Sociometry Corner: Introducing Moreno Psychodrama Society Members

Sociometry Corner:

Over the next few weeks and months we will be introducing our members on the blog.  We'd love to hear about you, so we will be contacting you all for a few lines, a story or two, something you would like us to know about you, your work and/or your life.  We love colour so photos would be super.
Our first member is Danielle Forer.  Read her voice (below).
Best wishes
Sue Daniel

Moreno Psychodrama Society Members: Introducing Danielle Forer

Hi Everyone,

Sue has asked me to write a profile of myself for the blog.  I thought it would be nice to imagine myself sitting down to a cup of tea with you and think about how conversationally I’d describe myself.  So here’s a little about me:

I live in Geelong with my husband Ian and two dogs Byron and Lucky who make me smile and laugh every day.  We moved to Geelong two and a half years ago and love being close to the bay and beach.  I am a step mum and have two great step kids (teenagers!!), Brad and Renee.

I’ve been studying and practicing Psychodrama since 1999 and qualified as a practitioner in 2007. I am a social worker and have had many great experiences through my work and volunteering in the USA, the Maldives and of course Australia. I’ve been a volunteer with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre for 10 years in their Kidszone family program which provides family strengthing activities and excursions to families each month who are seeking asylum.

I had the incredible opportunity through a special PIM International Program to travel to Bangladesh in 2008 to work with Herb Propper from the USA and the Bangladesh Therapeutic Theatre Institute to run some psychodrama workshops.  That was amazing and inspiring work. Bangladesh has a strong history of using drama and dance to relay cultural stories and messages and Psychodrama fits so well with these traditional practices.  It was incredible to see how the students of the workshops were taking the ideas from their training and using them in their work in small villages and responding to large community tragedies such as Cyclone Sidr and more recently the collapse of the garment building in Dhaka.  I attended an IAGP conference in Rome in 2009 and can recommend the IAGP conferences to anyone for the chance to meet Psychodramatists from all over the world and see how it is practiced in different cultures.

My work, drive and passion is working with refugees and asylum seekers. I’m fortunate to have recently returned to work with Foundation House in Melbourne and am very excited about the opportunities that my new role in their child, adolescent and family team will provide.

In my spare time I’m likely to be found in the garden, walking, swimming at the beach or cooking.

I am a member of the Moreno Psychodrama Committee and love being part of the PIM Moreno Society community.  It’s my base, my inspiration and the place for continued learning and development for me.

I look forward to meeting with and hearing other MPS members' stories and meeting you in person and in cyberspace.

Warmly

Danni Forer

Announcing the forthcoming publication of "The Mirror", journal of the Moreno Psychodrama Society

18 May 2014

The forthcoming inaugural edition of the e-journal of the Moreno Psychodrama Society, "The Mirror" is in process.  The theme for the first edition is Organisational Culture and Psychodrama.  What better day to announce this, on the 125th anniversary of the birth of the founder of psychodrama, Dr J. L. Moreno.

Watch this space!  Over the next few weeks we will be bringing forward further details.

Sue Daniel

On behalf of the MPS Committee

Theatre of Spontaneity - Sunday, 25 May 2014 at 6 p.m

Tele as a Force in Human Relations

Presenter: Sue Daniel

"Tele is the factor responsible for cohesion between two or more people in a group." (J. L. Moreno)

Tele is "a unit of feeling transmitted from one individual toward another and is always considered in terms of mutuality."  (Zerka T. Moreno)

Ever present, Tele underpins our decisions and processes.  It is a force that can attract, repel or be neutral.  

Within the Theatre of Spontaneity's framework we will explore how tele impacts our lives and colours the choices we make.  In true spontaneous fashion let's see what we co-create and how it relates to the dynamics in our lives.

The THEATRE of SPONTANEITY 

 
Gather together for a cup of tea or coffee from 6 p.m for a 6.30 p.m sharp start at the Psychodrama Institute of Melbourne, 155 Langridge St, Collingwood.

$20.00 ($15.00 MPS Members) 
SUPPER provided!

RSVP by the Friday 23rd May to 
Gavin O'Loughin  0403 597 685

www.psychodrama-institute-melbourne.com

Reflections from the Autumn School of Psychodrama

Hi everyone, 

Such an amazing time with a stunning collective of pyschodramatically minded (hearted) folk. I am looking forward to the growth that emerges from these connections and the deep work we did together. 

Jil 

"Love and beauty do not need to be protected from anyone or anything. The only thread for love and beauty is a limitation. The power is so strong and unknown that it scares". (Thank you archetype of Aphrodite, which could be activated and the process of initiation started). Unbelievable.

Yelena Ashlapova

Lunchtime Reading Group at PIM, last Friday of the month - In celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the birth of J. L. Moreno

 Friday 30 May, 2014

J. L. Moreno (18 May 1889 - 14 May 1974)

To Dream Again

A Memoir

Reference: To Dream Again, Memoir Zerka T. Moreno, MHR, Catskill, New York, Paperback edition 2012, Edited by Edward Schreiber

Moderator: Sue Daniel

"If we are indeed inside our psyche, it is possible to contact one another in various ways with tele, our ability to feel with love into the reality of another person as well as to communicate at a distance.  Tele produces two-way relationships based upon mutually perceiving and accepting the other's truth as reality, not as fantasy.  I know there are psychodrama practitioners who do not accept this premise, but I believe it and see it at work.  It differs from transference, in which feelings are projected in fantasy upon another in a one-way relationship, not meeting with mutual recognition.  The tele phenomenon appears again and again when, in the warm up phase of psychodrama, an auxiliary ego or stand-in is selected by a protagonist to take the role of an absentee who is needed for completion of the interaction.  In many groups the people present have not met one another before, yet often the chosen person, after the psychodrama is completed, will state during sharing, "It's amazing you chose me because...." and out will come a similar history.  Although I have worked in this field for more than sixty years, its power still astonishes me."  Zerka Moreno

Where? Downstairs Group Room at PIM at 155 Langridge St, Collingwood 

When? Friday, 30 May from 12.45 - 1.45 p.m sharp. 

