Vale
Max Clayton, 1935-2013
Max Clayton was one of
the major pioneers of psychodrama in Australia.
He and his first wife, Lynette Clayton, author of “The Personality
Theory of J. L. Moreno”, and other articles on role theory and its applications
began their training in Perth at the Wasley Centre around 1976. With Teena Lee and Tom Wilson, the Claytons
formed the first Board for the accreditation and certification of
psychodramatists, role trainers, sociodramatists and sociometrists early in the
1980’s.
Max was a powerful force on the Australian psychodrama
stage. His forte was that he taught the
true Morenian psychodrama method, preserving the techniques, theory and
philosophy in his workshops. This served
the test of time – almost 40 years - and psychodrama proliferated not only in
Australia but also in Aotearoa (New Zealand).
Heather Maclean was the first person to bring psychodrama to Australia
and Lorna McClay to New Zealand (Aotearoa) but Max is known, along with
Lynette, Tom and Teena for training a generation of first wave psychodramatists
and group leaders, who have since trained further generations of
psychodramatists. Writing wasn’t his
strong card but one book stands out, “Directing Psychodrama: A Training
Companion”. Max first became ill at the
end of the 1980’s with one of several cancers, the final one eventually taking
his life. He was brave, creative and
spontaneous. Max was a psychodramatist
and a priest, who lived his religion to the end. We celebrate his life.
Sue Daniel
