The practice of psychodrama allows participants to create a world for themselves, free of usual rules and constraints. This freedom from all ordinary conventions is what Moreno called Surplus Reality, and is perhaps one of the most vital, curative and mysterious elements of psychodrama. In this book, Leif Dag Blomkvist and Zerka Moreno explore the depths of this concept. In addition, each chapter is prefaced by Leif Dag Blomkvist's explanations and illuminations of the forces and energies - from early religious rituals and festivals to the art of Surrealism - which have influenced...

The Couch and the Stage explores the therapeutic effects of dramatic action. It details the psychoanalysts and action psychotherapists who conceived of the continuity of mind and body, words and action, challenging Freud's purely verbal and rational route to the unconscious. The book encourages mental health professionals to harness the knowledge of the dramatic therapies and contemporary neuroscience in the service of facilitating integration among discrepant parts of the self, the family and the group.

In a world where natural, social and political disasters are a daily reality, the therapist is increasingly called upon to find rapid and effective methods of treating the survivors of trauma, including sexual abuse, torture, war-related trauma, addiction, depression and bereavement. The contributors to this book provide persuasive evidence of how psychodrama can safely be used to create paths of change for even the most severe traumatization and they also discuss the possible transmission of trauma patterns across generations. Research following World War II, neurobiological studies and...

The practice of psychodrama allows participants to create a world for themselves, free of usual rules and constraints. This freedom from all ordinary conventions is what Moreno called 'Surplus Reality', and is one of the most vital, curative and mysterious elements of psychodrama. In this book, Leif Dag Blomkvist and Zerka Moreno explore the depths of this long-neglected concept. In addition, each chapter is prefaced by Leif Dag Blomkvist's explanations and illuminations of the forces and energies - from early religious rituals and festivals to the art of Surrealism - which have influenced...

The Quintessential Zerka documents the origins and development of the theory and practice of psychodrama, sociometry and group psychotherapy through the work and innovation of its co-creator, Zerka Toeman Moreno.

This comprehensive handbook brings together history, philosophy, methodology and application. It shows the pioneering role that Zerka, along with her husband J. L. Moreno, played in the development, not only of the methods of psychodrama and sociometry, but of the entire group psychotherapy movement worldwide. It demonstrates the extent to which Zerka's intuitive...