What's in your warm up (basket)?

I'm having fun putting together my donations for the silent auction fundraiser, which is a special feature of the annual conference of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama, coming up next month April 3-7 in Oakland, Calif.

All baskets have themes -- and this one is "Eye on Images For Warm Ups," with a focus on using cards and other images for warm up activities.  I love using commercial card decks for to begin groups and individual sessions as they are evocative ways to stirring stories, feelings, memories and ideas. At the beginning of a session, they can be placed on the floor, right side up, for people to look at and select, or in a basket in a part of the room or passed by hand from one group member to another.

In this basket, I've included Loving Our Earth cards, Disney princess cards, animal magnets, framed and matted animal prints, vintage post cards, animal notepads and animal book marks, greeting cards and a set of "cards" that I made from CD envelopes and pictures cut from magazines and other places.

Here's how I made my picture envelopes (see photo, with sample at left) and how you can make them:

• CD envelopes with cellophane window
• Magazines, greeting cards, brochures, photos and other items with interesting pictures
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pencil

Then:

• Make template with card stock, cutting your card stock 1/8 inch less on each side.
• Place template over most interesting graphic part of picture from magazines, cards, brochures or whatever else you have collected.
• Use pencil to mark lines lightly on picture.
• Insert picture into envelope.
• Close envelope by folding flap inside or tape.

There's still time to come to the conference. Details here.

"Impromptu Man," Jonathan Moreno's words of the father

Dr. J.L. Moreno, who fathered psychodrama, is the subject of an upcoming book by his son, Jonathan D. Moreno.

The book is Impromptu Man: J.L. Moreno and the Origins of Psychodrama, Encounter Culture, and the Social Network, scheduled for publication in Fall 2014. It's called the "untold story of the creative genius behind major 20th-century movements in therapy and theater and his lasting influence."

Here's the pre-blurb for the book:

"A mystic, theater impresario, and inventor in his youth, Moreno immigrated to America in 1926, where he trained famous actors, introduced group therapy, and was a forerunner of humanistic psychology. As a social reformer he reorganized schools, prisons, and refugee camps. Moreno's methods have been adopted by improvisational theater, military organizations, educators, business leaders, and trial lawyers. His social graphics laid the groundwork for social media like Twitter and Facebook."

The younger Moreno, whose mother is Moreno's third wife Zerka T. Moreno, is an acclaimed bioethicist, and the author of several books about science and philosophy.

Read more about the book here.

Find Jonathan's web site here.

Psychodrama, all over Facebook

Psychodrama is about groups and social networks, and you can find psychodrama on Facebook. Just for fun, I took a quick tour around Facebook to find out where psychodrama has landed. Here's what I found:

American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama is the U.S. membership organization, and this is its official Facebook page. You'll find news from ASGPP, with special emphasis on its annual conference. Link here.

Midwest Psychodrama especially welcomes members from the Midwest states, including Illinois, Indiana, Ohio,  Minnesota, Wisconsin and nearby. Link here.

The British Psychodrama Association  is the accrediting body for psychodrama psychotherapy and sociodrama in Britain. Link here.

The International Psychodrama Group has one of  the larger memberships on Facebook, at 1,072 members. Link here.

U.S. Psychodrama & Sociometry Journal focuses on research with about psychodrama, sociometry and related topics and encourages interest in and writing for the Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy, published by the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama. Link here.

Open Psychodrama Study Group by Students, for Students and Practitioners is one of the newer Facebook groups, started by Adam Barcroft and focuses on studying for the U.S. certification exam. Link here.

Toronto Center of Psychodrama and Sociometry is related to the center in Toronto which has provided quality training in psychodrama, not only for residents of southern Ontario, but also for an international community of students. Link here.

Oxford School of Psychodrama and Integrative Psychotherapy is a psychotherapy training organization, originally called Oxford Psychodrama Group, and offers psychodrama workshops in Oxford and an online book shop. Link here.

Young Friends of Psychodrama focuses on younger people interested in psychodrama, but the truth is -- anyone can join! Link here.

Moreno Psychodrama Society comes from the "down under" country of Australia and is moderated by psychodramatist Sue Daniel. Link here.

Psychodrama Morocco, for anyone interested in what's happening in the psychodrama scene in Morocco. Link here.

Oh, yes, there's even more groups -- in Egypt, Russia and other places with alphabets and language that I can't read. Have fun touring and spreading  the word about psychodrama!