ABSTRACT:

In the aftermath of the fallen communist regimes at the end of the XX century, these societies are far from reaching a homeostasis.The history of conflicts and lost beliefs has not only created collective trauma and polarization, but these societies have been continuously re-traumatized by the communicated „post-truths“ (Oxford Languages, 2016) and „gaslighting“ (Merriam-Webster, 2022).

The hypothesis is that when individuals fall victim to the societal post-truths and gaslighting, they are inclined to form certain sub-groups with similar mental, emotional and somatic experiencing, corresponding to the fight-flight-or-freeze states: 1) nationalists (angry, agitated, ready to “protect” the nation and fight with the perceived enemy), 2) the nostalgic (fleeing to idealisation of the past, grieving for the communist „paradise lost“), or the numb (those that freeze, shut down or even die, unable to cope with the changed circumstances).
The workshop will include a sociometrical exercise with three groups, a sociodramatic exploration by making use of role reversal and deepening double techniques, with deroling and a sociatric intervention as closure.

After this 90-min workshop, the participants will be able to:
1) explore ways of collective re-traumatisation in dismantled societies and how individuals respond to it,
2) identify how different social sub-groups are formed, depending on the individual autonomous nervous system response,
3) consider some viable social healing techniques.

References:

Oxford Languages Word of the Year (2016): post-truth – “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief“.
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year (2022): gaslighting: „the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage“.
Billmer, G. E. (2020): Homeostasis: The Underappreciated and Far Too Often Ignored Central Organizing Principle of Physiology, Front. Physiol., 10 March 2020, Sec. Integrative Physiology
Volume 11 – 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.00200
Damjanov, J. And Westberg, M., eds. (2023) Discovering the Languages of Peace – A Handbook of Sociopsychodrama
Hübl, T. (2023): Attuned: Practicing Interdependence to Heal Our Trauma—and Our World, Kindle Edition
Kellerman, P. F. (2007): Sociodrama and Collective Trauma, Jessica Kingsley Publishers – London and Philadelphia
Mass, P. (1997): Love Thy Neighbour: The Story of War, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Porges, S. W. (2020): The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation, Audiobook – Unabridged, Tantor Audio
Williams, J. M. and Tygielski, S. (2023): How We Ended Racism: Realizing a New Possibility in One, Kindle Edition

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:

ABSTRACT:

After identifying some common collective transgenerational traumas in the group, we will choose one collective pattern to better understand any collective wound and the transgenerational events that have contributed to it. We will also identify, express and reinforce some collective positive resources After some enactments with sociodrama techniques of the problematic situation, together with the positive resources, we will evolve to surplus reality to find and experience different endings for the unfinished business, and we will try to reflect and co-create different solutions for this common collective trauma.

After this session, the participants will be able to identify the main concepts and the main sociodrama and sociometry techniques used and will be able to apply some of them.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER:

ABSTRACT:

In this workshop, you will see how sociopsychodrama, its theory, methods and philosophy can be used in group work.
You will experience and explore blockages in the social matrix. Through our sociopsychodramatic work we will identify creativity blockages inside social matrix.
Also, we will find ways how to transform these blockages. We will open new pathways for flow inside social matrix.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER:

ABSTRACT:

In this Symposium we will present the project “Discovering the Languages of Peace ” and the book that resulted from it. This project was funded by ERASMUS + Programm (EU). The methodological path chosen was based on the sociopsychodrama methodology and the participants were professionals that work with marginalized young people in countries from former Yugoslavia region (Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzgovina) and Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway). This project lasted for one year in which we developed twelve online workshops in the form of 3 hour webinars and a 5 day Spring School in presence, at the University of Zadar (Croatia). The aim of the project was to contribute to the transformation of conflicted communities and societies, healing traumas and building long term peace by increasing the competencies of the professionals and practitioners.

Learning objectives:
to know more about sociopsychodrama and the theoretical framework underpinning it and
to learn more about the work of professionals working with discriminated and marginalized groups

References:
Damjanov, J., and Westberg, M. (Ed.) (2023). Discovering Languages of Peace – Handbook of Sociopsychodrama. University of Zadar. https://morepress.unizd.hr/books/index.php/press/catalog/view/106/112/1889
Galgóczi, K., Adderley, D., Belchior, M., Blasko, A., Damjanov, J., Maciel, M., Teszary, J., Werner, M., and Westberg, M. (Ed.) (2021). Sociodrama: the Art and Science of Social Change. L’Harmattan. http://sociodramanetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/sociodrama_the_art_and_science_of_social_change_nyomdai.pdf
Giacomucci, S. (2021). Social Work, Sociometry, and Psychodrama, Experiential Approaches for Group Therapists, Community Leaders, and Social Workers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6342-7
Moreno, J. L. (1934). Who shall survive? (F. Books, Ed.). Forgotten Books. https://reflexus.org/wp-content/uploads/whoshallsurvive.pdf
Wiener, R., and Adderley, D. (2011). Sociodrama in a changing world. Lulu.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:

