Approaching personal stories through dramatic resonances in group work

Abstract

This chapter was written especially for this book by Prof. Susana Pendzik , a contemporary key figure in the world of drama therapy. In this section, Dr. Pendzik discusses the dramatic resonance approach she has developed – a creative-therapeutic approach to drama therapy, based on the therapeutic power of dramatic reality and its ability to resonate in the human psyche. The chapter presents an original and up-to-date application of this approach for Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater. The dramatic resonance method serves as an interventional tool in therapy, training and learning processes. In Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater, the method is based on the group’s creative-performative responses to the stimulation placed in front of them. The stimuli can emerge from the individual’s experiences of the group members (as memories, dreams etc.) or a non-personal source (such as legend, myth, literary text, etc.). These responses can gradually move from resonances that are relatively close to the stimulus, such as mirroring, through more distant resonances that bring others’ point of view, reframe and expand the stimulus, to the most distant universal resonance. This chapter defines and demonstrates the various resonances and provides the conductor with guidelines for navigating the movement of the group among them.

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