“You have got to be kidding me,” Erin thought to himself. “There is no way that I am going to do that!”

Following his therapist’s advice, Erin found himself in a five-day experiential therapy residential program. He really didn’t have any idea what he was getting himself into when he agreed to attend. He knew only that he needed help, and his therapist suggested that he participate in an intensive experiential therapy program as an adjunct to their weekly therapy sessions.

Erin has successfully maintained his sobriety for four years and is proud of the strides he has made in his life. In the last three years, he has been involved in weekly psychotherapy, struggling to make sense of where he has been and where he is going. Recently, he has felt “stuck” in his relationship with his wife and has come to acknowledge that he does not know how to meet her at the level of emotional intimacy that she desires. In therapy, Erin had been gathering insight about how his painful past hinders his adult functioning, but he continues to find himself engaging in old patterns of thinking and behaving. He knew he needed something different, but this? No way!

The fear in him started to grow the moment he saw the introduction video demonstrating experiential therapy. He saw participants bring to life their painful pasts in a small group of role-players. The group therapist acted as a guide, leading participants through reconstructed “scenes” and encouraging the expression of feelings and the resolution of internal conflicts. The intensity of the rage, grief, relief and joy that he witnessed
in the video was shocking, intimidating and unnerving.

So far, in his own small group, Erin has witnessed several other group members “work through” painful events and relationships with the help of the group leader and other group members who, at times, served as role players. In the last three days, Erin agreed to play the roles of a son, brother and father. He saw group members express previously unexpressed thoughts and feelings. He saw them practice new behaviors, such as setting boundaries and making commitments to engage in behavioral changes following the program. Erin helped hold one side of a pillow as a woman released 25 years of unexpressed rage by hitting and screaming at a group member who was portraying her abusive uncle. He played the role of a dead son lying on the floor under a sheet and held the hand of a mother, racked with grief, as she was saying goodbye. He also took part in a “magical moment” where a group member was given the opportunity to be nurtured by another group member role-playing his deceased father, who was never able to express his love for him. Nothing had ever felt so real to Erin. Because of being a part of the group and other members’ work, Erin had become aware of some intense grief and anger related to his own family of origin. But what would happen when it was his turn?

Erin’s turn

Erin felt a mixture of fear, anxiety and excitement as the therapist invited him to stand up and come to the center of the group. He felt himself trembling all over. What if he started to cry and couldn’t stop?

“Where would you like to start Erin?” the group leader said.

“I guess with my mother,” Erin replied as his eyes began to fill with tears.

“Who in the group would you like to ask to play your mother?” the group leader asked.

What is experiential therapy using psychodrama?

There are many different types of approaches to psychotherapy that fall within what is commonly referred to as experiential therapy. To varying degrees, they are linked to a humanistic-existential theory of humanity and use direct experience as the major avenue to change (Mahrer, 1983). Experiential Therapy Utilizing Psychodrama (ET) is a particularly powerful form of brief intensive group experiential psychotherapy. For years, anecdotal evidence from numerous clinicians and clients have pointed to how this form of therapy can facilitate quick, dramatic and lasting improvement in the quality of the lives of those it touches.

ET is grounded in the theory and techniques of psychodrama, and primarily employs the use of role-playing techniques. It also incorporates art therapy, music therapy, family sculpting and Gestalt techniques into an approach with philosophical underpinnings in existential-humanistic psychology, devel-opmental theory, and models of addiction and family therapy (Klontz, 1999). Recently, this model has lent itself to empirical examination. Stable and significant reductions in psychological symptoms and significant enhancements in psychological well being were reported in a group of individuals who underwent treatment using this modality
(Klontz, 1999).

Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse is a well-known author and clinician in the field of family systems as they relate to addictions. Wegscheider-Cruse was a long-time student of Virginia Satir, and was pivotal in synthesizing Satir’s brilliant work, along with the works of others (e.g. Fritz Perls, J.L. Moreno) into ET. While Wegscheider-Cruse (1981) focused on the treatment of alcoholic family systems, her conceptualization of codependency, family processes and family roles (e.g. alcoholic, codependent, hero, scapegoat, mascot and lost child) can be applied to any painful family system in which children do not receive the necessary and appropriate nurturing they need to successfully meet developmental challenges. This includes families in which one or both parents are involved in chemical or behavioral addictive and/or compulsive behaviors. In addition to the use of chemicals, these behaviors could include: sexual addiction, work addiction, exercise addiction, eating disorders, gambling and/or an excess of almost any usually normal behavior.

