Individual Psychological Counseling In Psychodrama

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

I like Litvak's expression - there are as many methods of psychotherapy as there are in the halls of the Hermitage. What does this mean for a person who chooses a psychologist, psychotherapist? Confusion and surprise? Practice shows that clients more often do not know and do not ask a question about which method the psychotherapist works.

For the client, it is important to get rid of the burden, the severity of the problems, and it will only take place lying on the couch or by playing the role matrix, it is not so important. At the same time, the media and films highlighted how psychoanalysts work with a client, but left behind the scenes how psychodrama works. The purpose of the article is to paint the white spots of what is called an individual psychodrama (experts call it monodrama).

Psychotherapy is not a sprint, but a marathon. The client and I will try to make sense of the months of meetings. At the first meeting, I agree with the client about the rules of our work. The key factors are the length of the consultation, confidentiality, cost, location and frequency of meetings. Next, we go back to deepening and shaping the query. Practice shows that it can be very different from what was said at the beginning of the meeting. What are the reasons for coming for a consultation? The client feels a lack of roles or roles that are poorly manifested, he lacks understanding, creativity, experience and motivation. He is stuck in "cultural canned food" - a system of habitual reactions to the environment. For example, in a number of situations we play the role of “insecure person” or “aggressive person”, without giving a chance to manifest other roles. Also, goals related to meeting the needs for self-esteem, recognition, sympathy and belonging to different social groups can be voiced. Coming to a consultation is due to the fact that there is a desire for growth (motivation for growth), prompting to step over what a person has done and what he was in the past. After all the wishes have been expressed, the readiness for activity hangs in the air. Do not be surprised if at this moment you receive an offer from me - “Maybe you want to try to imagine what was told in a role-playing game? Where is the place where you were, here in this room? How could everything look like here in this office? How could your situation unfold here? Where is who is sitting, and where are you sitting? " Example of working with a client (published with the client's permission, names and context changed). R&D: self-confidence. Psychologist (me): Tell us what you want to work on today. Evgeniy: I lack self-confidence. Psychologist: What do you mean by self-confidence? Evgeniy: It is difficult for me to defend my point of view, I feel insecure in the company of strangers, it is difficult for me to come into conflict, I prefer compromises.

Psychologist: Is there a scene from life about this? The one that resonates most strongly in you.

Evgeniy: I am 14 years old and I am at the first disco in my life. In the center is dancing a girl named Olya, whom I really like. But I am very shy. I was an outsider at school, I was often beaten by my classmates. I really want to dance, but I can't. And then this girl shows me "fak". And I don't know what he means. Is this an invitation to dance? But I still hesitate to approach her. After that, I go back to the disco for several days, fantasize that she called me, and then I find out that this is an insult. I am experiencing intense frustration and self-doubt. Psychologist: What other situations in life did the memory of this situation stir up? Evgeniy: Yes. I remembered another scene. Psychologist: How old are you in it? Where does it take place? Evgeniy: I'm 11 years old. I'm at home. Dad came home from work. He's tipsy. Says to my mom, "Pig, get ready to eat." And I am so offended by these words and I do not have the strength to be rude to my father, to tell what I think about him. There is nothing I can do about it. I am terribly ashamed. And it's also very insulting for my mother who allows her to talk like that. Psychologist: Let's designate the symbol of your father. Here is a set of colored markers. Choose one of them and place it in space. Start with the words: "I am a dad, my name is …, I am so many years old …". Eugene (from the role of dad): I am a dad, Sergey, you are 42 years old, in this scene. Psychologist: How do you feel about your mother? Eugene: ((from the role of dad) with sincere surprise) I love her, I appreciate the relationship. Psychologist: Why are you saying rude things to her now? Eugene (from the role of dad): I'm drunk, I'm having fun, I like to humiliate my loved ones by exercising my power. Then I get the feeling that I am always right and confident in myself. Psychologist: And outside the family circle, how do you behave? Eugene (from the role of dad): I behave timidly and indecisively, currying favor with other people. I'm afraid of them. Psychologist: Imagine that dad is in the place where this happens. Describe it. Eugene (from the role of dad): this is a corridor, in an apartment, "Khrushchev" on the ground floor. Light brown walls, children's door stickers. Winter, a lot of clothes on the hanger. I came home from work and my son comes out to meet me. Next, we play the described scene. Eugene is crying. I propose to him to present the scene with a super-real scene - his 11-year-old is holding the hand of that adult man who is in this room. And this man, can help the boy to speak openly to his father, what he feels. He will protect him if there is danger. Eugene (from the role of an eleven-year-old boy): Dad, it hurts me very much and it is difficult for me to say this, but when you come drunk and insult my mother, I want to beat you up. You act like a puss, a freak. I don't like this family. I want to leave her. And because of this, I cease to respect my mother, for the fact that she allows her to do this. Try to understand us, me and mom, this is the most precious thing you have. Become a Human. Psychologist: switch places, stand behind the marker, enter the role of dad. Eugene (from the role of dad): I heard you and I understand. You know, all this is from the fact that I never learned to show my love to those close to me. I'm sorry. Eugene (from the role of an eleven-year-old boy) with a moved intonation: I forgive and you forgive me for what I told you here. A curtain. We return to our seats in the hall and discuss the emotions and experiences of the client during the scenes. What insights, insights, discoveries he had. What new roles he tried for himself. How, roles, scenes - connected with his real life? Thanks to a clear statement of the traumatic situation and its reproduction, it, as before, is experienced very emotionally, but now a person who has matured for several years or decades and is a more mature person who looks at it with different eyes and evaluates it differently. There is a place for tears and laughter, catharsis, emotional cleansing. Moreno writes of this re-experience: "Every true Second Time frees from the First." The client has the opportunity to change his life if the traumatic event was experienced anew so deeply emotionally and intellectually, the unconscious fixation is eliminated, and the person himself becomes open to new interhuman relationships.