Adam Blatner

Increasingly clinicians are integrating a variety of expressive therapy modalities in with psychodrama, and the point is that wisely done, this is fine. There is no need to be purist: In a recent book by Carnabucci & Ciotola on Eating Disorders they seamlessly incorporate other modalities with action, including music, art, exercise, yoga, Reiki, and the uses of the method of Systemic Constellations (about which Carnabucci & Anderson wrote another book recently). So, I am inclined to think of psychodrama as not a separate approach but rather as a useful addition to an integrated approach.

This is true for building a house, for instance—each technology and tool being used in sequences as fit the particularities of the architecture, the setting, the materials used, and innumerable other variables. It would be just silly to write about building a house with a hammer. So, in this sense, I don’t think of ANY approach as adequate in and of itself, but always needing to be integrated with other approaches as befits the individualized needs of the client. All therapies should be so shaped in terms of what is used when and in what sequence.