Psychodrama
employs guided dramatic action to examine problems or issues raised
by an individual within a group setting. Using experiential methods,
sociometry, role theory, and group dynamics, psychodrama facilitates
insight, personal growth, and integration on the cognitive,
affective, and behavioral
levels. Additionally, psychodrama clarifies issues, increases
physical and emotional well being, enhances learning, and develops
new skills in addressing dysfunctional schemas/core beliefs.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy
(CBT) is based on the idea that how we think (cognition),
how we feel (emotion),
and how we act (behaviour)
all interact together. Specifically, our thoughts determine our
feelings and our behaviour. Therefore negative thoughts can cause
us distress and result in problems.
The
group cognitive-behavior therapy model integrates many CBT techniques
into psychodrama.
Common to both is the emphasis on the “discovery”
process through the use of Socratic questioning, the emphasis
on the “here and now,” role playing, and experimenting
with new ways of thinking and behaving.
A
clear
advantage of bringing in CBT techniques into psychodrama is the
combination will facilitate the development of a new perspective
which facilitates psychodrama as primarily psychotherapy and not
merely reenactments of troublesome episodes. Thus, psychodrama
may be reconstrued as a form of collaborative psychotherapy in
which the role of the director is to engage group members in a
collaborative effort to make the therapeutic experience a meaningful,
forward-looking, problem-solving process for all group members,
and not just for the protagonist.
Recharacterizing psychodrama
as a collaborative effort, replacing the long-standing term director
with collaborative therapist, and adapting or incorporating various
problem-solving CBT techniques renews the image of psychodrama
as a vital and a dynamic psychotherapy tool.
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