Director at The New York Psychodrama Training Institute New York, New York, United States
Trauma is both a mind and body experience, so that healing trauma also needs to somehow allow the body and senses to participate in relational repair.But because those who have experienced relational trauma can be cautious in connecting, experiential work needs to feel welcoming, safe and structured and easy to enter into. Sociometrics are a user friendly way to engage and bond groups; clients are on their feet, grounded in the room and connecting with each other. Sociometrics activate the social engagement system in service of healing, they give participants practice in tuning in on themselves and connecting in new, more satisfying ways. They are psychoeducational, they incorporate the research that needs to be taught in recovering from cPTSD into a lively format that gets people on their feet and sharing in meaningful and spontaneous ways. Sociometrics are processes that are easy to learn, empower clients to become stakeholders in their own recovery and build the skills of emotional literacy, intelligence and resilience.They take the guess work out of incorporating experiential work into programming and practice. Because trauma is stored in the body, it is important that embodiment is a part of any trauma resolution. Sociometrics help clients to “warm-up” to simple, targeted role plays that emerge naturally through the experiential process and are contained and manageable to direct. We’ll explore a focused use of trauma informed role play, that helps clients to move from a state of dysregulation to self and co-regulation. In combination, sociometrics and role play offer an approach to healing relational trauma, restoring spontaneity and building resilience.
This key note will consist of showing and decoding film clips of groups engaging in sociometrics, specifically Floor Checks, Trauma Timeline, Resilience Timeline, The Social Atom and Experiential Letter Writing, to be used in one-to-one or group therapy.
Learning Objectives:
After this activity participants should be able to
Discuss the theory behind Sociometrics and embodied role play.