English translation of the Article entitled PSICODRAMA: UN DISPOSITIVO PARA LA PRODUCCION CREATIVA, published in Argentine Magazine ACTUALIDAD PSICOLOGICA, directed by Lic. Miguel Kohan, Nº 261 - XXIV Year - Jannuary/February of 1999. Pages 6-7-8.
PSYCHODRAMA: A DEVICE FOR CREATIVE OUTPUT.
By Silvia B. SCHVERDFINGER, Bachelor in Psychology.
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More than twenty-five years of diverse many-fold philosophical and psychological research studies do tell us about the concern, relevance and updated importance regarding the subject-matter CREATIVITY. Nowadays, and in our workplace, we do find a great deal of theoretical hints as well as technical contributions from different disciplines, that offer someone concerned with such a subject-matter the possibility of a wide scope in order to build his/her own theoretical/technical approach to the above-mentioned issue.
According to Donald WINNICOT, in his book “Reality and Playing,” creativity is a human gift, a capacity to be developed by any person at any moment or condition in their daily lives; that is to say,works of art are not the only creations but also those tasks overcoming a simple adaptation or a mechanical stance in everyday life, out of routine, and thus performed in an original, special way,i.e., an innovation, an invention. Creativity is a stance, how to focus reality, a manner to satisfactorily live one’s life. The creative impulse is universal; its sources are the person’ s first years, say, at the very beginning, the relationship held between a mother and her baby, later on a kid and his/her environment.
For a person to healthily grow up and develop, it is necessary that his/her childhood ambience has been ‘good enough,’ and egged on the child’s creative capacity, where such a kid feels that he is contained in his affection, respected in his impulses and spontaneous attitudes, his longings and concerns,and then his playing plus the free expression of his own imagination should not be smothered.
A child’s playing, prior to an adult’s creativity, does possess two functions: to work out conflicting situations and also to give shape to his creative potentials. Whilst a kid is playing, he is sited in an area placed amongst his fancies, his inner world and outer reality, which do allow him to recreate the outer world as to his inner personal experiences.
The creative matrix is thus built in a person’s childhood games together with a teenager’s lavish imaginative production. When a grown-up is creating something, he is indeed re-creating his childhood playing space, his boyhood imaginative world, those phantasies occurring over and over again throughout his entire life, many times in an unconscious manner.
A creative process does supply us with the opportunity to change a sinister trait into a wondeful flair, in the sense of vital actualities; it is search itself, it does stand for diving into one’s interior, we should know how to put up with our anguish, frustration, a feeling of confinement and loneliness, fears, sadness and being trapped by such, till we can bring about an inner motion linking us to a paramount need for freedom. Within a creative moment, there emerges the pleasure sustained by surprise, an amazing feeling, the magic of discovering what lay unknown to ourselves.
Creativity is looking for the truth, not only in the sense of a person’s expression as to his overall scope in experience and a feeling of being unique , but it is., too, a social act, that is, to share with others one’s aesthetic personal experience. Consequently, creation is a path to overcome loneliness and isolation, a likely way to convey one’s interior turmoil onto a fellow-being , and also to share the enjoyment for aesthetics.
Creative possibilities are health, sanity features and condition. Universally speaking, man fights his fear of death and madness. Accepting reality with its standards and patterns in a rigid manner does leave a person in confinement, inner imprisonment, subjection and lack of freedom. In order to create you have to dwell in transgression, subversion of that , which is instituitionalised, in each of the rooms occupied by our daily living and doing, our chores, too. ...
Some people show difficulties as for creativity. Their creative “lunges” do appear to be checked, “clogged” or repressed and show themselves as a fear to fail( pain, shame,) reluctance to playing games, (= the person is afraid of looking ridiculous, or “silly” when experimenting with an amazing fact,) stiffness, frustration elusiveness(giving up promptly when obstacles or hindrances turn up,) the fear to that which is unknown , mistrust phantasies. .
PSYCHODRAMA offers an interesting range of resources that do permit to focus conflict and work on it,thus making the release of a creative process likely. Psychodrama does arouse as from drama, theater acting and doing. Its creator was Jacob LEVY MORENO, an actual inventor and investigator in Social Psychology,who built and applied his theories: Socialdrama, Psychodrama and Group Psychotherapy. Moreno took two interesting elements in drama : catharsis and identification. He noticed that they bring about therapeutical effects both on actors and the audience. Catharsis does mean a purge(that is, setting sympathy and horror feelings free) and, thru an identification process with the characters, it will allow the public to work out their own catharsis, too. Pursuant to Aristotle’s Poetics, “it is a task pertaining to tragedy to produce( on the spectators) a liberation of such emotions via fear and pity.” MORENO does not agree. As to the latter, “Aristotle’s analysis grounds was finished tragedy. He tried to pull out the sense of drama from the effect a finished product had on the people all during its presentation.” The grounds MORENO lies on is a dramatic poetical works(a play) spontaneous and simultaneous performance, throughout its own development, as from the very beginning onwards, catharsis being carried out not only on the audience-this being a desired secondary effect- and not on the characters in an imaginary play- but mainly on the drama spontaneous actors or agents thus produced by the characters themselves, and at the same time, there occurring a liberation process from the former.
