ABSTRACT:

What are the values of democracy? Respect for individuals and their right to make their own choices. Tolerance of differences and opposing ideas. Equity – valuing all people and supporting them to reach their full potential. Each person has the freedom of speech, association, movement, and freedom of belief. Are we connected to democracy in our cities, in our countries? Social traumas reflect on the values of democracy. In this sociodrama workshop, we will explore the values of Morenian sociodrama and the values of ancient Greek democracy in relation to our connection with democracy and how we can improve our world by providing a chance for a more creative global voice for freedom and social equity, in order to have a collective future.

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ABSTRACT:

Whether we live in wealthy societies or countries suffering from poverty or inhabit modern democracies or 21st-century populist oligarchies, our work with groups always occurs within the magnetic fields of power. Power systems, including governance, politics, policies, institutions, cultural norms, and practices, pervade our groups and permeate our inner reality as group facilitators. We operate within these magnetic fields of power, which generate voltage and charge the group and ourselves.

In this workshop, we will employ sociodrama as a tool for exploring suitable roles in facilitating group work when confronted with various manifestations of power, such as war, climate catastrophes, global exploitation, social injustices, flawed policies, oppressive organisational procedures, autocratic regimes, populism, discrimination, segregation, and more.

How can we evolve beyond the traditional, neutral, all-knowing narrator role and align our group facilitator role with responsible, participative citizens committed to values and actions? How can we foster an open space for diverse viewpoints without losing our consistency yet still be able to form or change our beliefs when adequate in the group process?

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ABSTRACT:

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair—So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow—I have a dream—I have a dream that one day—a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice—I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.(Martin Luther King)

Non-violence is an active action with the aim to act in conflicts without weapons and physical violence. Martin Luther King called it a soul force. For soul force, nonviolence is about getting outside of over/under power dynamics, where we win and someone else loses.

Moreno’s philosophy is founded on the idea of spontaneity and role-reversal, even with your antagonist. It does not mean you have the same values or accept he or she is right, but you are able to see who the antagonist really is and act creative.

After the session participants will have had experiences of nonviolent conflict resolution and be able to describe soul force and its connection with Morenian philosophy.

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ABSTRACT:

This is a presentation of the experience of an online supervision group (and some face-to-face ones) in which we used the group dispositive of Dramatic Multiplication as a methodology to decentralize the figure of the supervisor, in the direction of a more collective and co-vision stance. In this presentation we will talk about Dramatic Multiplication, its effects in a supervision group and a reflection on the songs sung in the sessions, as a commentary on the experience. After this session participants will be able to explore more possibilities of decentralised supervision.

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ABSTRACT:

Ideally, J.L. Moreno connects the identity of the individual with that of humanity by underlining how the salvation of the individual cannot be achieved without a simultaneous active focus on the “other”. To articulate the attention on the individual AND on the collective is not always easy.

The workshop will be organize in three phases, as a “socio-psycho-sociodrama” :
1) Sociodramatic approach
2) Psychodramatic phase
3) Returning to the sociodramatic approach.

This will develop an understanding of how the two methodological forms can be integrated without the risk of mixing and confusing them.

After this session participants will be able to
• Outline some constituent elements of sociodrama
• Outline some constituent elements of psychodrama
• distinguish the difference between sociodrama and psychodrama

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ABSTRACT:

Being aware of the problems that we are living with in the world (wars, climatic urgence, the polarization of societies, concentration of richness and increasing of poverty). What makes sense to us in this Conference’s multicultural setting, is to share a social and political event that affected both our collective and individual lives. This was the pacific Carnation Revolution in Portugal in 1974. Portuguese people left behind 48 years of dictatorship and a colonial war. So in 2024, there will be the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Peace, Freedom and Democracy in Portugal. This revolution  is still a very inspirational moment for most of the Portuguese people, including also Social Justice and Human Rights.

We will “warm up” the participants by sharing our own memories of this historical period, besides illustrating it with some pieces of art.

Our sociodramatic questions are: From this inspirational and social event – the Portuguese Carnation Revolution – what do you take, to face problems that we are living with in our society?

We will invite participants to discuss and work in groups about what inspires them the most and how it can help them to contribute and transform some of the social issues they find in their communities or groups. 

Finally, we will propose that participants share, in action and using expressive arts, having in mind, as Moreno taught us, that we are all co-creators and can build together more inclusive and equitable societies now and in the future – surplus reality.

From a research methodology perspective, we will use a participatory action research methodology, as this will be an open, experiential and participative workshop, based on Sociodrama.

After this workshop, participants will be able:

• To co-create a collaborative artwork piece, like sculptures or drawings, that will express the sharing and feelings associated with what they shared and lived in the workshop;
• To become more familiar with the concept of “surplus reality” concept.

References:
Kristoffersen, B; Mollan, A. G. (2015). I Invite Each of Us to Speak our Truth-On Sociopsychodrama. Arts and Social Sciences Journal, 06(01). https://doi.org/10.4172/2151-6200.100090
Moreno, J. L. (1934). Who shall survive? (F. Books, Ed.). Forgotten Books

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ABSTRACT:

When democratic civil society is threatened by internal and external forces and interests, group therapists and group members in general play a significant and central role, as Moreno believed.

Sociodramatic work is a therapeutic and educational tool that facilitates observation, emotional and mental processing, and promotes an opportunity for paradigm shifts through empathy and thoughtful transformation.

At the end of the meeting, the participants may discover new ways of thinking or hidden feelings that will contribute to a future change in civil life.

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ABSTRACT:

Throughout human society and human history, J.L. Moreno recognized the presence and the activity of an underlying dynamic, a caste like structure, that is determining and impacting all social reality.
The same dynamic can be found within families, groups and organizations.

This workshop teaches Social Microscopy, an experiential educational practice that makes this underlying dynamic/structure visible within a group.
We can see the whole of society in a group when this dynamic/structure becomes visible. Social microscopy leads us to what Zerka Moreno described as the awakening of the autonomous healing center within the self, and in the group, and this offers hope. Social Microscopy Workshops are offered nationally and internationally.

Learning Objectives:

• Be able to define the underlying structure of social reality.
• Be able to grasp the nature of the autonomous healing center, and the awakening to it.

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ABSTRACT:

Moreno created sociodrama to enable us to co-create collective roles in which each of us is represented in each of the shared roles. Sociodrama enables us to warm up to community issues and to give a voice to our community shared concerns. Sociodrama helps participants to express feelings about the concern and to rehearse new ways to deal with it. After this session , participants will be able to:
• Examine and warm up to human rights that are universal to ourselves and our neighbors.
• Apply at least two sociodramatic techniques acting out assigned roles to enact and remedy a community social situation.
• Create new and adequate solutions in which human rights are protected for all of humanity.

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