I became interested in the theme of forgiveness while preparing for a presentation on ‘forgiveness in therapy’ and decided to introduce the concept to my weekly psychodrama group. The group comprised of six female participants with a mixture of having experienced loss due to suicide, individual attempts of suicide and thoughts of life not worth living. Spirituality plays an important part to many of this client group as it can provide comfort to the self in crisis, and connection to the lost loved one. One of the psychological methods grounded in spirituality, is psychodrama. The founder J.L. Moreno, conceptualized it to be a healing theatre and saw humans as cosmic beings with a divine spark at their core, which he called the godhead. The method is primarily a group therapy process using aspects of drama and action methods for clarification and change. Some of its techniques, such as role reversal, roles of restoration, surplus reality and mirroring can facilitate the process of exploration, catharsis and insight towards healing and forgiveness and are demonstrated below with two group members’ vignettes.
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Betty had lost her sixteen year old son to suicide four years ago and had chosen discipline as a transpersonal strength and need for that day. In role she experienced being awake, alive, and able to face pain. Carole survived an overdose in response to feeling ashamed having had an affair in her marriage. She chose her late granny as an interpersonal strength for support in facing her shameful part; in role she experienced love, clarity and compassion towards herself. Both roles of restoration aim to “energise the trauma-based self” (p.76 Hudgins 2002) which helped Betty and Carole to experience clarity, empowerment and compassion while facing their painful parts of self.

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The use of surplus reality is a cathartic process of being able to express thoughts and feelings through action in the as ifness, which allows participants to create a corrective experience and regain feelings of inner peace and hope. Betty had a conversation with her son who told her “It is not your fault that I died, I don’t blame you. I tried to come home but couldn’t.” Carole faced her shameful part that tried to overdose and listened to what she had to say, that she felt unloved by her husband who turned nasty and controlling after she lost weight. Surplus reality has been coined by Moreno and described by his wife Zerka: “Once you tap into a person’s psyche, you reach a dimension which is beyond subjective and objective reality…it is a timeless and spaceless realm where cosmic powers unfold.” (p.18 Moreno, Blomkvist,Ruetzel 2000). It is seen as one of the most significant, restorative and mysterious elements of psychodrama. Betty role reversed with her son to experience a different perspective psychically, as did Carole in her conversation with her shameful part. The use of role reversal enabled both to increase empathy, shift their perspective, have a catharsis and gain greater understanding of the situation.

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Mirroring a scene helps to see the other’s and own action with greater objectivity and clarity.Watching the replay of the conversation between discipline, herself and her son enabled Betty to realise that she is not to blame, that it was out of her control that her son died. As observer she also became aware that she could use the strength of discipline in how much time she energetically devotes daily to her late son and also to herself in self-caring and life-enhancing ways. Carole gained insight when she observed and listened to her shameful part blaming and condemning herself, and realised that her husband was also responsible, and as she in role of granny said: “everyone makes mistakes”. Consequently Carol shared in the next session that she had become more forgiving toward her mother and stepsisters after accepting that she herself is not perfect. To conclude, the group gained insight collectively and individually by witnessing and sharing their significant moments, through being in role of another and experiencing their drama played back, which allowed for greater objectivity and clarity, as well as empathy, and subsequently aided the process of liberating the heart. 

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Resources

• Hudgins M.K. (2002) Experiential Treatment for PTSD, The Therapeutic Spiral Model, Springer Publishing Company, New York

• Moreno Z.T. Blomkvist L.D. Ruetzel T.” (2000) Psychodrama, Surplus Reality and the Art of Healing Routledge, London​​