1 A method that makes room for action
Developed by Jacob Levy Moreno, psychodrama involves representing an experience rather than only recounting it. This might be a difficult conversation, a past situation, a current concern or an event yet to come. The enactment follows the person’s experience: gestures, words and the positions people take help make visible what the situation means to them. No theatre experience is necessary; the work centres on personal experience, without aiming for an artistic performance.
2 What can be explored?
The approach offers a way to work on relationships, emotional expression, conflicts and the roles a person takes in life. Someone might, for example, enact a conversation in which they struggle to set a boundary, then try different ways of responding. The aim is to understand their feelings and what matters to them more clearly while discovering possible courses of action. The themes and depth of the work are agreed with the professional, according to the request and context.
3 Participants and the working space
In a group, the person whose situation is being explored is called the protagonist. Other participants may take the roles of significant people or represent elements of the situation; they are sometimes called auxiliary egos. The remaining members witness the work and can later share how it resonates with their own experience. The professional leads the session, helps clarify the scene and supports its development. The action space provides a reference point for distinguishing the represented situation from what is happening within the group.
4 The three phases of a session
Classical psychodrama includes a warm-up, an action phase and sharing. The warm-up supports readiness and helps identify the theme to explore. During the action phase, the scene develops gradually and can be paused or changed to examine a moment more closely, shift perspective or try a response. Sharing then allows participants to express what the work has brought up in their own experience. It is not an opportunity to judge the person or impose an interpretation.
5 Role reversal, doubling and mirroring
Different tools can support the exploration. Role reversal invites the person to take another position in the scene temporarily and consider a relationship from a different perspective. Doubling offers words for an experience that is difficult to express; the person may adopt, correct or reject them. Mirroring allows someone to observe a representation of their own way of acting. These tools are chosen according to the setting and situation rather than forming a compulsory sequence.
6 Group and individual work, with different approaches
Psychodrama is often practised in groups, but individual adaptations also exist. Arrangements vary with the professional’s orientation: Morenian psychodrama and psychoanalytic psychodrama do not describe an identical framework. Sociodrama, a related method, focuses more on a social situation or roles shared by a group. Dramatherapy also uses theatrical media, but the term is not an exact synonym for psychodrama. A one-off role-play exercise therefore does not, on its own, constitute a psychodrama session.
7 A framework that respects each person’s pace
Before starting, the professional explains the aim, participation arrangements and confidentiality rules. The person should be able to express their limits and signal discomfort. The choice of scene and the intensity of the work require particular attention when painful experiences are explored. The professional’s training, suitability for the situation and the method’s place within ongoing support matter more than a promised outcome. Psychodrama can contribute to therapeutic work; it does not guarantee the same effect for everyone.