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THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GROUP
PSYCHOTHERAPY
P S Y C H O D R A M A S E C T I O N
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Dear fellow psychodramatists,
In the beginning of the century, a strange observation was
made by a young Austrian man - J.L. Moreno - that people can resolve some of their
emotional problems through role playing. He called this "psychodrama" and it
rapidly became known as an effective method of group psychotherapy.
Later, he also founded sociodrama to improve the inter-cultural relations between various
people. Today, psychodrama and sociodrama are used by thousands of practitioners in almost
every part of the world. Thanks to the efforts of Zerka Moreno and many other teachers,
Moreno's spirit continue to infuse the worldwide psychodrama movement to this very day.
However, we are now approaching a very decisive cross-roads. In the world of the 21st
century, and as a relatively small approach, we have little choice but to accept
globalization. Because the negative
consequences of doing things alone are far greater than doing them together. What we need
is a recognizable face and voice; a recognizable entity for common policy, a kind of
international umbrella organization for
psychodramatists that is far greater than the sum of its parts. With a broad framework of
support, the Psychodrama Section of the International Association of Group Psychotherapy
(founded by J.L. Moreno)could become the starting-point for such a unifying body and
establish itself as a global
player in its own right. Some of the tasks would include ways of improving the
quality of psychodrama practice and training, the initiation of international
psychodrama events, as well as of supporting the funding of research, publications and the
creation of new employment opportunities.
Many interrelated factors; political, economical and social, are involved in the
development of such an international psychodrama framework within the Psychodrama Section
of the IAGP. One factor, however, transcends all of the others; the need to be inclusive
rather than exclusive in membership
recruitment. Inclusion is an historical and strategic necessity rather than a policy
option. With enlargement, we will get what we did not have for a long time: growth and
stimulation. Specifically, we would be able to
include students with limited economic means in our congresses and invite collegues from
developing countries to join in. Thus, we might help creating some more bridges between
people from various parts of the world. After all, we have assembled a wealth of
resources, of which our long-lasting friendships are the most valuable.
In order to plan future action, we propose to hold a summit meeting of international
psychodramatists. Naturally, because of the extensive efforts involved, such a meeting
must be well planned beforehand and focus on specific issues of common interest. To this
end, we need to construct an up-to-date directory of world-wide psychodramatists, so that
we can include the input of as many involved parties as possible before the actual
meeting.
This letter is a first step in this direction. If you are interested in participating in
this endeavour, please fill out the form below and return it
as soon as possible. Please make a print and forward it also to other
psychodramatists whom you know.
This will help us opening up the communication network so
that our discussion can start. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Peter Felix Kellermann, Jorg Burmeister, Sue Daniel
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY
- Homepage
- 14th Congress, Jerusalem,
August 20-25, 2000
- how to become member in the IAGP