The Uses of Drama and Enactment in Group Psychotherapy Essay Example for Free

The Uses of Drama and Enactment in Group Psychotherapy Essay The relationship between the use of drama and group psychotherapy remains fundamental. At one point dramatic activities such as enactment of scenes, role play, telling stories are fundamentally useful in developing group psychotherapy measures. Basically, group psychotherapy is a system of approach with which a therapist or even many of them provide their psychotherapy treatment to a group of clientele. Group psychotherapy is basically important and economical in cost parameter. Either, the togetherness of the clients produces often more productive results than using individual therapy. In group therapy, dispensation of a talk is highly put in place. The history of group therapy goes back to early 20th century. In the same, the clients come in a group under the leadership of one or even many therapists to spearhead their psychotherapeutic problems. Group psychotherapy will basically involve interactions between various individuals committed to the groups with an aid of a therapist to monitor their activities. During the interactions, the different personal elements are defined by what persons have to encounter in their daily life is pictured out. The kind of behaviour manifested by the clients within the group will therefore call for therapeutic approach where experiences are generated in the process and hence employed into real life translation. It’s theoretic approach is diverse and chooses to over look one theoretical approach. The diversity in the theoretical approaches is to provide an inherent method in which the clients can be served in different manner. (Carr, 2001) Group psychotherapy came as a refuge to weaknesses of single person therapy. Since clients are confined into personal contact with the therapist, such persons in single person therapy had their therapeutic environment compromised with. Personal interaction presents personal expression in a full context to the therapist than the social arena found in group psychotherapy where individual can socially interact with one another and bring out their complimentary issues. Generally, the applicability of drama to group psychotherapy is highly fundamental. Currently, dramatic scenes are employed as methods of creating engagement in psychotherapeutic situations. Through dramatic activities, exchange of therapeutic information has been easy and highly productive which provides the clients with a good environment to deal with their social issues. With the changing structures in the societal setting, artistic work has become an important tool in psychotherapy. Various forms of artistic works such as painting, dramatic scenes, spontaneous acting, and telling stories can effectively provide an adequate tool with which the human population can be served adequately in their therapeutic approach. Clients have had enormous developments from their dramatic activities or even that provided by acting group at the clinical sites. Theatrical concerts and plays have been used as tools for out doing the traditional therapeutic activities whose impact is less productive, costly and primitive to the clientele population. At the therapeutic scene, drama can be used as a tool with which people exchange their social life with others and the therapists. At the clinical therapeutic sites, various factional representations can form the benchmark of bringing together the clientele population and their therapists. The dramatic action can be combined with either dance or music. The musical part will involve personal dialogues spoken to the others or even making performances and singing songs on various social experiences. Through dramatic expressions, therapeutic clients are able to exchange fine social relations with the others. Drama within therapeutic activities can be used as a good source of entertainment in which clients come together in one understanding to talk and perform on a particular issue of effects to their life. It makes people to enjoy with one another in playing or expressing opinions as were for other people. Therefore, through therapeutic drama actions, teaching expressions, learning and also making foundations of personal growing form the others can be achieved. ( Thomas, 1997) Therapeutic drama actions provide the people with holistic methods of learning form other people’s expressions through dramaturgical understanding by the others (passive audience). Their activities will be personified to create interpersonal activation which helps the people interact continuously with one another and hence learn from one another. Dramaturgical expressions are more of reality than when reading from books and articles would provide. Either, this is a close way of joining and entering the other person’s life and hence gives horrible time for his/her exploration of one’s internal environment. This creates a personified environment with which one person can have the feeling of the other or situation. Dramatic actions and scenes will therefore help to create a clear cut understanding of what happens in the world around us, which involves the other person (client). Through dramatic activities, encounter with interpersonal expressions helps to give foundations for the creation of new more adaptive methods of appreciating one’s life. Clients will engage themselves in doing the activities in a more rationalized way and build an extended hope of personal expressions. (Brown, 1996) Therapeutic use of drama and enactment scenes is highly helpful in creating an environment for more personal enjoyment and interrelationship with the other people. Psychotherapeutic clients are usually socially impeded with the real life situation and the general nature of environment they are living in. Psychotherapy therefore seeks to formulate standards of approach in which people will have to be personified of the ways to deal with their social life and psychological problems. It seeks to create relations between the client and the therapist in which the client is able to understand to a greater depth the activity born in the situation he/she is in. Dramatic expressions in group psychotherapy provide support for standards of expressions in which the clients help to build a more coordinated approach of dealing with various psychological problems in their life. (Yalom, 1980) As an important tool within group psychotherapy, individual clients should field their personal expressions about the reality of their life. They should constantly participate in letting ones understanding between the other people. Everyone is delegated with role-play of full contribution to the group activities which