we are told it is actually Brazil.