The Psychodramatic Treatment of the Borderline Personality

Authors

  • Stephen Sidorsky Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12926/ff5c2d50

Keywords:

Psychodramatic

Abstract

The author identifies, illustrates, and discusses the dynamic and affective issues of the borderline personality and their treatment by the psychodramatic method. These particular issues - the split ego, the conflict between engulfment/symbiosis and abandonment/ depression, the immediacy and intensity of feelings, and the narcissistic way of experiencing self and others-make this patient difficult to treat by "traditional" verbal therapies. Psychodrama, particularly the constructs of act hunger, surplus reality, spontaneity/ creativity, and role expansion, and its use of auxiliaries and role reversals, addresses and incorporates these dynamics and defenses in the treatment. Several case examples from an ongoing psychodrama group in a day treatment center are examined to illustrate the specific applications of psychodrama with this population.

References

Blatner, H. A. (1973). Acting-in. New York: Springer.

Fast, I. (1975). Aspects of work style and work difficulty in borderline personalities. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 56, 397-403.

Masterson, J. F. (1976). Psychotherapy of the borderline adult. New York: Brunner/ Mazel.

Moreno, J. L. (1969). Psychodrama (Vol. 3): Third Volume: Action therapy and principles of practice. Beacon, NY: Beacon House.

Moreno, J. L. (1978). Who shall survive. Beacon, NY: Beacon House.

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Published

2025-03-14

Issue

Vol. 37 No. 3 (1984): Group Psychotherapy, Psychodrama, and Sociometry

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy

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