involves expressions, performances, dialogues and other. Ones role-play is a highly important aspect to the resulting of such therapeutic activities. Dramatic expressions provide tools with which one gets the real imagination and expression of the other which allows personal pretence of the activities of the other. This helps to build conditions with which one person can have the thoughts of the other and expressed in personal outlook. Through such dramatic scenes, new ideas which affect and improve the life are developed in a performance action which is shared by all the people within the therapeutic group(s). A coordination between the people is rationalized to a great level with every person’s participation been uncompromised for the effectiveness of such groups. The thinking and development of affirmative actions is improved with every activity been personified to generate personal interest to those within the group. (Knap, 2004) Drama use in providing group psychotherapy can be highly attributable due to its social approach. It fundamentally provides standard of approach where personal expression can be solidly developed among the others within the group. The interactive phenomena between the group members and the therapist produces lucrative standard with which the clients can appreciate of everyone’s role and contribution. At pone point, such dramatic expressions are lucrative to provide an environment of support for standards which propagate adequate dimensions for Clientele Corporation between themselves and their therapist. Generally, the dramatic expression produces a pillar of expressions that help to promote a coordinated attribute in the activity performance and role play of each towards developing the others social stability.(Alpert, Fara, 2004) Firstly, group drama provides an environment for a detailed exploitation of other persons issues which is to be levied in a more upright context of social manner. Such social exploitation into the other person’s life helps to provide structures of an actual reflection into the reality of personal life. Through such group programs, clients tends to learn from the performance effects of the others which should even provide a stronger base for real understanding than formal reading and learning form therapeutic members. (Martens, 2005) Either, through dramatic expressions, the clientele population is fed with a greater opportunity of observing and reflecting one one’s personal life at the immediate level and the social skills owned by the other clientele population. Various expression of personal level can only be brought out into a clear image when dramatic expressions are fielded in the therapeutic context. Through personal interaction with the others, one is able to enjoy the lucrative environment which is provided to create a more definite system of appreciation to ones capability and weaknesses. The social portfolio borne by the others is also brought out at a real picture to provide a better environment for interaction between one another. This posits a condition with which the client population grows from the individual level before expanding to capture the contribution levied by the clientele neighbourhood. (Yalom, Leszcz, 2005) Elsewhere, dramatic actions in group psychotherapy provides adequate conditions for pursuing legitimate focus of personal inter-relationship benefit. Dramatic actions provide real life influence for effective support into one another’s contribution. This is through providing active structures where phenomenological interactions provide a pursuit of intervention into ones neighbourhood. Drama activities are both participative and tool for solid standards of observations. Through the active influence into one another’s life, the people are able to actively participate in exchanging learning tools across one another and sharing of psychological influence to the immediate life of each of them. Every opportunity of participation into the reality of the social life contexts brings with it a leeway of expanded horizons of appreciating the life partaken by the other. Within the exchange facility of the social phenomena, many variables of interest are featured in which are ideally of varied influence to the general livelihood of the clients. The clients will therefore learn through appreciating each other’s concern in the therapeutic environment. (http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5002544146) Through dramaturgical expressions in group psychotherapy, the environment is vigilant in creating standards of environment with which clients gets an immediate feedback in their expressions, their concern, queries, issues put forward above the answer to the problems that are constantly of effect to their pragmatic life. Enactment scenes are like reality rehearsals on the physical situations affecting the client’s lives. Either, dramatic environment provides tools of expressions for better exchange programs between the therapeutic clients. (Wosket, 1997) These scenes are personified to address specific human life situations amongst which are born in the life of the clients. The exchange response is immediate and never a contemplation of the short run imagery. Feedback is therefore arrived at immediately through expressional exchange of imageries between the people. Either, personal interaction with the others provide a better environment for exercising conditions for a better treatment in a client friendly manner of the problem, concerns and also the issues that are of importance and affecting the other. Feedback expression is ridiculous and developed as a motivation to the clients out gone in the world of psychological wrangles. Through faster and immediate solving of the clients problems, they can bring forward immediate signs of appreciations which brings moral motivation and attribute of the professionalism of the therapeutic activities. Clients are more involved in soliciting for better standards of quantifying their social problems in the real life situations. (Kreeger, 1994) Consequently, the influence of dramatic expressions is high supportive to all the therapeutic clients. Generally, dramatic expressions are the best incentive for positive influence into the contributions to the clientele population. These expressions are at one level highly supportive since they help the client to develop an authentic knowledge about specific area of concern in their livelihood. Solving client’s problems through providing environment for explaining the various issues of concern to the client populations remains highly important. The environment is impressive and provides confidence in expression for those who are within the group. (Feather, Ronan, 2006) This