Psychodrama Beyond the Introduction: Family Sculpting

April 1st, 2010
By Bill Mason, MA, LPCC, Psychodrama Topic Expert Contributor

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An example of one type of psychodrama that can be done in a group setting is a family sculpting. The first step involves determining who has a sense of readiness to do their family sculpting at this time. I generally ask this question to the group and then wait to see who is interested in doing work. If more than one person is interested, then I encourage each person to talk about how important it is for them to do work now versus considering a later date. Whoever has the most pressing need is then afforded the opportunity to do the sculpting.

The individual is then asked to intuitively pick an event or an occasion from their childhood to present to the group. I ask them arbitrarily to pick an event or circumstance from when they were 5 years old. Later in the sculpting they are asked to pick additional events from age 10 and then eventually age 15. I will say more about that later. The person going through the sculpting is first asked to choose a support person to be with them throughout the psychodrama. The person intuitively chooses someone they feel a connection with and feel safe around. As the individual recalls the setting and whatever happened they are asked to talk about the other people involved. As they introduce the people involved in the original setting they are asked to choose somebody to play the part(s) of those initially involved.

This is typically the stage of the sculpting where the individual really starts to sense the realness of what is about to happen. They begin to develop a sense of who might trigger the original mannerisms or energy that people possessed in their original setting. Paying attention to who the person chooses for each role can also reveal projections that the individual may have toward other group members. That is one of the reasons it becomes very important to de-role at the end of the sculpting. Once all of the participants are chosen the individual then places them in the room according to where they would have been in the original setting and in relationship to where the individual themselves were in the original scene.

The person then provides information about each individual so that the people playing the roles will have a sense of what their character might say and how they might act. They can ask questions until they feel a degree of comfort with the role. This is typically a place in the work where I assure the participants that I have a sense of their role and I will help them if they get stuck. I also make it clear that if what they are saying does not seem accurate or helpful then I will intervene and provide direction.

While overseeing the group I remain available to be there for emotional support for the person being sculpted. The co-therapist may be asked to play a role. If they are not in a role then they can help provide information or direction to the participants. They also play the important role of tracking the group and must pay close attention to anyone else from the group who gets triggered into some of their own trauma as a result of the intensity and/or realness of the psychodrama.

The individual may choose someone to play their part in the drama or they may play their role themselves. This is determined through discussion between the individual and the group leaders. The main criteria for the person being involved as themselves is generally whether or not they feel prepared emotionally to get totally connected with the original pain or not. If they are not sure of their degree of readiness, it is better to move in the direction of not having them play the role of themselves.

Someone experiencing psychodrama for the first time generally does better being less connected emotionally through having someone else play their role. This also allows them to see how impacted they were from the traumatic event from the outside looking in on the scene. This potentially provides the opportunity for them to be there for their hurt parts that are revealed through the sculpting process. By getting to see their internalized process externalized the person in some cases makes their first connection with their hurt part(s) and thus begin to learn to acknowledge and be there emotionally for these parts of themselves.

Next Month: Family Sculpting Continued…

© Copyright 2010. All Rights Reserved. Permission to publish granted to GoodTherapy.org. The preceding article was solely written and edited by the author named above. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the preceding article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment below.

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