Reading Group, Friday, 27 June 2014 - Moderator, Marie Watt

"TO DREAM AGAIN"                              

  (In other words, "TO PLAY GOD")

Marie says:

"At the conclusion of last month's reading group, I found myself captivated by the title Zerka Moreno chose for her memoirs.  My curiosity prompted  me to return to the source in order to discover what was underlying this choice of phrase.  Turns out she was quoting her husband in a claim he made once when interacting with Freud, the so-called father of dreams. In this month's reading group, we will discuss this whole quote and also explore a little Moreno's own techniques when dealing with dreams."

 Quote 1: "Well, Doctor Freud., I start where you leave off. You meet people in the artificial setting of your office. I meet them on the street and in their home, and in their natural surroundings. You analse their dreams.  I try to give them the courage to dream again.  I teach people how to play God."    (Moreno 1946:5-6, also in Volume 1 in the section on the Psychodramatic Technique of Dream presentation).

Questions which occur:

Was he only talking about night dreams or was he using the dream phenomenon in a larger context in relation to psychodrama? 

What are the advantages of approaching a dream in the manner outlined in Volume 1?

What meaning can be made of Wilma Scategni's interpretation of this approach?

2. Quote From Wilma Scategni: "This brings us back to a concept that Moreno himself kept asserting (Moreno 1946:204) In fact. he affirmed that when a person is totally absorbed by a role, no part of his ego is free to observe this role and therefore to record it in its memory.  (Moreno posits the problem of training the ego to fulfil the doble role of thinking and acting simultaneously.)  At the same time, the attempt to recall the most minute detail both about the situation in which the dream developed and about the dream itself can set off a kind of 'Warm up" that allows the dreamer to experience the dream atmosphere most intensely.  In this way, Moreno invites people to envision the dream according to its sequence - beginning, development and end. Over the course of the dramatisation, he invites the patient to live through his or her dream while at the same time being outside the dream as an observer.  (Psychodrama, Group Processes and Dreams, Wilma Scategni 2002 P. 17)

What time?  12.30 pm for a 12.45 pm sharp start and finish precisely at 1.45 p.m.

Fee: $10.00 ( goes toward maintaining the Zerka T. Moreno Library including the George Cally Reference Section). Includes freshly brewed coffee, a selection of teas and a biscuit.  Bring your own lunch.

RSVP to PIM Administrator on 9416 3779