Psychodrama is different from drama in that it takes dramatic performance, a stage, as the nucleus or core to approach and scouting of a human being’s soul and his/her ties. (stage= scenes on such.)
Group Psychoanalytical Psychodrama contains present lines of thought plus theoretical developments originally produced from a convergence between Psychodrama, Group therapy and Psychoanalysis. We can say that it conceives man as a doer of subjectivity if we take into account the peculiar conditions in our present social-historical context; besides it comprises,as well, a determined way of thinking over group issues, a group being regarded as a conflict field here, and it is on such that multiple traversing linking intersections take place, the outcome resulting in being identification networks.
A resulting articulation or joint between looking and acting-both attached to word- gives birth to a condition to work as far as psychic labour is concerned-, insomuch as they furnish an improved expansion to conflict, this being inherent to a human being, and they permit bonds to reorganise and reorder over again in relation to past situations updated in the present, made over once more and projected onto the morrow. ...
Taking our experience into account, we can see that most of the conflicts attended lie on how difficult it is to interact with the others since man builds up his individual identity and needs love and belonging,that is, he needs a group identity. Dramatization turns out to be a splendid way to access to the unconscious,rescuing its knowledge in order to integrate a person as a social being, by understanding his hidden concealed complex relationships.
Group activity lets individual contributions be multiplied thus enriching each one of its components in the process as well as permitting them to help each other in the elaboration of anxieties, fears and phantasies likely to hinder a growing process.
I have personally verified that psychodramatic device , in some cases, will grow into a therapeutical one, even though its operative environment is not a clinical aim, or the cure itself not being the speci-fic objective as to the task to be achieved.I also consider that it is always a formative device because the person is finally envolved himself,as it is, due to a mobilization of his psychic processes incurred in his sharing his personal experiences with the other members in the Group with variable intensities. Glances meeting, contact or distances in between bodies, do modify communication as to its quality, insomuch as smugs, emotions, commitment practically appear to be unavoidable.
It is important here to note that over the last years Psychodrama reaches far as regards practices projecting a social and community function a lot more forcefully than on the clinical field.That is why we can see more and more professionals coming from sundry disciplines wanting to know these places of ours seeking formation and monitoring. Interdisciplinary practice and team work make activities easier and richer!
Psychodramatic tasks propose - over predetermined time and space(the so-called psychodramatic framework together with its rules)- an opening to successions of movements, rythms, speeds, intensities, images, thoughts in scenes, the scenes themselves, all of these produced by the members of a Group individual-, group or team- and institution-wise.
Psychodrama develops into a transforming activity so far as it facilitates the exploration of subjectivity and those multiple inner commitments the social-historical feature produces in such environments as the one we inhabit as to our daily chores, as well as clinical work, education, community and institutional purposes.
Now for coordination itself: it is support of the positive and negative transferences of the members in a Group;we can add that it is support to a Group’s output. In my experience as a group activity coordinator, I have noticed that a group, as it gets constituted as one, does intertwine its own imaginary flair more and more intensely on the basis of identification inter-meshing and transference intersections amongst peers in a group. Communication between a group and its coordinator is,at first, radial(the focus of group glance is directed to coordination),then, it gives way onto other places and people.A coordinator’s figure becomes less and less visible, it grows dimmer all the time, it sort of plays wandering games and vanishes in the end elbowing its way thru the members’ figures and the group-institution dimensions. Not all of the coordinators are thus prepared or willing to incur in such sane procedure.We can see numerous groups that fail in their aims as such or get stuck in an unfinished repetitive demand stance due to the vicious position of a coordinator not to tolerate his/her own siting envolved in loneliness and getting detached from the coordinated group as practice dictates in the end. I am absolutely convinced that a group traverses a truly creative process if both the group and its coordinator split at last. Such a group will see itself in a creative task ,in an active role, if they stand its feeling of being abandoned on the part of a coordinator, or else if they actively traverse the anguish and anxiety brought about by a situation of chaos, disorder, that of a blank page prior to creation setting its own scene. Notwithstanding the fact that a group’s creative production does not depend on a coordinator’s role,we do believe that it is a necessary element that a coordinator meet with certain traits or characteristics such as being plastic, brittle, young(spiritually and mentally active),clever, open to the senses and love,affection, a good relationship with others, trust, confidence ,reliability;he should be a target for the members’ believing him or her; he/she should be curious enough;they must sustain passion as well as enthusiasm in their lives, their fellow-beings’lives and as for the tasks they carry out in their existences.
