Psychodrama

Psychodrama is a form of therapy that uses symbolic roles to help resolve conflicts between conscious and non-conscious processes.

We all experience times when we want to make changes, but somehow we can't make those changes happen. It's almost like there is something in our heads that has a separate agenda from our conscious desire. Why does this keep happening?

The Brain

The brain is physically spilt into left and right hemispheres. These hemispheres appear to be similar, and every structure in each hemisphere is mirrored in the other.

However, a right-handed person will almost certainly use the left brain for logical, sequential functions and the right brain for intuitive, holistic functions.

Research on those people that have no physical connection at all between left and right brains strongly suggests that non-conscious processes have a powerful influence on the conscious self.

Non-Conscious Processes

There is much emphasis in modern culture on the conscious processes, and the non-conscious processes are, by definition, out of our awareness.

This means that, if I have a conflict between my conscious and subconscious processes, I may tend to believe that I am weak or stupid for not making the change that I consciously want.

Non-Conscious Decisions

I had a dog called Jet, and, when he was a puppy, he was attacked by a Golden Labrador. For the rest of his life, Jet had a problem with that particular breed - if he saw one, he immediately went over to it, and had to dominate it if possible.

I don't believe Jet had a conscious mind, but he clearly made a decision about Golden Labradors.

I believe that we make non-conscious decisions, particularly in childhood.

Non-Conscious Skills

A classic non-conscious process, such as learning to ride a bike, works in a very different way to conscious learning.

I can't learn to ride a bike by reading a set of instructions; I have to keep trying until it "clicks"

Once I know how to ride a bike, I can't forget. The subconscious clearly works in a very different way from the conscious - any beliefs or decisions in my subconscious are not going to change under normal circumstances.

Psychodrama

Psychodrama is a form of therapy that uses symbolic roles to help resolve conflicts between conscious and non-conscious processes.

Suppose that I want to resolve a conflict between a conscious desire and my non-conscious behaviour.

I need a separate physical space to anchor the two roles, and so I place two chairs facing each other. In one chair I am the part that does the non-conscious behaviour and I project the conscious desire into the other chair. I then change chairs and be the conscious part that desires change.

As I shuttle back and forth, saying whatever comes into my mind, the two sides of the conflict become clarified. However, clarity alone does not lead to resolution.

Resolution comes when I experience a fundamental shift in the subconscious - the "Aha!" moment.