This open access book outlines the intersections between social work and the methods of sociometry and psychodrama. Different sections offer essential practice wisdom for both trauma-focused and trauma-informed experiential work for individuals, groups, organizations, and communities. This text enriches the understanding of various action-based approaches and highlights how to enliven social work practice. The chapters include clinical vignettes and examples of structured sociometric prompts with diverse populations, topics, and social work settings to enhance the understanding of group practice, individual practice, and community practice. It provides social workers and other professionals with dynamic tools to improve assessment, intervention, activism, and leadership. Strength-based practical tools are offered to readers, along with guidance for theoretical conceptualizations. This integrative book is an essential read for students, practitioners, leaders, and scholars within the fields of social work, psychodrama, the creative art therapies, group therapy, community organizing, and social activism.

Again available! This handy volume collects the best and most important writings of J.L. Moreno in one concise and accessible place. This unique collection explores Moreno's thought in developing psychodrama and sociometry, with his strong emphasis on spontaneity and creativity. The book discusses both basic and advanced concepts and techniques of psychodramatic treatment. Thte reader will find extensive examples from Moreno's own cases containing verbatim transcripts that illustrate the give-and-take between Moreno, his patients, and the audience observers. Jonathan Fox introduces the book with a brief overview of Moreno's life and ideas and places him in the context of his time and in the field of psychotherapy. Fox's notes throughout underscore significant aspects of the selections for the practitioner and student.

This book offers a comprehensive guide to psychodrama, including the underlying philosophy, methodology, theory and applications. Taking readers through the process of staging a psychodrama session, from the contracting phase, exploration and enactment to closure and integration, the book also presents brief short examples to illustrate how to choose the best methodological approach for any context, and describes in detail the various psychodrama techniques and their application in practice, with indications, contraindications, typical pitfalls and FAQs. The book demonstrates that psychodrama is not merely a collection of methods and techniques and that the potential of psychodrama cannot be fully utilized without an in-depth knowledge of its conceptual foundations. With examples from a range of practices, it shows the broad applicability of psychodrama in therapeutic and non-therapeutic contexts alike, e.g. in educational contexts (school and adult education), social work, organization development, coaching and many other fields. This easy-to-read book uses jargon-free language and will appeal to psychotherapy researchers and practitioners, as well as non-therapeutic professionals like human resource consultants and life coaches. This is a translated and revised edition of the best-selling German book Psychodrama: Grundlagen (Springer, 2014, 3rd edition).

J. L. Moreno, M.D., is recognized as the originator of sociometry and psychodrama, and was a prodigious creator of methods and theories of creativity, society, and human behavior. The methods and techniques he authored have been widely adopted; the theories and philosophy upon which the methods are founded have not, as they are frequently couched in language which is not easily understood. Moreno’s ideas about group psychotherapy have pretty well gotten lost, and what he considered his greatest contribution, sociometry, gets paid superficial attention by most psychodramatists . Group psychotherapy and psychodrama are both widely practiced but often based on non-Morenean theory, likely due to the inaccessibility of Moreno’s work. This book outlines Moreno’s early years (his religious phase), the philosophy on which the foundation of his methods are based, and a description of the three major methods Moreno originated: psychodrama, sociometry, and group psychotherapy. It provides a more systematic presentation of Moreno’s work and presents his philosophy and theory clearer, more understandable manner.

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. The authors describe how they 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 practice. Offering fresh ideas for tailoring psychodramatic standards such as The Living Newspaper, Magic Shop and the Social Atom to eating disorder issues, they provide extensive examples of psychodrama interventions - classic and specially adapted for eating disorders - for both the experienced practitioner and those new to experiential therapies. They also explain 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. This pioneering book is essential reading for practitioners and students of psychodrama, drama therapy, experiential psychotherapy, cognitive and expressive arts therapies and mental health professionals, as well as professionals interested in complementary health modalities.

Systemic Constellation Work is a rapidly growing experiential healing process that is being embraced by a variety of helping professionals, both traditional and alternative, worldwide. This book explores the history, principles and methodology of this approach, and offers a detailed comparison with psychodrama - the original mind-body therapy - explaining how each method can enhance the other. Constellation work is based on the notion that people are connected by unseen energetic forces and suggests that the psychological, traumatic and survival experiences of our ancestors are genetically passed forward to the next generation and may live within us. Using insightful case studies from a variety of client groups, this book shows how Systemic Constellation Work can expand the possibilities of psychodrama techniques, and can be successfully integrated with psychodramatic enactment, guided imagery, ritual, concretization and other methods of healing and personal growth. This book will be essential reading for students and practitioners of psychodrama and Constellation work, as well as counselors, mental health professionals, experiential therapists, creative and expressive arts therapists and alternative practitioners looking to widen their knowledge of mind-body therapies.

Contemporary Psychodrama weaves together psychodrama and psychoanalysis with illustrative clinical examples, whilst preserving the essence of psychodramatic philosophy and methodology. Previously unavailable in the English language, this book presents José Fonseca's diverse new approaches to psychodrama together with a blending of theories. The book is divided into clear sections, covering: * new approaches to psychodrama theory * new approaches to psychodrama technique * psychodrama and sexuality * the past and future of psychodrama. Fonseca's innovative ideas include the adaptation of techniques originally intended for groups to individual psychodramatic psychotherapy. He distinguishes between not only the normal and the mentally ill but the normal and the optimal, and presents a detailed developmental psychology, inspired by Moreno and Buber, but clearly influenced by object relations theory. Contemporary Psychodrama presents the original concepts of a leading light of the Brazilian psychodrama movement that will be of great benefit to all professionals working with psychodrama. José Fonseca, M.D., Ph.D., was one of the pioneers of the psychodramatic movement in Brazil and a founder of the Brazilian federation of psychodrama. He has published two books in Brazil, Psychodrama of Madness and Relationship Psychotherapy.

The practice of psychodrama allows participants to create a world for themselves, free of usual rules and constraints. This freedom from all ordinary conventions is what Moreno called 'Surplus Reality', and is one of the most vital, curative and mysterious elements of psychodrama. In this book, Leif Dag Blomkvist and Zerka Moreno explore the depths of this long-neglected concept. In addition, each chapter is prefaced by Leif Dag Blomkvist's explanations and illuminations of the forces and energies - from early religious rituals and festivals to the art of Surrealism - which have influenced psychodrama. Psychodramatists and mental health professionals who wish to take therapy beyond the 'verbal' will find the book valuable reading.

"This book introduces something substantially new...original, clinically valid and well-thought out ideas which have been extensively ëtestedí in workshops conducted internationally over the last decade...a great book!" Adam Blatner, MD The author presents the Therapeutic Spiral Model (TSM), a systematic modification of Psychodrama, for therapists working with people who are suffering from severe trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder. A step-by-step guide for using experiential methods safely, the author first explains the theoretical foundations of TSM, research and theories on trauma, and experiential psychotherapy as a basis for understanding its development. Throughout, clinical action structures and advanced intervention modules for using experiential methods are presented. Each chapter contains active vignettes and case examples to demonstrate the process and progress of the spiral technique.