Psychodrama is Action

Psychodrama is Action – And Actions speak louder than words. Some experiences sit in your chest like a knot, a heavy burden. You talk about them, explain them, analyse them — and yet, nothing seems to shift. Psychodrama feels like a breath of fresh air. Instead of only talking, you step into the scene. You replay it. You swap roles. You watch your scene unfold from a new angle. It’s not about acting — it’s about finally seeing what’s been hidden, a new perspective. In today’s world of endless Zoom calls and endless scrolling, we forget that healing happens by standing up, moving around, and letting our body speak. The body carries stories, words aren’t enough. And here’s what comes as a surprise: the room itself changes. When someone takes on the role of a parent, a colleague, or even their younger self, you can feel the energy shift. It’s almost like the air gets heavier with truth and lighter with possibility. At the Indian Institute of Psychodrama, Participants often leave saying: “I didn’t know I could see my life this way.” Psychodrama is the drama of your soul, It’s an experience that helps us meet ourselves with more compassion.

Exploring Fairytales through Psychodrama

 Indian Institute of Psychodrama in collaboration with the World Storytelling Institute is announcing a 5 weekend workshop on “Exploring Fairytales through Psychodrama” 

 A workshop via Zoom – Ten three-hour sessions

Dates: 29th and 30th May and all weekends in June (5th, 6th, 12th 13th, 19th, 20th, 26th, 27th)

Timing: 8:30 to 11:30 AM (New York- USA) 

              2:30 to 5:30 PM (Rome- Italy)

              6:00 PM - 9:00 PM (IST)

For further information, click 

https://centerforcounselling.org/portfolio/exploring-fairytales-through-psychodrama/

Facilitators: Eric Miller and Magdalene Jeyarathnam

Eric would assist participants to bring to mind and think about the kinds of stories mentioned above.

  

Magdalene as the Psychodrama director would facilitate re-enactment of the characters and symbols from the fairytales. This process assists participants to explore, and find deep messages and interpretations from their stories.

About the Workshop

The classic oral tradition fairytales now known world-wide came into being primarily in Europe, Scandinavia, and the Slavic countries in the centuries after Christianity was implemented, and are composed in-part of re-cycled pre-Christian Goddess lore (note the fairy godmothers, the old women who live in the forest and who have special powers, etc).  Fairytales tend to concern the need for the feminine principle (feelings, fertility, nature, love, connection) to join the masculine principle in order to create mature individuals and cultures.  Fairytales take place in a magical realm in which all matter can be transformed instantly.  This realm is the opposite of the laborious, mechanical, scientific realm.  In fairytales, just wishing can make it so (sometimes). 

The principle of reciprocity is paramount in these stories: Mother Nature rewards kind and generous characters; while greedy characters come to bad ends. Fairytales are mostly coming-of-age stories.  Early in a fairytale, the protagonist may seem to be a failure.  The protagonist can’t do things like everyone else can — often due to being dense and/or authentic.  This sometimes leads to the protagonist being sent away from home.  Fairytales present the adventures of young people struggling to make their ways in the world.  In spite of obstacles and pitfalls, fairytale protagonists may accomplish tasks, and gain wisdom and wealth.  The protagonist may undergo trials which may lead to inner and/or outer transformations.  These stories often portray suffering and renewal, and loss and finding of fortune — and of self. Protagonists of fairytales often move to the next stage of life with help from magical allies — friends and teachers found along the way are often essential to the protagonist’s success.  The fairytale protagonist often has a deep connection with the natural and supernatural worlds.  For example, this character can often understand animal languages.  Fairytales typically end with the protagonist’s marriage.  Having earned a treasure and a wonderful life-partner, the protagonist is now on track to “live happily ever after”.
In this Workshop we would work with nine stories: five fairytales collected by the Grimm brothers in Germany in the early 1800s, one traditional story from England about fairies, and three stories from India.  The list of stories is here.

Through Psychodrama we would seek to enact and experience the issues, conflicts, and choices of the characters of the stories, and we would seek to discover related elements in our own lives. In the process we might come to understand various perspectives and as a result might gain more empathy and compassion towards ourselves and those around us