There’s no single approach to addiction treatment that works for everyone. In fact, it’s often up to the rehab centers to determine which program works best. They use an evaluation process to decide which services will address people’s needs. One program element that some offer is psychodrama therapy.

What Is Psychodrama Therapy?

a counselor recommends a psychodrama therapy program to a client

While it’s still up for debate, many experts agree that psychodrama is the original form of group therapy. Jacob Levy Moreno pioneered the psychodrama therapy program in the 1920’s. At the time, people just referred to it as group therapy. Now, group therapy is an all-inclusive term for any type of treatment that occurs in a group setting; psychodrama is an experiential type of therapy used in a group therapy setting.

During psychodrama, participants take turns role-playing problems and life events from their past. Specially trained clinical professionals use psychodrama as a therapeutic approach to guide them through these issues. In short, it gives them safe ways to reenact events or deal with specific problems. In fact, many experts use psychodrama to prepare people for life after rehab and how to deal with individual triggers.

What Happens During Psychodrama?

What actually happens during psychodrama therapy? In one of these sessions, people take turns acting out specific scenes. Therapists lead these scenes, which can include dreams, preparation for future events, and past situations.

Most of the time, several people from the group take part in the reenactment. Those who don’t participate comprise the audience. Even if the specific scene doesn’t pertain to them, they can learn a lot from watching the drama unfold.

During the drama, therapists might point out specific issues and underlying beliefs that people need to address. Often, these underlying problems and scripts led them to faulty thinking and to use or abuse drugs in the first place.

Alternate Endings

One of the best aspects of psychodrama therapy is when therapists have people act out different endings. Usually, the endings include various outcomes based on what they think will happen and what actually happens. These different endings can help recognize unwarranted fears.

During a psychodrama therapy program, therapists tend to ask people to act out the worst possible outcomes. They have to work out and experience what they’re afraid of the most. Typically, they find out that their biggest fears aren’t the end of the world like they thought.

Acting out these different endings also gives people practice for the real thing. For example, let’s say that they act out a party where others use alcohol and other drugs. Therapists might have them act out an ending in which they consume the substances and one in which they don’t.

For the ending in which they take the drugs, they experience a moment of happiness. This moment ends quickly, however, when they learn that they have to undergo rehab and treatment all over again. In the other ending, they might leave the party without taking the drugs. They’re not only proud of themselves but have also won that fight, preventing relapse.

Santé Center for Healing Is Here to Help You

Do you find yourself struggling with past decisions, behaviors, and experiences you simply can’t get over? Maybe psychodrama therapy is the right fit for you. At Santé Center for Healing, we can help you overcome past struggles while investigating and gaining insight into your life. Psychodrama is another Santé experience that can arm you with the tools to understand and overcome addiction and associated behaviors.

Of course, Santé Center for Healing offers more than just psychodrama. In fact, we have a wide range of services customized to help you overcome addiction safely. Other addiction therapy services include: 

Find out how you too can benefit from psychodrama therapy. You will see that there is so much more to effective treatment than meets the eye. Reach out to Santé Center for Healing today at 866.238.3154 for more information.