TOWARDS A SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION OF PSYCHODRAMATIC THEORY AND THERAPY

Abstract

On of our present needs is to begin to clarify how theory can be translated into practice, so we may scientifically test the premises of different modes of therapeutic experience.
Psychodrama and other forms of therapy suffer from the same problem of lack of operational clarity. For example, is Role Playing and Psychodrama the same or different? One might further help to clarify the differences and/or similarities between Role Playing and Psychodrama by describing how each operationally defines a particular concept, i.e., bow do Role Playing and Psychodrama utilize the following two concepts developed by Moreno: 1) the concept of the "Preverbal Matrix of Identity" (a biosocial-psychomotor substrate of personality) and 2) the concept of the "Megalomania Principle" ( the child's feeling of being all powerful and immortal) .