ABSTRACT:

The trauma of war has stirred up in Ukrainians the mechanisms of struggle for life that were not manifested in peaceful conditions. During March-April 2022, two phenomena could be observed in Ukrainian society that clearly reflected the social and cultural nature of the survival mechanism of a nation threatened with extinction:

1. Consolidation. It is the process of the mass emergence of groups based on the criteria of “one turns to another” and “action for resistance”. People are uniting to purchase supplies and equipment for the army, to help the wounded, victims, evacuees, to weave protective nets, etc;
2. The creative explosion of an artistic product. It is seen as a folk heritage passed down by ancestors and awakened by descendants. Nowadays, we hear a lot of folk songs, fairy tales, myths in our everyday life, and our clothes are enriched with forgotten ornaments.
   Contemporary art is also rapidly gaining momentum, leaving a memory of the sensual experience of this struggle.

We believe that these phenomena are universal, and in situations of threat, every nation and ethnic group relies on its deepest culture, narratives and myths.

The power of life and the power of unity lies in having an effective contact with the origins of one’s culture and seeing the strength of other nations and ethnic groups at any time. In the sociodrama, we will explore the origins of the cultures of different nations, looking for points of contact and unity through the language of creativity.

In the workshop art-therapeutic tools will be used. Participants will be able to identify the cultural characteristics of their own ethnic group, see similarities and differences in other groups.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:

ABSTRACT:

Giving birth and being born is a universal experience for all of us. This topic continues to gather significant interest, spark debates, and evoke strong emotions. However, even if the experience seems unique, it is also deeply rooted in the social context, belief systems, and world views that define our society.

Some people believe that the sanctity of childbirth can only take place in an intimate environment of peace and quiet, and this is backed up by anthropological and medical research which highlights the lower risk of home births. However, women who choose to give birth at home often face anger, attacks, and stigmatization from the majority of society and institutional authorities.What are the social factors that lead a significant number of women to choose hospitals as their place of birth, despite reports of difficult experiences? Many women face humiliating, impersonal, and authoritarian treatment within the healthcare system, with a certain percentage experiencing trauma. 

The aim of our workshop is to explore and raise awareness of the driving forces behind the above choices through sociodramatic exploration. We would like for our participants to be able to stand up for themselves or ask for help in vulnerable situations.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:

ABSTRACT:

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) rights are under pressure as social conservatives have increasingly taken action to target legislation and policies against LGBTI people. The political rhetoric driving these anti-LGBTI policies has led to an increase in the amount of hate speech and violence LGBTI people face and makes workspaces, schools and other public spaces feel unsafe. This impact is amplified by internalized messages stemming from years of micro-aggressions. In this workshop, we will use sociodrama to explore strategies to help LGBTI people navigate and resist the impact of anti-LGBTI rhetoric and find ways to help them effectively speak truth to power.

1. Define Kipper’s (2002) cognitive double.
2. Describe how to use embodied cognition to help participants experience a sense of empowerment.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:

ABSTRACT:

Aim: To explore the frustrations that create intergroup conflict in the group’s collective subconscious and to find out the potentials in the collective subconscious between groups to reduce the feeling of frustration and develop cooperation.

Background: The Middle East is going through a difficult period, especially in the last few decades, with increased intergroup tensions. While negative experiences negatively affect the potential for future generations of different groups to come together, it is everyone’s common responsibility to preserve the feeling of living together for the formation of a more peaceful world that Moreno dreams of.

In addition to addressing intergroup relations with Moreno’s sociometry and sociodrama approach, synthesising Jung’s collective unconscious and shadow concepts with sociodrama offers important opportunities in understanding conflict and resolution.

Learning objectives of the workshop:
Participants,
1. They will experience the interaction of positive, negative or natural roles of different groups in the Middle East.
2. In sharing experiences, it will be expressed what increases the possibility of conflict and what facilitates the possibility of cooperation.
3. Finally, prominent collective elements will be determined and alternative solutions will be experienced on stage.

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ABSTRACT:

The challenges of recent years are leading people to realize that in order to face the future confidently, it is necessary to part with the past ecologically and consciously. This seminar is a sociodramatic study of the phenomenon of parting at different levels: personal, family, group, and social. Using sociometry and sociodramatic tools, participants will actualize their experience of disengagement from dysfunctional systems. After this session, they will be able to expand their range of responses to environmental uncertainty, find personal resource states, and structure their approach to disengagement as a process.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER:

ABSTRACT:

During the trying wartime period, Ukrainian psychologists and psychotherapists encountered many challenges in their work. We found ourselves in a new reality we could neither have predicted nor prepared for in advance.

Just like our clients, we, the professionals providing psychological assistance, felt the need for emotional processing, support and connection as well as for professional communication that would enable us to explore the new issues we faced in our work.

Thus, we formed a sociodrama group led by Ron Wiener and Diane Adderley.

