Zerka Moreno Training Series

[Edward Schreiber]

A review by the British Psychodrama Association
Training Series is available at:  Psychotherapy.net

ZERKA T. MORENO DVD TRAINING SERIES

REVIEW

by Randall C. Wyatt and Charlotte Dick

Published by Psychotherapy.net



DVD 1. Zerka on Psychodrama

This first DVD is an interview with Zerka Moreno in which she talks  
about different aspects of the psychodrama theory and practice. She  
begins with the origins of psychodrama, spontaneous theatre and  
‘throwing away the script’, as well as the principles of the  
encounter and spontaneity. Following this she introduces the five  
instruments of psychodrama, talking in more detail about the role and  
functions of the director, followed later on by the protagonist and  
auxiliary ego, illustrating the use of these instruments with  
examples of her clinical practice. In the section entitled ‘Theory  
behind the practice’, Zerka presents a brief overview of the  
spontaneity theory of child development, linking this later on to the  
techniques of role reversal and doubling.

One of the sections I found most interesting is the one in which  
Zerka talks about her own experiences as director. She describes this  
as often experiencing herself in a cosmic dimension, like being an  
empty vessel, touched by what Moreno called the ‘God principle’. She  
illustrates this with a moving example of intuitively picking up on  
the suicidal feelings of a group member she once directed and her  
psychodramatic work on this protagonist’s loss that followed. She  
finishes this section on surplus reality and the totally non-lineal  
character of psychodrama work, which can take us ‘anywhere out there’.

In the final sections of this DVD we find out personal details about  
how Zerka got involved with Moreno and psychodrama. She also talks  
about the mirror technique and its confrontational aspect, having an  
arousing effect especially on non-cooperative patients. She also  
speaks of the challenges and doubts all directors experience about  
doing it right, regardless whether novice or more experienced. Her  
advise, besides of ‘Practice, practice, practice!’, is not to take  
the world for what it really is. Finally, in the ‘sociometry’  
section, Zerka revisits the beginnings of sociometry and Moreno’s  
early experiences at the refugee camps of Mittendorf during the First  
World War, and reminds us that Moreno’s group psychotherapy was  
intended not as an analytic, but as a sociometric approach.

DVD 2. Psychodrama in Action

As the title also indicates, this DVD presents psychodrama in action.  
It is a recorded session, with Zerka Moreno as director, leading a  
protagonist centred psychodrama. The film starts with a brief  
introduction by Zerka of the five instruments of psychodrama: the  
protagonist, the director, the auxiliary egos, the group and the  
stage. Later on she then demonstrates the use of these instruments in  
action.


The session is somewhat unusual in the sense that there is no  
classical protagonist selection; it was the group who decided before  
the session, and outside of the director’s knowledge, to pick a group  
member to be protagonist. With processing type commentaries regarding  
the director’s thoughts, the film then shows a psychodrama session  
with its typical stages: warm-up, action and sharing.

The warm-up is focused on grounding the protagonist to the specifics  
of the problematic situation, aiming to anchor him in the physical  
reality of the experience, using physical starters, giving the  
director clues as to where the drama might go. Moving into action,  
Zerka then demonstrates the use of the most common psychodrama  
techniques: the double, supporting the protagonist and helping him  
pick up on the embodiment of his feelings; role-reversal, moving the  
protagonist closer to the unexplored territory of his problem, and  
helping him work through the conflict that lies at the core of his  
difficulties; soliloquies that help the protagonist become more aware  
of his thoughts and feelings; and the confrontative stance of the  
director, demonstrating the psychodramatist’s role as ‘bearer of  
truth’. Following the drama there is sharing, and finally closure,  
going back to the protagonist to see what feelings have emerged.

I was trying to watch this DVD from the perspective of a psychodrama  
trainee, and found it to be a useful learning tool. It gives a clear  
and easy to follow demonstration of psychodrama in action, and  
introduces the different stages of the session and the techniques  
applied in a simple and straight forward manner, offering very  
helpful pointers into the role of the director through Zerka’s  
commentaries. I would recommend this film to all novice directors as  
well as more experienced ones.

DVD 3. Psychodrama, Sociometry and Beyond

In this third film Zerka’s students are the interviewers, each  
raising questions regarding theory and practice. Zerka’s responses  
are organised under various thematic chapters and coloured by  
references to her clinical as well as more personal, biographical  
experiences.

She talks about how the social atom had influenced and was  
incorporated into working with geneograms, and the empty chair  
technique into Fritz Pearls’s Gestalt approach. Using clinical  
examples from Moreno’s work with psychotic patients she also reflects  
on psychodrama with trauma survivors, emphasising the importance of  
distance and empowerment in this work.

In another chapter Zerka talks about the use of touch in psychodrama,  
the significance and importance of safe touch as well as the pitfalls  
one might encounter in today’s sexualized culture. She also refers to  
the use of auxiliary egos as ‘cultural guides’, exemplifying this  
with references to her and Moreno’s work with psychotic patients and  
refugees.

In the section addressing her own contributions to psychodrama, Zerka  
talks about introducing protagonist selection as a group choice, as  
opposed to this being solely the director’s choice; introducing  
sharing for group members both from the roles they played in the  
drama and themselves; and modifications to the use of the double  
technique.

Zerka also emphasises the importance of sociatry as the underlying  
principle of group therapy and the need to use sociodrama as an  
educational tool, especially in our times when one can only truly  
become a global citizen if they are able to learn about other people.  
As with regards to globalization, Zerka also touches on the subject  
of how psychodrama fits into other cultures and the significance of  
creating ‘indigenous leaders’ of psychodrama in every such new culture.

Finally, in the closing section of this DVD Zerka talks about  
potential new areas where psychodrama could be involved and further  
developed, such as the school system, social services, hospitals, pre- 
marital testing, psychodramatic schools for parents.

Out of the three films, this was the one I enjoyed most, as it  
addresses a great variety of very interesting subjects going, as the  
title also indicates, beyond the basics of psychodrama, sociodrama  
and sociometry. I would recommend these films to everyone involved  
with psychodrama or sociodrama, regardless whether they are still in  
training or already practicing, as I believe it offers valuable  
learning points first hand from one of the founders of these methods.

Zoli Figusch
Psychodrama Psychotherapist.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://grouptalkweb.org/pipermail/list_grouptalkweb.org/attachments/20090925/ef88d66f/attachment.html>