Research In Psychodrama

[ABE Psychodrama]

LIsted below is a an article from the most recent issue of Board News (May 2009).  If you would like to view the complete newsletter and past newsletters go to our website (www.psychodramacertification.org).  

EVIDENCE
FOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF

PSYCHODRAMA
ACTION METHODS

 

 

We
would like to bring some new collaborative research to the psychodrama
community’s attention. Paul Smokowski, Ph.D., MSW, CP, and Martica Bacallao,
Ph.D., MSSW, PAT, have worked together to create an action methods prevention
program for immigrant Latino families to help them cope with stress that arises
when adjusting to a new cultural environment. The program is called Entre Dos
Mundos (Between Two Worlds) and is described in an article published in the
Journal of Primary Prevention (Bacallao & Smokowski, 2005).

 

Martica
and Paul received a federal grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention to design and evaluate this action methods program for immigrant
families. They evaluated their program in a randomized clinical trial with 85
participating Latino families (Smokowski & Bacallao, 2008; 2009). Fifty-six
families who received Entre Dos Mundos (EDM) psychodrama intervention groups
were compared to 25 families who attended support groups that addressed the
same topics without any action methods. They found that when EDM was delivered
in action-oriented family groups using psychodrama techniques the program was

associated with lower rates of
oppositional defiant behavior, anxious depression, parent-adolescent conflict,
and lower total problems in Latino immigrant adolescents. Follow-up 1 year

after program completion showed
that action-oriented groups maintained superior long-term effects when compared
to support groups.

 

In these
times of managed care companies wanting to cut costs and see evidence of
effectiveness, this is an important study showing that psychodrama treatment
can have a dramatic, lasting impact on our
clients. More information can be found in the following publications.

 

Smokowski, P.R. & Bacallao,
M.L. (2009). Entre Dos Mundos/Between Two Worlds Youth Violence Prevention for
Acculturating Latino Families: A Randomized Trial Comparing

Psychodramatic and Support Group
Delivery Formats One-Year After Program Participation. Small Group Research,
40(1), 3-27.

 

Smokowski, P.R. & Bacallao,
M.L. (2008). Entre Dos Mundos/Between Two Worlds: Youth Violence Prevention for
Acculturating Latino Families. Research on Social Work Practice. Online,
available http://rsw.sagepub.com/cgi/rapidpdf/1049731508315989v1 

 

Bacallao, M.L. & Smokowski,
P.R. (2005). Entre Dos Mundos (Between Two Worlds) Bicultural Skills Training
and Latino Immigrant Families. Journal of Primary Prevention.26(6), 485-509.

 

 





Dale Richard Buchanan, Ph.D., T.E.P.

Executive Director, American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy

202-483-0514

abepsychodrama at yahoo.com

www.psychodramacertification.org


      
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