Related Links
Philosophy of Life: J. L. Moreno’s Revolutionary Philosophical Underpinnings of Psychodrama, and Group Psychotherapy
Abstract: This paper is a short exposition of the philosophical underpinnings of psychodrama and group psychotherapy, and the inherent difficulties in determining them. The written materials that explain the underlying philosophy of psychodrama are, generally, uncritical, in a philosophical sense, of Moreno’s ideas. There is little discussion and no apparent general recognition of where these written materials fit within larger philosophical traditions. Arguments as to which philosophical frameworks could be said underlie psychodrama are presented.
Altered States of Consciousness during Psychodrama and Sociodrama - Eberhard Scheiffele
Psychodrama and sociodrama participants in general, and protagonists in particular, often report that during a session their conscious experience is altered. Many are in fact drawn to experiential methods by their desire for this experience of heightened awareness. Psychodrama will be seen as altering most of the 14 dimensions of changed subjective experience that characterise altered states of consciousness (ASC’s). Psychodramatists need to be aware of both the dangers and benefits of experiencing altered states.
Sapolsky and loving the unlovable
"The harder they are to love the more we must love them. The harder they are to forgive, the more we must forgive them." Richard Sapolsky suggests it is only our capacity to decide to do the impossible that separates us from other species. He does this very convincingly and shows how all the previously thought differences do not stack up after research. Moreno had an idea that megalomania normalis, or normal megalomania, the idea that we can be great and that we are great, is something all of us have to a degree and that it is a good thing.
Vulnerability is strength
Brene Brown does it again talking about her vulnerability and the value of shame. She refers to the quote below which strongly reminds me of Moreno's idea of us being bold existentialists, people who boldly stand out, or stand forth.
Accessing Spontaneity in a Role Training Session
This article by Mike Consdeine was published in the ANZPA Journal 15 December 2006 is about accessing spontaneity in a role training session. In it Mike relates his understanding and learning about spontaneity in dramatic enactments and when he discovered that spontaneity is the key.
Like many of life’s significant events this one begins with a story.
Choice Blindness – Lars Hall and Petter Johansson
We have all heard of experts who fail basic tests of sensory discrimination in their own field: wine snobs who can't tell red from white wine (albeit in blackened cups), or art critics who see deep meaning in random lines drawn by a computer. We delight in such stories since anyone with pretensions to authority is fair game. But what if we shine the spotlight on choices we make about everyday things? Experts might be forgiven for being wrong about the limits of their skills as experts, but could we be forgiven for being wrong about the limits of our skills as experts on ourselves?
Who’s In Charge: Free Will and the Science of the Brain. Michael. S. Gazzaniga
Michael. S. Gazzaniga had written a number of rather brilliant books, and presented some challenging ideas. For instance, did you know that it takes longer for nerve impulses to travel from your toes to your brain, than it does from your fingers to your brain? Longer nerve pathways take longer to get there. Makes sense doesn’t it? So how come we experience things simultaneously? Touch your toe with your finger. Our brain does that, with no help from our conscious mind.
Dani Kahneman - brilliant on happiness
Using examples from vacations to colonoscopies, Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics Daniel Kahneman reveals how our "experiencing selves" and our "remembering selves" perceive happiness differently. This new insight has profound implications for economics, public policy -- and our own self-awareness.
This is a very useful perspective because on happiness because it suggests that how we think about ourselves effects our memory. Obvious, perhaps. And he is a great speaker.
Psychodrama without frontiers.
This video is a great story of people teaching psychodrama in difficult places, under difficult conditions with a gret outcome. The psychodrama trainers had organised permissions to cross the wall to get into Gaza. I hope you enjoy it.
The video runs for about 20 minutes. It is also sub-titled in Spanish, I believe.
Everything you know is wrong - Steven Pinker
Everything you know is wrong - Steven Pinker charts the decline of violence from Biblical times to the present, and argues that, though it may seem illogical and even obscene, given Iraq and Darfur, we are living in the most peaceful time in our species' existence.
