Let’s Keep in Touch
Be the first to receive updates on special offers and upcoming workshops.
Each month, I share a professional and engaging article that makes complex mental health topics easy to understand.
In Greek, psycho (ψυχή) means “soul,” and drama (δράμα) means “action”. Together, they mean action of the soul.
Psychodrama is a psychotherapeutic method grounded in dramatic expression and role-playing.
According to Jacob Levy Moreno, the founder of psychodrama, we carry within us internalized figures, characters shaped by relationships throughout our lives. When we give these figures a voice through role play, a deeper inner world is revealed. That space holds the potential for integration and healing.
One of the central principles of psychodrama is this:
“Don’t talk about it. Do it.”
This approach shifts us from passive reflection to active experience. It helps us move from feeling stuck to finding transformation.
Moreno introduced the concept of Surplus Reality, which refers to an expanded form of reality that includes the imaginary. In psychodrama, imagined experiences are just as meaningful as real ones because they reflect emotional truths. Everything is possible. Any subject can be explored, examined, and expressed.
An Example of Surplus Reality: Imagine you are driving and suddenly feel a surge of anger toward your partner. Your body responds. Your jaw tightens, your pulse quickens, and you might even mutter something out loud. Physically, you are in the car. Emotionally, you are in the middle of an argument. That is surplus reality. Your body is here, but your mind and heart are somewhere else.
Another example might be someone who wants to find peace with a loved one who has died. Even though the person is no longer physically present, psychodrama allows them to appear in the room. That encounter can become a space for healing.
Imagine a woman attending her own funeral, a man having coffee in bed with his depression, a woman overtaken by anxiety – and you actually see the anxiety embodied as a looming figure, a deaf person leading friends through an underwater world in an aquarium, a pedophile asking forgiveness from the parents of the child he harmed, someone meeting their future self, 20 years down the line.
These are only a few glimpses of the many journeys I have had the privilege to facilitate.
“Well, Dr. Freud, I start where you leave off. You meet people in the artificial setting of your office. I meet them on the street and in their homes, in their natural surroundings. You analyze their dreams. I give them the courage to dream again. You analyze and tear them apart. I let them act out their conflicting roles and help them to put the parts back together again.”
No acting experience or prior knowledge is needed. In fact, the less performance, the better. We take things slowly and with full support. Each person moves at their own pace and in their own way.
Psychodrama weaves together dialogue and action in service of growth.
Be the first to receive updates on special offers and upcoming workshops.
Each month, I share a professional and engaging article that makes complex mental health topics easy to understand.