Mono- and psychodrama for palliative care and loss

Mono- and Psychodrama started a hundred years ago with Jakob Levy Moreno around Vienna (Wieser, 2012).

When people are dying some have a strong impression that there is unfinished business and unspoken things. We can find that with a transgenerational perspective in a genosociogram. With an auxilliary ego or techniques of the empty chair (Knittel, 2010), double and role reversal we can address to finish this in a kind of surplus reality. If the person is bed ridden we move in creative ways. If speaking is not possible there is writing or using gestures, photographs, and symbols (Frede, 1992). At least this will promote an inner dialogue.

The similar approach we can use with people who mourn before and after a loss. We can prepare them for the funeral on the psychodrama stage in a kind of future projection, it is acting in a safe space in therapy to try what feels good enough. Moreno said they experience a social death and loose a part of themselves. One part of their social atom got lost and sometimes it is no more possible to replace it. We need a network catharsis and in case to treat a social atom „disorder“.