is the foremost attribute to provide morale and an interesting environment for the clientele population to participate fully between one another to even provide better condition of expression for them. Since clients are seekers of therapeutic help, confidentiality within the dramatic scene helps them to adequately speak out the issues that operate within them. This provides a fundamental state of expression for each others problem. Their nature of the dramatic activities is entitled to provide a good environment where participatory authority is provided for all within the therapeutic groups. Since this equals personal exchange of ideas between one another, it is a concise method through which the problems of one another are shared fully by the others. (Martin, 2001) The environment (dramatic) is by itself viable for allowing litigant personal expressions to be operational and beneficiary. This is also good at reacting standards of support for each others understanding of the reality of expressions which provide the most adequate response for their social problems. Therefore through personal interactions, the clients learn from one another as they share and contribute towards the problem held by the other. (Spees, 2002) Basically, psychotherapeutic drama involves using of group dynamics and also symbolic plays for treatment of the group’s approach. These are tangible methods of solving various social problems. It involves learning and practising various social skills which form part of the important elements in formulating group success. Dramatic approach helps in creating a good environment for fantasies into the lives of the clients. The emphasis of using drama in psychotherapy has been effective sine 1938. It has been used as a basic medium for change in the broad scenery of the therapeutic situation. However, since many years ago, dramatic expressions have been used as a method o f providing support for dealing with psychiatric patients. Usually, this involves collecting the attributes provided by the general educational theory and putting down into real life practice to even be helpfully practicable to the general world. Through drama, the client’s personality is developed from the current situation of low performance. This will however involve the use of adequacy in the role playing by the individuals within the psychotherapeutic groups. (Weber, Haen, 2005) Either, it involves the use of various functional techniques in the interaction process which helps to provide structures for the most adequate tool of therapeutic control. These tools help in appreciating and increasing the state of contact with the other people within the therapeutic group. Dramatic expressions involve personal creativity where objective discussion of issues will involve the use of creative imaginations above the concentration tool that posts an advantage to the people. Dramatic activities have its discussion on the nature of therapeutic processes with the waging on the product/output of the dramatic activity. The processes and systems are waged under monitoring standard which provides a better environment for making up their social-life contexts. (Schermer, Pines, 1994) This is perhaps the best methods for use in dealing with clients. The creation of the dramatic activity is by the group of the clients which may even include the therapist. Through the activity, the therapist is provided with an adequacy in operation medium in which case he will evaluate the right cause of action to take in the therapeutic process. Generally, the clients will be imposed by greater impact into the activity of social life liberation than when at a single situation with the therapist. Dramatic approach is chiefly allied to the creation of fantastic notions. Elsewhere, the product output of the dramatic activity is highly important in regard to how it will be manifested in the therapeutic process. (Harding, 1996) Otherwise, clients are supposed to have a full support of the output which will depend on the manner with which the clients will be able to incorporate their output into adequate standards for help in their therapeutic process. However, in the spontaneous activities, there may arise some dangers when the clients seek to act on what they get from the dramatic context without internalizing the role of the therapist in such spontaneous activities. Direct action to group lessons may therefore be accompanied by various weaknesses. Dramatic action within therapeutic groups may be a chief source of problems that cannot be adequately handled by the therapists. Therefore, the output of any activity should be easily verified by the therapist before its flow is passed from their actions to the group in control. (Cooper, Smith, Upton, 1994) Through the general implication of drama in psychotherapy is the affiliate benefits allied to the role it plays to group clients. The basic critical for its use is the flow of fallacious and poorly benefiting behaviour to the clients. Consequently, many clients have taken poor behaviour home or school and other social institutions which end up negatively affecting their general life and that of the neighbours. Either, as much as dramatic activities is cost affective and also productive, this is not always practical. It may run weary and inefficient. This may be a catchment’s area for the poorest benefits which include poor behaviour development and more wrangles in ones social life which develops as collateral influence by the therapeutic influence. (Yalom, Leszcz, 2005) The general dramatic scene may be a source of negative influence to the contributor’s life. Some participants may be negatively affected by the positions and roles they are made to play in the therapeutic process. Since the scene provides that members within it participate in different roles, therapeutic drama may be a source of personal inability and negative influence when different members are given inadequate roles to play down. At the process of the dramatic activity, various behavioural imaginaries can then develop such as rivalry between one another, aggression and hatred. For young children, various therapeutic conditions and implications may negatively affect their nature of activity and actions to the external environment. Through various transfers of feelings and activities, this may negatively impact the clients to develop response protocols that do not adequately provide tools for the required therapeutic implication. Actions brought forwards in the therapeutic scene may negatively influence the clients when conflict rises up as an influence of disagreements between the clients. (Sonstegard, Better, Pelonis, 2004) However, dramatic expressions provide an adequate environment