PSYCHODRAMA GROUP THERAPY

Abstract

This study is an investigation of certain effects of Psychodrama, a dramatic action method, on the role-taking ability of selected schizophrenic patients. It derives from a theoretical position in which it is postulated that the ability to take roles is essential for effective communication and the development of the "social self," which in turn, plays an important part in personality formation and adjustment. It is further postulated that schizophrenia can be considered a developmental disorder in which individuals have an inadequately developed "social self" and their maladjustment is reflected, among other characteristics, in their inability to take roles and share their thinking and feeling with other people. Finally, it is postulated that the schizophrenics' mode of communication tends to be simple, "concrete" and "private." In view of these postulates, it was felt that a therapeutic technique, such as psychodrama group therapy, which permits communication through non-verbal, as well as verbal channels and which emphasizes role-taking and role-playing in interaction, might be effective in reaching the schizophrenic on his level and providing him with an opportunity for social and emotional growth.