Cost? $10.00 donation toward resourcing the 'Zerka T. Moreno' library. 

Tea and freshly brewed coffee provided.  Please bring your own lunch.

When? Friday, 30 May from 12.45 - 1.45 p.m sharp

RSVP to Sue on 0417 586 791

Email Enquiries for May Reading Group: pim@netspace.net.au

Autumn School of Psychodrama Reflection by Phil Smalley

Autumn School Reflection

I touch into my creative wise being

When I take the inner stroll

By the river of creativity –

A quiet, peaceful stroll,

Observing the trees,

Hearing and listening to the birds

As the old gum tree speaks its wisdom

Phil Smalley

4th May 2014

Final Program for the Autumn School of Psychodrama

The Autumn School commences this Friday night, 2 May and concludes Sunday, 4 May 2014.  We have a new presenter, Jun Maeda from Japan. We are all looking forward to this unique event, the first of its kind in the world. 

We will be working in small and large groups commencing with a sociometric warm up and activities on the Friday evening.  The essential element of the psychodrama method is to be in the ‘here and now’, present with self and other.  The ability to express ourselves adequately in work and life involves accessing a range of roles, which in turn require spontaneity and creativity.  Thinking, feeling and action, psychodrama involves the whole person.  This Autumn School is designed for trainees of psychodrama and other professional people working in health, education, organisations and pastoral care.

The focus of this particular school is on the philosophy, theory and application of the Morenian psychodrama method.  Sessions are conducted by practitioners and advanced trainees who apply their art in a variety of fields.  There will be two concurrent sessions running four times per day and small and large group sessions in between.   It is essential that participants are able to attend on the Friday evening as this event significantly sets the scene for the next two days.  

Presenters include: Sue Daniel, Lethe (Eriha) Gaskin & Katrina Gaskin (New Zealand/Aotearoa), Helen Fryer (Tasmania) Jil Toovey, Sharni Page-Cameron, John De Bono, Marie Watt, Danielle Forer (all from Melbourne) and Jun Maeda (Japan).

Friday 2 May, Registration at 6 pm, gather at 7 pm for 7.30 -10.30 pm

Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 May, 9 am - 6 pm

Venue: The Psychodrama Institue of Melbourne

155 Langridge St

Collingwood

Fees: $250.00 ($200.00 MPS members)

A One-day fee for Saturday only includes the essential Friday evening session: $150 ($100 MPS members)

BYO lunch.  Morning and afternoon teas, homemade gluten free muffins, biscuits and cakes, freshly brewed coffee, juice and a selection of fine teas are included.  For information see our website, contact the Administrator on: 0410 536 791 or at pim@netspace.net.au

9th IAGP Pacific Rim Regional Congress & 2nd Chinese Group Counselling and Group Psychotherapy CAMH Conference, March 2014

Beijing, China

This ninth Pacific Rim Regional Congress was held in Beijing, 20 - 22 March 2014 with guest presenters from around the globe.  Moreno Psychodrama Society members, Julia Lau, Personal Responsibility", Sue Daniel, "Day-by-Day: Role Theory, Sociometry and Psychodrama with Adolescents" and Jun Maeda (Japan), "The Constitutive Psychodrama by Clark Baim for Loss and Grief Trauma" all presented during the conference in sessions of three hours.   Sue also conducted a two-day post-conference workshop on the 23rd and 24th of March entitled "The Language of Action" in which 23 participants learnt about role theory, the twin canons of creativity/spontaneity, psychodrama techniques, dealing with grief and abuse and group dynamics.

We look forward to welcoming several of our Chinese colleagues at our Autumn School of Psychodrama, 2, 3, 4 May 2014 as well as Jun Maeda who is completing his Psychodrama training with the Psychodrama Institute of Melbourne.

Meanwhile in Korea, a new book on psychotherapy (in Chinese), has been completed by my colleague on the Board of the IAGP, Hsien-Hsien Chiang.  She kindly gave me her copy for our library and I welcome its position on our shelves. 

Sue Daniel

forum - Journal of the International Association for Group Psychotherapy and Group Processes (IAGP)

Coming soon, n.6 july 2013

Psychodrama articles in this edition, due out very soon are by Ekaterina Mikhailova (Russia), "Catchers in the Rye: Field Observations on the History and Present Status of Psychodrama in Russia."  Gregorio Armananzas Ros (Spain), "Sociodrama Within a Social Drama in Egypt" and Danielle Forer (Australia), "Group Work with Refugees Using Psychodrama: Rebuilding Hope, Facilitating Recovery".  Danielle is a member of the Moreno Psychodrama Society currently a committee member and an accredited psychodramatist.  Her passion is working with refugees.

We congratulate Danielle and our overseas colleagues Ekaterina and Goyo (Gregorio A. Ros).

If anyone is willing to write a review on any of the above articles we will be happy to publish your review on this blog.  If you wish to subscribe to the IAGP please visit their website.  Subscriptions are triennial and include discounts into their various conferences, a journal and newsletter.

Sue Daniel

Chair - Education Committee
Board of Directors
IAGP

Director
Psychodrama Institute of Melbourne