Sociodrama conference in Italy looks at all the problems in the world

Just recently we shared details about Rosalie Minkin's new book about sociodrama, a kind of cousin to psychodrama.

But we forgot to tell you about the Fourth International Sociodrama Conference in Iseo, Italy, in September 2013. Psychodrama and sociodrama -- while always not well known in the United States -- are popular and growing in Europe, South America and elsewhere. Topics included political activism, creating groups and community, multiculturalism, diversity and working in organizations.  We can see the main part of the gathering took place in a basketball court, making the event highly accessible, and was offered in both English and Italian.

Watch a sociodrama gathering in action below and another day here. See sidebar for additional videos.

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.

Eating disorders & psychodrama book is out!

The book, Healing Eating Disorders with Psychodrama and Other Action Methods: Beyond the Silence and the Fury, has been birthed!

We -- Linda Ciotola and I -- show and tell how psychodrama and other action methods are especially helpful in the treatment of the classic eating disorders as well as dieting struggles, body dissatisfaction and associated issues of fear, sadness, silence and shame. This book provides clinicians with sound theoretical information, practical treatment guidelines and a wealth of clinically-tested action structures and interventions.
 
We tell how we have introduced action methods to work with a diverse range of clients, and suggest ways in which psychodrama practitioners, experiential therapists and others may integrate these methods into their practices.

The book offers fresh ideas for tailoring psychodramatic standards such as The Living Newspaper, Magic Shop and the social atom to eating disorder issues, with extensive examples of psychodrama interventions - classic and specially adapted for eating disorders - for experienced practitioners and those new to experiential therapies. We demonstrate how how psychodrama can be used in combination with other expressive, holistic and complementary approaches, including family constellations, music, art, imagery, ritual, Five Element Acupuncture, yoga, Reiki and other energy work.

Read the first two chapters of the book here.

We have been honored with wonderful endorsements not only from Zerka Moreno, the co-developer of psychodrama, and other respected practitioners and trainers in the psychodramatic community but also from other disciplines:

"Thanks for this creative way in which you both jointly have composed a book like this, on a very serious and little understood disease. A book on this disorder has been badly needed." -- Zerka Moreno, TEP, co-developer of psychodrama and most recently author of To Dream Again: A Memoir.

"Here is a creative and refreshing integration of action methods, and the use of other creative and expressive arts, well-grounded in current scientific research on what really works in therapy. There is a wealth of vivid clinical vignettes and the authors also offer variations, making this truly useful to practitioners. -- Adam Blatner, M.D., TEP,  blogger, author of Foundations of Psychodrama: History, Theory and Practice

"With a focus on action methods, neuroscience and trauma, this book gives experienced psychodramatists and clinicians new to the field effective and safe ways of using action to heal both women and men struggling with eating disorders, and help them transform their lives. A valuable addition to the library of anyone in the field." -- Rebecca Walters, LCAT, LMHC, TEP, co-director of the Hudson Valley Psychodrama Institute 

"This innovative book on eating disorders and safe action therapy is a seminal contribution to both fields of psychotherapy.  The authors, Carnabucci and Ciotola, share their experience as clinical practitioners of safe psychodrama, constellation work, and other body-based healing practices such as the Therapeutic Spiral Model, in eloquent stories of important healing work with people healing from eating disorders.  A must have for your library if you work with people that have eating disorders in themselves or their families." -- Kate Hudgins, Ph.D., TEP, developer of the Therapeutic Spiral Model

"The authors have managed to span the human experience, the science and the healing experience in  dramatic and intellectually challenging ways. They write not only from highly developed professional selves but also from deeply attuned experiential selves." -- Nancy Alexander, LCSW-C, psychotherapist and author, Columbia, Md.