When used to excess, these chemicals and activities keep individuals from living authentically and from being fully present in their lives. Individuals engaged in these activities are likely to be detached from their feelings (which may often be the goal of the behavior), and are unable to be emotionally present. In addition, their thinking is often distorted, they have difficulty cultivating a spiritual existence, and in the end they may develop chronic health problems (Wegscheider-Cruse, Cruse, and Bougher, 1990). As parents, they are unable to create an environment in which children receive the nurturing they need to become fully evolved. Rather, children from these families have a limited repertoire of choices and as such, they typically follow their parents’ example. Thus, they perpetuate the cycle in new generations. ET’s ultimate goal is to acknowledge and stop this cycle and provide individuals with opportunities to heal old wounds. It offers people new ways of dealing with emotional and psychological turmoil, which aids in the cultivation of here-and-now involvement in one’s life and relationships.

ET views individual’s present psychological symptoms as being rooted, directly or indirectly, in the context of a family system. Many aspects of an individual’s current context act to support, maintain and even exacerbate the individual’s problematic behaviors. Often clients enter therapy with the hope of reducing their unpleasant symptoms such as depression, anxiety or feelings of low self-worth. ET views these symptoms as signals of a deeper struggle. As such, through the process of resolving unfinished business related to significant formative relationships and events, psychological symptoms often diminish in intensity and scope. ET attempts to treat the disease so that the symptoms are allowed to dissipate. Often the presenting symptomology is not even formally addressed. This approach stands in stark contrast to emerging systems of therapy whose primary emphasis is the reduction of psychological symptoms through symptom-focused interventions.

What Does ET Look Like? A typical ET group therapy session follows the three stages of psychodrama set forth by the founder of psychodrama, J.L. Moreno (1987): the warm-up stage, enactment stage and sharing stage.

The warm-up stage

During the warm-up stage, group members are encouraged to get in touch with their feelings and to “warm up” to their subjective selves. This is accomplished by using any of a variety of experiential methods. In the case example above, Erin’s group was provided with art supplies and encouraged to draw a picture representing a significant emotional event in their family of origin. Erin drew a court scene in which his parents were involved in a painful custody battle. In describing the impact this event had on him as a child, Erin was able to successfully access latent thoughts and emotions related to this event, which were used as a springboard into the second stage.

The enactment stage

In the enactment stage, role players and/or props are used to represent significant individuals in the client’s past, present or future. With the guidance of the therapist, the client may be invited to interact with the role-players using any of a variety of experiential and psychodramatic techniques. Through the process of addressing any unresolved emotions and cognitions related to these individuals and events, catharsis and the resolution of unfinished business may occur. Often, this is accompanied by new insights and understandings coupled with newfound motivation to make behavioral changes. In this stage of Erin’s work, the therapist invited him to set up a court scene with role-players and props, which Erin chose to include. Erin was then invited to share with each important figure his thoughts and feelings related to the event and their relationship in general. With the support of the other group members and the therapist, Erin was given the opportunity to express anger, pain and grief through a variety of experiential methods. When Erin agreed that he had said and done the things he needed to do, the therapist encouraged him to practice setting personal boundaries with a member of his family. With feedback from the therapist and other group members, Erin was given the opportunity to practice engaging in new, healthy behaviors made possible by the new clarity and strength he received through this therapeutic process.

The sharing stage

In the sharing stage, group members are invited to “give back” to the individual who worked. They are encouraged to share what they heard, saw and felt during the psychodramatic vignette. They may also share gifts or insights that they received about their own lives through witnessing and/or participating in the psychodrama. Intellectual analysis of the process is discouraged. The sharing stage is important as it helps the client “reintegrate” and begin to consolidate what he or she has learned. For Erin, the sharing stage helped him see that he was not alone. He was amazed that others had experienced similar feelings and was deeply touched that people learned from his experience. He was also relieved to see that other group members felt closer to him after he had expressed his feelings, and they saw his ability to express his innermost thoughts and feelings as a sign of strength rather than of weakness.

A life-changing event

For Erin and many others, participation in such a group is a life-changing event. Empirical research has demonstrated that participation in a group experience like that outlined above can produce significant reductions in psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety, compulsiveness and feelings of inferiority. Participants have reported significant enhancements in their ability to be more oriented in the present, more self-supportive, more sensitive to their own needs and feelings, more accepting of themselves, and more able to develop meaningful, warm interpersonal relationships with other.

Rather than just talking about issues in a detached manner, ET techniques can be used as powerful catalysts, which give individuals the opportunity to fully experience themselves in the moment, staying with their feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations rather than avoiding them. ET’s goal is to provide a therapeutic environment in which clients are most able to access turbulent memories, appropriately express the breadth and depth of associated unresolved emotions, adjust cognitive components of the memory through new insights and learning, and restore the memory as a permanently altered entity. The successful completion of this process will often lead to a resolution of the emotional and cognitive impasses in an individual’s life. Clients are often better able to experience the totality of their here-and-now relationships and experiences without the constraints associated with debilitating unresolved emotions.

Brad Klontz, PsyD, CSAC ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) is a licensed clinical psychologist and certified substance abuse counselor, therapist, consultant and coach. The president of Coastal Clinics, Inc. in Kauai, Hawai’i, he has been published in numerous publications and is co-author of Financial Awakenings.

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