An Introduction to Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater

An Introduction to Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater is a comprehensive book presenting Psychotherapeutic Playback Theatre as a unique form of group psychotherapy.

An Introduction to Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater is a comprehensive book presenting Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater as a unique form of group psychotherapy.

This pioneering book is the first of its kind, examining this new approach, the theory behind it, and the numerous considerations and diverse possibilities involved in using the technique to promote a significant reflective process among participants. Informed by years of Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater practice and research, the authors detail a collective-creative method that allows for the creation of a therapeutic experience centered on feelings of belonging, acceptance, visibility and liberation. It is presented to the reader as a path toward their development and growth as a conductor working in this newly evolving field of group therapy.

The book will be of great interest to dramatherapy students, trainees and professionals, and group therapists who wish to reflect upon their practice through the mirror of Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater as well as facilitators and actors working with Playback Theater or other improvised genres.

"The authors set out to give Playback Theatre a theoretical and clinical base for use in Group Psychotherapy, and they succeed! Drawing on the rich tradition of Non-Scripted Theatre and integrating it with psychodynamic psychotherapy, this book is an important, groundbreaking contribution to the field, rich in clinical perspectives. I highly recommend it!" David Read Johnson PhD, RDT-BCT, Director, Institute of Developmental Transformations, Co-Editor, Current Approaches in Drama Therapy, Charles C Thomas, 2020 "A thoughtful, sensitive guided tour of a method of group psychotherapy integrating Psychoanalytic and Psychodramatic approaches. Well grounded in theory, the stories are much more than standard clinical case material. Engaging, clearly written the author/ directors bring the process to life. Creative clinicians and the interested public can participate." Robert W Siroka Ph D., Founder The Sociometric Institute NYC "This book represents a real gem. It combines thesystematic use of playback theatre for therapeutic realmswith agroupanalytic perspective. It introduces moreover Jungian concepts to amplify its theoretical and practical scope. Readers from both active and reflective group approaches will surely benefit from its stimulating ideas." Dr Jorge Burmeister, former president IAGP "This book is a bridge between Playback Theatre and psychoanalytic group psychotherapy. Each chapter weaves together philosophical ideas from theatre, psychoanalysis, psychodrama, and drama therapy with carefully chosen examples that illuminate important clinical considerations. It is an invitation to therapists to develop imaginative, playful capacities in the context of group work and explore applications in a variety of contexts." Nisha Sajnani, PhD, RDT-BCT, Director, NYU Program in Drama Therapy "A warm welcome for this original and valuable book. Psychotherapeutic Playback Theatre is a new, inventive approach that that has much potential at a time of widespread emotional stress. I enjoyed the playful approach of the method, clearly and convincingly described. Yet, the book reveals an erudition and scholarship that make it a serious contribution to the field. The method, while having light, playful aspects, is capable of reaching emotional depth in individuals and groups. It is a tribute to the authors that I felt a distinct urge to participate in a playback therapy group myself! I suspect other readers may feel the same. In the meantime, reading the book is an excellent preparation." Morris Nitsun, Psychologist, psychotherapist, training group analyst, Institute of Group Analysis, London. Author of "The Anti-group" and "The Group as an object of Desire". Practising, exhibiting artist. "This book is much needed in the group therapy field. It is the first book ever written about psychotherapeutic playback theatre and as such, itilluminates an important and neglected area in group therapy modalities Playback theatre can be a powerful way to see others "act your problems" and create different endings that help you heal. Ronen Kowalsky, Nir Raz and Shoshi Keisari are to be commended for their achievementin writing and publishingthis book." Haim Weinberg, clinical psychologist, group analyst, & group psychotherapist. Former president of the Northern California Group Therapy Society. Writer of numerous books and articles about group therapy. "This book is creating an interwove of theories and models that were individually presented such as Psychodrama , Dramatherapy and Analytic group work (and more) into a new set of insights, methods and practices creating a novel and creative structure both for practitioners and scholars to look into the healing potential of Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater. The book, full of case examples and references is a great resource for students of drama, theater, Arts therapists, and other psychotherapists interested in action therapies. In my view this book presents the power of traditional inter-being process of healing using variety of art form methods with the postmodern concepts of 'therapy'." Mooli Lahad PhD. founderof Dramatherapy in Israel, Full Professor of Psychology and Dramatherapy, Tel Hai College, Founder and President of the Community Stress Prevention Center, Israel "An Introduction to Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater: Hall of Mirrors on Stage by Ronen Kowalsky, Nir Raz and Shoshi Keisari gives an interesting account of a form of group psychotherapy developed in Israel that combines theatrical and psychoanalytic traditions. In the background are J. L. Moreno's psychodrama and the Playback Theater of J. Fox. These theatrical traditions are here skillfully merged with psychoanalytic ideas from W. Bion, such as the container and contained, as well as S. H. Foulkes's notion of resonance. The authors offer numerous examples of the method throughout. There are also interesting chapters on an expanded notion of dramatic reality (by Susana Pendzik) and on the influence of French Surrealism on working with dreamlike states. I would recommend this book to group therapists with an interest in cross-fertilization of techniques from different schools and traditions. This manages to be both an exciting and scholarly book." Dominick Grundy, Ph.D., Fellow, American Group Psychotherapy Association, Former editorInternational Journal of Group Psychotherapy "Here is something new -- a sound and fascinating integration of playback theatre and analytic group therapy. Drawing from group analysis, object relations psychoanalysis, psychodrama, creative arts therapy, theatre, and surrealism,An Introduction to Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater Hall of Mirrors on Stagestands on the pillars of Moreno, Fox, Salas, Winnicott, and Bion. Its authors open a door to an emerging field, a vast space for exploring the psyche and the social-collective dimension of experience by combining therapeutic groups and theatre techniques. Recalling a Bion quote, "Beauty can hold the most difficult truth and make it easier to digest," the authors and their clinical illustrations prove that with the theatrical aesthetic as container, the individual story becomes an illuminating collective experience, by retelling, expanding and revealing deeper layers during a deep, emotional and direct encounter between the individual and the group. This book will be of great interest to group therapists, counsellors, facilitators, mediators, and actors who want to deepen their understanding of the human condition -- and intervene effectively using the authors' unique method of psychotherapeutic playback theatre." Jill Savege Scharff, MD, FABP, FTCL, LGSM; Co-founder: International Psychotherapy In…