From our experience in shared coordination in PROGRAMS WITH WORKSHOPS OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY, we have come to some conclusions as to A CREATIVE PROCESS.At the very beginning, such process responds to a condition that is a great deal more related to the group’s affection and sensory impressions than to reason or their everyday’s deeds analysis. At those moments, contact takes place with our phobias, anguish, those desires that will allow us to get in touch with our selves,as from our daily choices, which help us create an identity, a unique way of being and acting,for if there is something we cannot escape from,that is OURSELVES,the particular way we are and act likewise. What we are dealing with here is simply re-elaborating our fears and crazes. What emerges from there is the most vital item, the most intense one,a necessity of changing, modifying reality, little by little, transformation being small at first, ambitions not being large at the very beginning, but steps do show themselves to be steady, constant, the ultimate goal being a higher personal and social well-being. Our role as coordinators, social operators is an important one since we have worked to being formed as transformers of that sinister into vital performances. With that aim in view, it is necessary not to be either a dilettante or snobbish. We must get used to work on conflicting areas, share our technical resources as well as our experiences with the community, give birth to schemes together with the latter, contribute to the making of its multipliers and active agents. We should as well share achievements, difficulties and enjoy such an experience!
A person’s condition(“per sonare”,that is the place where sound is, every one’s)is the one that helps him brood on himself, his loved ones and his environment.The quality of responding to and committing himself to his own reality,actuality, enables an individual to change in each of his deeds, mutate into a person thus building,brewing himself up. This manner of reflecting, and the skill to respond to hardship and challenges(“to face the music”) do enable a person to set up his own culture, this being the whole of human activity,man’s creative and artistic toils. The basis is to wonder and ask questions, interact and utter answers: this seems to be the path,the right one, leading to man’s making of his own history.
In our community workshops, we always start from practice itself, from what people know, live and feel,from their different life conditions, or walks of such,their troubles, sorrows, contingencies. That is what allows us to implement a theorization process in order to place everyday occurrences, immediate facts, individual and social traits, collective, historical and structural items.Later on, we return to practice in order to try and change such realities.
The psychodramatic resource enables us to develop a discussion and reflection collective process; make individual knowledge collective; develop a common brooding experience,a joint creation of knowledgeable facts,where all of us are participant in its brewing. We, coordinators, should be aware of when, how and the reason for using such and such technical resources;we should all know their scope and maya quite well.
My experience ,which dates back from 1979, as a teacher both at a Public University and the area of private bodies or entities, does add to the concept that PSYCHODRAMA IS A CREATIVITY-PRODUCING PEDAGOGICAL DEVICE. I deem the actual learning to be accomplished as from a person’s ex-perience -his own- together with a student’s free and active participation, this being the would-be agent of knowkedge itself. A teacher shall facilitate and stimulate the freedom to think, the capacity of reflecting and creating of a pupil, and also contribute-based on his/her higher knowledge and practice background-to articulate that theoretical with experience and technique,i.e., theory and practice. The go of such mode is always a group one, since a formation like the latter does develop its own creative potentiality -its acme- at the moment each person in the group has made inner the common thought in the group in addition to each one of the components of such formation’s quality of being unique, a single outstanding creature.In consequence, a group will make feasible that creative individual potential to each one of the group’s components.We ought to remark as well that learning inside a group does bring about a multiplying effect to know and feel like doing research work., do output and create.
By playing with one’s own personal experience we can sort of learn facts ,such process being one of the most effective resources in the re-creation of knowledge. In our pedagogical practical work, our psychodramatic proposal intends to attain the goal of getting near the given particular subject-matter or issue and then that of going deeper into the theoretical understanding of such, from the starting-point of the person’s own experience by means of the so-called psychodramatic technical resources. We usually work by virtue of warm-up exercises, dramatic playing and dramatizations. On the onset we state those subject-matter pivots to be explored and, afterwards, we theoretically articulate that personally experienced and lived,what actually happened. Our pedagogical unit is over, time is up, when we arrive at a conclusion in the manner of a concept summary plus a final creative collective production.
We have thus observed that what is mobilised in each person during the individual experience in the dramatic games,determining the existence of motion and sight images, will allow that the theoretical or practical conceptions of different pupils be reorganised as from previous modules bestowing games a sense. The aim of such mobilised and reorganized conceptions is to undergo a new link to word-representations thru a theoretical analysis of the materials,which facilitates the further alignment of what has been worked upon in the session,all of this paving a new way to opening succeeding feedback effects on the base of other likely knowledge or info sources about the scheduled specific issues.
