Why and how does sharing takes place in a psychodrama session? What is the director’s task in the sharing?

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Tamar Pelleg

Since then, a lot of water has flowed in the river of my life. Today, apart from my everyday writing in my “Morning  Diary”, I write regularly on topics related to the Hebrew Bible’s portion of the week, from a psycho-spiritual perspective and on topics  related to relationships that I post on  Facebook, blog, digital story collections and recently I am engaged in writing a  book and my  dream begins to come true.

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Sharing is the third and last part of a psychodrama session, after the warm-up and the action phases. It takes place when the action part (the psychodrama) is over and after the protagonist said his “last sentence for now” in his/hers last scene.
The director invites sharing from all the other group members to provide support to the protagonist, by sharing with him/her something from their own story that was touched/evoked by his/her work.
1.Sharing serves as a way to include the protagonist back to the group after he showed us his vulnerability. All other group members are invite now to share their own vulnerability so that the protagonist will not feel alone and different in his exposure.

2.It can also serve as a way to warm up other group members by connecting to their stories (especially in a training group that will offer another psychodrama session thereafter.
3.Sharing helps auxiliaries de-role from the role they took in the drama (they are invited to share from the role first and then from outside the role.
4.Sharing is also the phase where the group shares the theme from being emotionally involved to rationally involved, it helps bring the group “back to its head” from the emotional stage.

The director’s task is to make sure other members are sharing from their stories, conducting a tapestry of stories that resonate with the Protagonist, helping him back to the group through the tapestry of connections, and not offering analytical explanations, suggestions and other remarks that are not personal.
The director is also responsible for safeguarding the protagonist if a group member is overly warmed-up. The director needs to be focused on the impact of the sharing on the P. If criticism comes up through the sharing and if a group member feels angry at the P. the director needs to help him see who the ghost is.
Director must be aware of the group members who did not share and check in with her, as well as be aware of who is overly warmed-up. In which case she will ask the overly warmed up Group member to choose support from another group member so that the Prot. will get all the support he needs with no interruption and the director will be able to stay by his side.
Director would like to observe if there’s a pattern in the group of who shares first and who shares last, and if indeed he recognizes such pattern, it will be valuable information to the group and to the group members. (Am I always first to share because I want it “to get over with”? Is this a pattern I recognize in me? Or vice versa: Am I the last to share because I am avoiding sharing and hoping there will be no time left? What am I trying to protect?)
The director is the last to share his personal experience, and thus the sharing is complete.

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