THE JUDGMENT TECHNIQUE IN PSYCHODRAMA

Abstract

Employing specific, structured techniques in psychodrama would seem overly restricting since the director can normally operate better on the basis of general principles, trusting the group process and his own spontaneity to evolve scenes which each individual situation requires. Still, the "behind-the-back," the "magic shop,"? the "empty chair"" and such bag of technical tricks, if not used in a wooden or mechanical way, are often helpful. They are especially useful with patients who become more inhibited rather than freer when they are required to structure their own scenes. If nothing else, these techniques increase the director's confidence by giving him something to fall' back on when his own spontaneity lags. Even psychodrama directors do not have infinite tolerance for ambiguity. With this apology I should like to describe a particular scene which I have found provocative in a large number of groups.