"This book is a wonderful tool to the therapist who specializes in eating disorders and is looking for psychodrama techniques to assist with the healing. It is comprehensive in its approach to eating disorders, and issues with the body, trauma, and food. I know the authors who are dedicated healers. A welcomed addition to the psychodrama and eating disorder fields." -- Mary Bellofatto, MA, LMHC, NCC, charter member of International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and trainer, educator and practitioner of psychodrama, sociometry and group  psychotherapy.

"Karen and Linda bring both their skill as psychodramatists as well as their sensitivity as healing practitioners to their writing, creating a work that is long overdue in the field. It is thoughtful, practical, and eminently readable; a valuable resource for anyone working with this population." --  Mario Cossa, MA, RDT/MT, TEP, and author of Rebels with a Cause: Working with Adolescents with Action Techniques

 "This work represents a synthesis of tremendous knowledge and skill acquired over years of working with people with eating disorders. I highly encourage everyone to take advantage of the wisdom, creative ideas, and concrete techniques included. Linda and Karen bring a wealth of talent -- in psychodrama, yoga, bodywork, holistic health, spirituality, nutrition, Constellation work, and many other areas -- to their collaboration. The book is clearly written , well-organized and contains many ideas and techniques readers can readily apply to their practice settings." -- Catherine D. Nugent, LPC, TEP, psychotherapist, psychodramatist, Laurel, Md.
  
"Clear, graceful writing and terrific content." -- Joan Lewin, dance-movement psychotherapist and author of Dance Therapy Notebook

"I'm using your book for my eating disorder group -- beautifully written, user friendly and warm, plus great exercises and cases." -- Nancy Kirsner, Ph.D., OTR, TEP,  South Florida Center for Psychodrama, Miami, Fla.

"This book is perfectly compelling! I think it's a textbook for folks who are at the master's degree or better level. Yet it's written in such a way that even the layperson can read it with comprehension and be then inspired to seek help for themselves or a loved one!" — Antoinette Fiumos, M.Ac, DOM, AP, acupuncturist and nutritionist, Sarasota, Fla.

Clint Eastwood's empty chair? He needs a director!

Photo with Clint and chair, borrowed from CBS News site.

Actor Clint Eastwood tried out the "empty chair" technique last night at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., talking to an invisible Barack Obama.

His drama was self directed -- we in psychodrama call that a monodrama -- and everyone from The Huffington Post to The Washington Post is talking about it this morning. Rachel Maddow called it weird, and a few others thought it was a joke. Obama got into the act by Tweeting a picture of himself, sitting in his presidential chair, saying, "This seat's taken."

Politics aside, the empty chair started out as a sociodramatic invention, when Dr. J.L. Moreno introduced it in 1921 in his famous theater presentation, asking for a leader to take the "throne" that he placed on a stage in Vienna, Austria. (No one stepped up.) In later years, Moreno's wife and collaborator Zerka Moreno expanded the technique for psychodramatic purposes, with the protagonist talking directly to a  significant person during a drama.

See my video here.

I don't think Clint would pass our practitioner's exam. He could have used a director to keep him on task and to encourage him to role reverse with the "other" in the chair. Role reversal -- feeling into the experience of the other -- creates empathy and understanding of the other's viewpoint.

...Something that politics needs more of.

Adam Blatner explains the potential of sociodrama

Sociodrama, the little-known cousin of psychodrama, has great potential. We see its potential in this video from the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services and the Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development at the University of Georgia, which hosted a presentation by Adam Blatner, M.D.

Adam spent the evening introducing participants to the concept of sociodrama, differentiating it from psychodrama and other similar processes, and explained how it can be used as a powerful tool in counseling and education. Participants engaged in  sociodramatic scenarios to give them a feel for the process, which is described as a powerful problem solving tool.

Adam describes himself as a multi-faceted fellow: amateur philosopher, contemplateur of contemporary cultural trends, confabulator, playful part-elf, and promoter of imagination as well as more rational modes of thought. Professionally he is a retired mainstream psychiatrist and a prolific blogger.

Part one, filmed on February 26, 2011, may be found here.

Part Two is here.