As from TEACHING FORMING GROUPS IN THE DISCIPLINE OF GROUP PSYCHOANALYTICAL PSYCHODRAMA, I have happily noticed that both at the spaces we have created as collaborators in B.A. School of Psychology, I and my colleagues, and the private place where I am part of the team teaching would-be coordinators and such, people coming over to our place of work have been innerly summoned by the objective of being formed and trained to make group psychodramatists and coordinators do appear from different walks of life, trades and professions,and most of them express their expectations as to finding a fit ambiance to get together with others, to do and think jointly with their fellow-beings and also to explore and expand their creative aspects via resources treating to connect again with a playing attitude and activity, for some of them long forgotten and left aside in their lives; with their bodies in motion and getting in touch with other bodies in movement with the aid of dramatization work enabling display and expansion of and the appearance of affection, emotions, at different rates, speeds and intensity. Reflections and commentaries on that dramatised open a room to the multiplicity of possible senses and the chance to break away with one’s own version-a monolytical one- brought upon the scene of the dramatization session, such a version being our personal and professional identity. In this respect, I must insist on the fact that this kind of learning becomes therapeutical in that it facilitates new and multiple-as well as possible-readings adding to those each member brings from his/her vital micro-territory.
It is interesting to point out that many of the pupils graduated from these formation sites open new territories in their daily insertion spots, find out a manner of creatively producing at their usual tasks,although many of them do not specifically engage in that for which they were formed and trained, instructed in these places.
The PSYCHOANALYTICAL PSYCHODRAMATIC CONCEPTION IN CLINICS makes it possible for a therapist to agree with and act upon together with the patient, let himself be affected by and captured thru those scenes each person summons wanting to conjure up,exorcise,kill,rescue,elaborate.It comprises a continuous exercising of thoughts into scenes. A therapist should be plastic enough to come into and out of the scenes a patient brings up and build up with him manyfold readings,contexts, of the one person’s predicament.It is a special treat to thinking about what you do and doing what you think of.
This clinical method is also creativity producing.It ultimately potentiates a person’s creative capacities.It stands for a challenge to generate new and diverse contentions and beliefs in each person’s history, do away with old myths and lies, by re-telling new legends, making up brand-new varied ones.It is a multiplicity-rendering output device of a therapeutical .kind that supplies us with alternatives giving a solution to conflicts,the latter being insistently droning in their repetitive stubbornness. It is a therapist’s task to collaborate with a patient in order to subvert the latter’s being the main character in his own myth,novel, saga,what he believes he is to his soul,heart and mind(his self-consciousness).
As my last remark in this,my article, I should like to set forth as a conclusion that Psychodrama is a valid method to explore, elucidate and investigate creativity,and I also regard such as a most precious tool in order to contribute to the enhancement of creative output process.
BIBLIOGRAPHY (*) :
-WINNICOTT,D: “Reality and Playing”, B.A., Gedisa Publishing-house, 1986(Agency, rep. and director to this edition: Celtia S.A.C.I.F., M. and R’s-Publishing-house)
-DELEUZE,C/PARNET,C.:”Dialogues”,Valencia; “Pre-texts”, 1980.
-MORENO,J.L.: ‘PSYCHODRAMA.’ Buenos Aires, “Hormé “Editions, 1987.
-PAVLOVSKy,E.:
“Creative Process, Therapy and Existence. Buenos Aires, “SAEI””Search”Editions’1982; and
“That in a Group”Series (1 thru 10), Buenos Aires,”Search”Editions
-TROIANO,G.: “Nautilus, 20,000 Leagues Around A Creative World.”Madrid, Youth General Department -Madrid Community- Education and Culture Council-, 1993
-SCHVERDFINGER, S.: Published articles:
- “Psychodramatic Workshops with Pedagogical Purposes”(co-authored.) In Psychodrama and Group Techniques Argentine Mag, Number 4 - Fifth Year- April 1989, pages 27 thru 29.
-Ön Coordination (co-authored); Group Practices and Events,Ä Containing Place.
- First Conferences From University To Diversity; A Containing Place”Editions; pages 113 thru 116.
-”Psychodrama ; A Tool of Effectiveness on Counselling Field.””Psychological Present”Mag; 21st Year, Number 237, November 1996, pages 23 thru 24.
(End of Translation. Translated from Spanish into English by Sworn Translator Andie R. PETRAGLIA,at B.A. City, Argentina,South America.)
(*) Translator’s note: names in the Spanish languaje have been translated into English just for the save of understanding.
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