for self expression in which the client interact with one another adequately and in a coherent manner to provide support for their well being. This is fundamentally the first and foremost step in building the social prospects of the clients. Through such exchange programs, the clients are able to have an exchange of their social life activities and phenomenologies in which case this should provide a better understanding of the situations. Through a chose linkage with other clients, the general exchange of their activity and process is perhaps made easier and cheaper. Dramatic activity is highly adaptable to the clientele population of different levels. This helps to provide better standards of more effective capacity in which case individual expression help to build them more. Also, their may be a higher state of productivity between them. The method is voted to be highly effective in terms of cost expenditure. It provides standards of support with which individual role play within the group is promoted. Through dramatic groups, psychotherapeutic clients are provided with an impersonalised character of their social life contexts. (Mathiasen, 2005) Generally, the use of creative drama in psychotherapy helps in developing various sets of imaginations and also spontaneity which is supported by specific values above that of using the drama itself for creating subject matters. Through use of drama in group psychotherapy, perhaps the problems is more rationalized and ratified with the participation of the clients themselves building and developing different methods of modelling their social life. It helps to build up personal censorship which helps to provide the individual characters of the clients to even be shared among them in a group manner. Due to the social integration phenomenon of the clients in the scope of the dramatic environment, they will build more characteristic tools to address their problems in a more personified nature. This helps to break the inadequacies born out in individual person therapy where the client-therapist environment may not authenticate to provide standards of support for a better motive of social understanding. Generally therefore, dramatic actions and spontaneous activities would provide a coherent support in providing standards with which the clients would be absorbed more in the way of establishing their social life contexts References Alpert, J. E. Fava, M. (Eds.). (2004). Handbook of Chronic Depression: Diagnosis and Therapeutic Management. New York: Marcel Dekker. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=108952745 The American Psychotherapy Association the American Association of Integrative Medicine the American College of Wellness Present the Evolution of Health Care: Unifying Mind, Body Spirit. (2003). Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association, 6(2), 18+. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5002544146 Brown, D. (2001). King Lear: The Lost Leader; Group Disintegration, Transformation and Suspended Reconsolidation. Critical Survey, 13(3), 19+. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5000944271 Brown, N. W. (1996). Expressive Processes in Group Counseling: Theory and Practice. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=27985548 Carr, A. (2001). Abnormal Psychology. Philadelphia: Psychology Press. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=102914493 Cooper, P., Smith, C. J., Upton, G. (1994). Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties: Theory to Practice. New York: Routledge. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=103375001 Douglass, F. (1995). Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. New York: Dover Publications. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=97002080 Feather, J. S., Ronan, K. R. (2006). Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Abused Children with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Pilot Study. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 35(3), 132+. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5019128485 Harding, C. G., et al. (1996). Using Live Theatre Combined with Role Playing and Discussion to Examine What At-Risk, Adolescents Think about Substance Abuse Its Consequences, and Prevention. Adolescence, 31(124), 783+. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5000453797 Knapp, J. V. (2004). Family-Systems Psychotherapy and Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism: A Comparative Critique. Mosaic (Winnipeg), 37(1), 149+. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5002649603 Kreeger, L. (Ed.). (1994). The Large Group: Dynamics and Therapy. London: Karnac Books. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=23107879 Martens, W. H. (2005). Shame and Narcissim: Therapeutic Relevance of Conflicting Dimensions of Excessive Self Esteem, Pride, and Pathological Vulnerable Self. Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association, 8(2), 10+. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5011704312 Martin, R. (2001). The Performative Body: Phototherapy and Re-enactment. Afterimage, 29(3), 17+. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5000925188 Mathiasen, R. E. (2005). Moral Development in Fraternity Members: A Case Study. College Student Journal, 39(2), 242+. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5010846042 Schermer, V. L. Pines, M. (Eds.). (1994). Ring of Fire: Primitive Affects and Object Relations in Group Psychotherapy. New York: Routledge. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=107698974 Sonstegard, M. A., Bitter, J. R., Pelonis, P. (2004). Adlerian Group Counseling and Therapy: Step-By-Step. New York: Brunner-Routledge. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=108874252 Spees, E. K. (2002). Word Movies: Strategy and Resources for Therapeutic Storytelling with Children and Adolescents. Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association, 5(1), 14+. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5002456946 Thomas, R. M. (1997). An Integrated Theory of Moral Development. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=106119516 Weber, A. M. Haen, C. (Eds.). (2005). Clinical Applications of Drama Therapy in Child and Adolescent Treatment. New York: Brunner-Routledge. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=109162644 Wosket, V. (1999). The Therapeutic Use of Self: Counselling Practice, Research, and Supervision. London: Routledge. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=102911517 Yalom, I. (1980) Existential Psychotherapy. Basic Books, ISBN 0465021476 Yalom, I Leszcz, M. (2005) The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy. Basic Books, ISBN 0465092845