Reading Group 25 September 2015 - "that moment called now"
One of the perennially charming healing aspects of the practice of psychodrama is its ability to move the protagonist back and forth through time in the process of social atom repair. In this way "then"(past or future) becomes "now", and vice versa.
The aim this month is to deepen discussion of this phenomenon of expanding the moment in psychodrama, and "time travelling", using as stepping stones an exploration of the complexity of how we think about time, and just how much is occurring in a moment. This has implications for many aspects of a psychodrama: group and individual warm-ups, maximisation, scene setting, the power of the encounter.
In warming us up to the potency of this aspect I will have copies of some brief writings about the concepts of time as discussed by Daniel Stern (The Present Moment In Psychotherapy and Everyday Life, Daniel N Stern, M. D., 2004). Stern says that the present moment is our primary subjective reality, and this concept "relies heavily on a phenomenological perspective." He describes this book as being about "the small but meaningful affective happenings that unfold in the seconds that make up now." (Moreno was a student of and influenced by phenomenology.)
I'm hopeful that our discussion will warm us up to some psychodramatic action.
Di Kearney
Delphkearney@yahoo.com.au
