Psychodrama Lives

In the May 16 Psychiatric News, there is a “History Notes” article about my late husband, J.L. Moreno, M.D. While I appreciate Dr. Lucy Ozarin’s interest in his life, her statement that psychodrama as a therapeutic technique appears to have receded is incorrect.

Far from receding in the United States, the study, practice, and growth of psychodrama are very much alive and flourishing in the 21st century. The United States has a Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, which certifies practitioners on three levels. Most of these practitioners are nonpsychiatrists, but many work under psychiatrists. Next month I will travel to the University of San Jose in California to dedicate the Moreno Institute West within its School of Education.

In therapeutic circles, some practitioners and trainers have enthusiastically integrated the psychoanalytical perspective with psychodrama, while other clinicians use aspects of psychodrama without designating them as such. Further, there are many who may be unaware that much of their work derives from Moreno’s work in psychodrama. Frequently other terms have been substituted, such as role play, action methods, experiential therapy, interactive methods, expressive therapy, enactment, and simulation. The sociologists would describe this phenomenon as “Moreno having been absorbed by the culture.”

There are psychodrama training and treatment centers, as well as individual practitioners, around the globe. Moreno organized the International Association of Group Psychotherapy in 1951; it has several subsections of which psychodrama is one. Many of its members are psychiatrists.

Training centers can be found in practically every European country. Psychiatrists who identify themselves as psychodrama specialists are especially numerous in the Latin American countries. Brazil alone has 6,000 persons in the Federation of Psychodrama Specialists.

Moreover, Moreno is regarded abroad as a philosopher and an outstanding pedagogue. In Germany, for example, there are two Moreno Institutes and five other psychodrama training centers. The largest number of practitioners are psychiatrists, followed by psychologists and social workers. In addition, several journals in Germany are dedicated to psychodrama and its ever-growing literature. Also, there are two schools in Germany named Jakob Moreno Schule. One school applies his methods to help children with learning difficulties; the other is for post-psychiatric and post-psychologically treated young people. It is mainly staffed by persons trained in one of the psychodrama centers in Germany.

Regrettably, psychiatrists in this country do not take seriously a method—it is not a technique—that is yielding remarkable results. It is their loss.