The members of the group found the strength to meet during the long months of war and related the reality of traumatic events – manifested by different roles and voices – to the group. We did our best to examine the terrible occurrences and to understand and analyse the processes taking place within ourselves, within our personal and professional relationships, within society at large and the international community. We also observed how these processes were reproduced in the group.

We had to learn on the go and managed to achieve a lot.

During the workshop we will:

• reveal what lies behind the curtain and invite you to take a look at the work done by a group that met during the interminable war months while abiding by the principle of confidentiality;
• tell you how we moved from the declared goal to the needs that arose during our work;
• share the insights the group received due to their work together;
• affirm the importance and effectiveness of the sociodrama method as demonstrated by our experience;
• invite you to the action and the encounter.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:

ABSTRACT:

Salutogenesis – means the origin of health, and pathogenesis is the origin of disease.

How can we help the helpers living under the same circumstances as their clients?
How can they keep their strength and confidence in the role of a therapist during the war, when bombing and missiles are falling around their homes or when they are overwhelmed and stressed by not feeling able to help their clients?
How can the professional helpers care for themselves and not get secondary traumatisation through being too empathetic with their client’s traumatic experiences? What kind of survival strategies do they use? How did the ancestors survive the war they have been through?
How can we come out of the state of hypo and hyper arousal? When the nervous system is overloaded and cannot tolerate the pressure anymore, the system shuts down, and we get paralysed, helpless and numbed. These reactions are the body’s defence mechanisms and are life-saving for the moment, but in the long run, if we stay in these states, these can endanger our lives.
This workshop is a psycho-sociodramatic exploration of how to regain balance, integrate rational and emotional functioning, and tolerate stressful situations (broaden the window of tolerance) by focusing on the resources, thus developing resilience.
Bring your cases or yourself as a case of traumatisation, and let’s learn from each other.

Learning objectives:

• Learn to identify how the body reacts to hypo and hyperarousal
• Learn what the window of tolerance is
• Learn the importance of a support system

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ABSTRACT:

Trees have always played an important role in our societies, communities and lives. They serve as shelter,a source of oxygen, energy and beauty, a place to play, a place to meet. In many different faiths around the world, trees carry symbolism and allegory. The “Tree of Life ” metaphor is seen as a source of life with fruits providing life and often immortality!

In this workshop we will trace our personal connection to the tree as a symbol or a real object and will delve into challenging issues for humanity such as growing, belonging, creating, idealising, protecting, destroying, sacrificing, healing and surviving.

The workshop is based on sociodrama and art therapy practices.

Learning objectives are based on exploring ways of dealing with losing power and facing the unknown while protecting the team spirit and creativity, learning how to find meaning in a new unknown situation and trusting the collective energy to heal and create.

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ABSTRACT:

Using the power of sociodrama and the resources of the group, we will explore roles that hold limitless and limited hope. Sociodrama allows us to better understand the thoughts and feelings of others and learn new roles and ways of being.

As we move forward in a world of uncertainty and rapid changes, we need tools to help generate and foster hopefulness. Bring your curiosity and desire to decipher the hidden purpose of limiting hope and together we will work to find ways to bridge the divergence between the two roles.

Group sociometry will guide us as the sociodramatic roles negotiate and create ‘here and now’ solutions to help move toward hopefulness and away from despair. This two-hour workshop will start with empty chairs to identify general thoughts and feelings of HOPE and LIMITED HOPE and will evolve into a sociodramatic encounter created by the group. Using trauma-informed methods, we will negotiate through the role differences, overcome fears, and bridge the gap from despair and limited hope to hopefulness. Will hope prevail? You decide.

1. Identify and describe 2 new healthy messages/affirmations that cultivate and foster HOPE.
2. Identify two trauma-informed practices to maintain emotional and physical safety in a group setting.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER:

ABSTRACT:

In social justice spaces there can be a tendency towards perfectionism and purity. But social change comes when we build strong and durable coalitions. Appreciative bonds bring freedom and delight.

After this session, participants will be able to:

• Distinguish between four types of interventions (calling out, calling off, calling on, and calling in)
• Identify two sociodramatic prompts for coalition building towards social justice.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER:

ABSTRACT:

The trauma residue of our ancestors remains to be resolved,and is often felt by the family’s most sensitive offspring.
The Saga of Joseph deals with a personal and collective trauma and with different dynamics.
It is in our power to transform our inter-generational wounds into wisdom.
This workshop will offer a combination of theoretical knowledge with experiential action.
We will explore the Biblical story of Joseph and his multi-colored coat via Bibliodrama and look for the personal threads that connects us to it, using action methods and Reflective writing.
We will learn about the sociometric cycle, a method that was developed by Ann Hale from John Mosher’s Medicine Wheel.
We will then implement the sociometric cycle as a tool for processing the Bibliodrama

After this workshop participants will be able to:
1. Identify personal and collective threads that resonates from this archetypal story
2. Demonstrate basic knowledge of “The sociometric cycle”

ABOUT THE PRESENTER: