On Psychodrama: visiting Zerka

If you can't play the embedded video, click here

Theatre of Spontaneity - Sunday 27th July 2014

 

“The horse has bolted”

 

Have you ever been in a situation where you said something and wish you hadn’t?

Have you done something and wish you had thought about it beforehand?

Has there been an opportunity that you have missed?

Have you intentionally let something go?

Come and explore this theme of ‘the horse bolting’ and catch it back at the Theatre of Spontaneity….

 

Facilitators are Lyndon Medina and Jillian Hiscock

Sunday 27^th  July 2014  at 6.00 pm. for 6.30 start – 8.30 finish

RSVP by 25th July to Gavin O'Loughlin  0403 597 685

$15.00 MPS members/$20.00 non-members 

The Location is 155 Langridge Street, Collingwood.

Light refreshment provided

Family, friends & colleagues are welcome

From Di Kearney on holiday in Spain

Dear Friends,
My photo from an ecstatic time in Reales Alcazar, Seville. 

So much beauty and communion in the architecture, and so many trees, so much birdsong, my essence wanting to be/ being in the trees. 

Reading Group on Friday 25 July at PIM from 12.45 - 1.45 p.m

What is your favourite psychodrama quote or paragraph?

For this month's Reading Group, we are asking everyone to bring their own favourite reading on psychodrama.  It might be a quote by an author or a paragraph in a book or journal.  Each one of us will read our piece first, say why we have chosen it and then we will discuss our choices.  It is not necessary to bring copies or send anything in before the day.

Moderator: Sue Daniel

The Reading Group commences at 12.45 p.m sharp and concludes at 1.45 p.m.  This allows the 9 - 5 working brigade to attend during their lunchtime.  Freshly brewed coffee, a selection of teas and biscuits are provided.  Please bring your own lunch.  The fee is $10.00 which goes to support PIM's library. 

 

The Zerka Moreno Library including the George Cally Reference Section

The PIM Library:

The PIM library was renamed the Zerka Moreno Library in 2006 in honour of Zerka Moreno who continues to be a prolific and interesting writer.  Her book "The Quintessential Zerka" was published in 2006 and her next book, "To Dream Again: A Memoir" was published in 2012.  
The library also contains the George Cally Reference Section with books donated to PIM by Clare Cally, widow of George Cally.  Other people have added to the library either through donation or on loan.  We welcome any new donations.  George Cally was a great exponent of psychodrama, training with Zerka and J. L but never became a fully accredited psychodramatist.  He was a Lecturer and Counsellor at RMIT and a very creative and humane person.  
Currently our whole library is being refurbished with new books and articles.  The latest article to be added to the library, written by PIM trainees and practitioners (No. 101) is "The Seeds of Mirroring" by Lyndon Medina.

The Future Psychodramatist from China

Tong (Chloe) Han visited Melbourne today.  She says this is her exciting day, her big day!  We look forward to seeing her again soon.

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

Moreno Psychodrama Society Members - Introducing Marie Watt

Psychodramatist, Educator, Community Worker, Dancer, Story-Teller and Dreamer

Scene-setting for the psychodrama of my life:

* Western District sheep farm

* Local bush school

* Convent boarding school

* Various convent locales in Melbourne during my forty-two years as a nun, educator and community worker.

* My return to secular living and my present work as a psychodramatist, group trainer and dream group facilitator.

Enough scenes you say?  Certainly enough to conjure up what seems like a cast of thousands - the auxiliaries and audience from all sorts of social milieux and walks of life, the ever-changing protagonist "me" and the director I have always sensed to be present.

The Drama:

As a I look into the heart of my life, I can identify the fires which seem to burn, the passions which animate who I am and who I want to become:-

1) My sense of the land of my being and my desire to explore it in depth.  This fire was lit in childhood as I explored the physical landscape and developed an innate sense of the presences it contains.  Religious life took this into spiritual realms.  My life among aboriginal people during my years as a nun returnd me to a sense of the spirit in the land and heightened an appreciation of the link between earth and spirit.

2) My life-long love of reading and story-telling and the scope these provide for a rich and imaginative life.  Fairy tale, folk tale and myth, in particular, paint in broad strokes the big themes of human experience.

3) The world of dreams, so archetypically linked with the stories mentioned above, yet so perfectly adapted to the details of the individual life acting as they do, as inner wisdom and guide.

4) The centrality of the body to the dance of life.  I am so grateful to J. L. Moreno for introducing me to the spontaneous dance of psychodrama and the body freedom this elicits.  This has become the salsa and cha-cha-cha of my present, giving me the freedom to explore the ever-widening dimensions of things.

The Sharing:

The above, I know is the bare bones of my experience, never really complete or perfectly understood until there is some response, spoken or otherwise, from the other, you, the reader, today.

I imagine you before me now.  I find myself mirrored in your eyes, through the lens of your own experience and feelings.

This interchange closes the curtain on things.

It's what makes me whole.

Theatre of Spontaneity - Sunday 29th June 2014

When Organizational Cultures Hurt....” 

Click here for Full Details

‘A meeting of two: eye to eye, face to face.
And when you are near I will tear your eyes out and place them instead of mine,
and you will tear my eyes out
and will place them instead of yours,
then I will look at you with your eyes . . .
and you will look at me with mine.’  

Moreno – Who Shall Survive. 

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 Friday 27th June to Gavin O'Loughin  0403 597 685

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