Psychodramatic meta-systemic conceptualization offers a holistic view of complex life phenomena such as trauma and survivorship, which have been otherwise traditionally compartmentalized by different disciplines. The author argues that collective survival experience is preserved, communicated, and passed down through generations in the form of familial or cultural messages containing both empirical knowledge and magical thinking components. Indiscriminative following of survival messages outside of its original historical context may, contrary to initial intent, contribute to transgenerational vulnerabilities. Cultural trauma, such as a totalitarian regime, turns the "survivorship wisdom" into a cultural artifact reflected in collective psyche as art and literature. Superstition is also a type of ancient survival messages with prevalent magical thinking. A survival genogram allows for deconstructing messages, processing the "wisdom of the elderly," and negotiating its informed adoption by unveiling chronological layers of the message's meaning.

Click here to read the entire article "Psychodrama of the Survivorship."

Dr. Nisha Sajnani has been appointed as the incoming Program Director of the NYU Program in Drama Therapy. Joining NYU starting in September 2017.

Dr. Sajnani leaves her position as the Director of the Global Interdisciplinary Studies Program and Coordinator of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Drama Therapy Program at Lesley University to join us at NYU.

Here in New England we have been blessed to have had Dr. Nisha Sajnani for the past 5 years.  She is uniquely brilliant at bringing people together in collaboration, creativity and courage inspiring activism, challenging thoughtful inquiry and  guiding leadership.  We thank her especially for spearheading the Theater Beyond Borders Collaborative conference that we were able to hold locally at Lesley in 2015 and 2016.  She will be missed locally in her role at Lesley; however, the connection will expand and evolve as she continues to impact the community of drama therapists, psychodramatists and beyond in her new role. Thank you Nisha!

Sociatry is brought to life with a sequence of guided exercises, discussions, and ideas, in which a group becomes a microscope to this underlying dynamic, and our unity becomes palpable and accessible. This nurtures communication, builds cohesion, and develops our sensitivity to the reality of power, social justice, isolation, and to what binds us together.

Psychodrama Conference - SAVE the DATE:
76th ASGPP Annual Conference April 19th to 22nd, 2018 at the Crown Plaza North Dallas, Texas: Expanding Horizons, Using Action Methods to Join All Humanity

Drama Therapy Conference:  

38th Annual NADTA Conference in Danvers, MA this Fall: 

38th Annual North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA) Conference will be held this Fall at the Double Tree by Hilton Boston North Shore. Danvers, Massachusetts. Information