Last week Dr. Jim Porter and I had our first “Psychodrama Laboratory” at the Loga Springs Human Enrichment Center. These will be held on the first monday of every month (Mondays Meditations on the other three). The Psychodrama Laboratory will use human volunteers to explore acting and drama exercises applied to our deepest fears, worries, and anxieties. Last week I discovered that though acting can sometimes be intimidating this is a different kind of acting and requires much more vulnerability. The scenes can be enjoyable to watch, but the purpose is more therapeutic.
If a comedian or actor acts out a scene I am sure they could make it extremely funny or entertaining. We definitely had some laughs and tender moments. However, at times the real honesty we are looking for in psychodrama requires some acting that is not performance and more exploratory work for the benefit of the participants. The audience and other actors are there to support another human in working out the conflict and learning from each other more than to be entertained. Some of the exercises can be much more entertaining also such as the rational-emotive anxiety scene with props. This reminded me of a Who’s Line Is It Anyway game.
I explored some of the concepts of narrative therapy, play therapy, and cinematherapy last week and we will continue with watching and discussing some scenes of movies for cinematherapy in the weeks to come. We will also have some exercises and activities that draw from narrative and play therapy. Brainstorming for the Loga Springs Human Enrichment Center Psychodrama Lab with Dr. Porter we ran through every Disney movie, Woody Allen, and Mel Brooks thinking of characters with anxiety!
Every time I am a little late I just think of that rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.
Rachel Hofer
Loving Therapy 