Adam Blatner

I’m turning away from psychodrama as therapy and more towards "creativity enhancement.” That is to say, I’m turning more towards the use of psychodrama in non-therapeutic environments! I call this shift “action exploration,” rather than ‘psychodrama’ because it is not really “psycho” only, but also “socio”; it is often not dramatic in the sense that most folks associate with that word; and for other semantic reasons.

About applications in psychotherapy. Psychodrama has a place, along with many other therapies. But, alas, more than half of all psychiatric patients don’t even want to change, much less be changed. They just want the others to change so that it wouldn’t be a problem.

Not that most paranoid schizophrenics wouldn’t like the persecution to stop. They would. It’s just that it’s not "their" problem. It’s those darn persecutors! Ditto for less flagrant problems. Okay, most neurotic phobias seek help. This is not so true for obsessions—not right off, they don‘t seek help. It may take months or years of disturbance before seeking help. Most people who are seen by psychiatrists are in part “character-disordered” which means that such people often don’t voluntarily enter the sick role as “patients.”

Meanwhile, there is a lot of room nowadays for businessmen and educators to explore new frontiers, new paradigms. In the heat of competition, some are opting for creativity. And indeed, the challenges of these institutions, the competition, has heated up. Creativity enhancement is the new game.