HOW PSYCHODRAMA FOSTERS CREATIVITY

Abstract

There is an assumption in the title of this article that creativity is a quality which can be developed and improved through training and deliberate practice (1, 8). This is a significant assumption because throughout history, and even within our own decade, the popular conception of the creatively gifted person was of someone driven to create by some divine spark or hereditary quirk, regardless of and despite the influences of his environment. "If Johnny is truly that talented, somehow it'll come out" is a popular banal remark to this day. Recent research in creativity tells us that this is very rarely the case. Creative potential may be inherited, but even the greatest potential is dependent upon environmental factors to mobilize it into a recognizable actuality or to stifle it beyond recognition.