TRAINING STATE HOSPITAL PERSONNEL THROUGH PSYCHODRAMA AND SOCIOMETRY

Abstract

When we think of a psychiatric hospital as a therapeutic community, we visualize ideally all the members of the staff as therapeutic agents to the patients and the patients as auxiliary egos to each other. This concept of rehabilitation has been a developing philosophy at our hospital for the past few years. To establish this social climate requires considerable and constant communication: a wide variety of interpersonal contacts must meet and work cooperatively with each other in one way or another. In order to activate this program, we decided upon the plan of training the general hospital staff in the management of groups. Our principle objective is to give ward personnel a realistic and therapeutic role in patient care. There is, however, a hopeful expectancy that all the personnel of the hospital, industrial and recreational therapists, nurses and attendants, add new role- relationships to the patient and to each other as group director, group leader: or group therapist, depending upon previous qualifications and talent.