Meaning reconstruction 70 years later: Processing older adults' unfinished business in a drama therapy group.

Unfinished business (UB), when individuals appraise their relationship with others or themselves as incomplete or unresolved, entails difficult emotions such as regret, remorse, and guilt. UB is often associated with bereavement and is considered to be a predictor of complicated grief. Here we report two case studies describing the processing of the sudden death of a significant other in the context of a randomized controlled study of 12-week drama therapy groups for older adults. The intervention followed the format of Playback Theater, an improvised form of theater based on personal stories, and a life review paradigm. A mixed-methods approach explored the course of individual therapy within the group and potential mechanisms of change. The participants completed mental health questionnaires in a pre-post-follow-up design. The qualitative data included video recordings and postintervention interviews. One participant reported a clinically significant (CS) change in depressive symptoms and psychological well-being on the post and follow-up measurement indices. The second reported a CS change in self-esteem and relationship satisfaction at the end of the intervention, but not at follow-up. The findings suggest that the drama therapy contributed to the resolution of UB through restorative work in the three domains defined in meaning reconstruction theory: the "event story" of the loss, the "back story" of the relationship with the deceased, and the "personal story" of self. The results point to the need for additional research on meaning reconstruction in the context of drama therapy and encourage the broader application of performative techniques to treat complicated bereavement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Playback theatre in adult day centers: A creative group intervention for community-dwelling older adults.

The literature indicates that theatre and drama-based interventions have the potential to improve older adults' well-being and health. The goal of the current study was to characterize the process of a creative group intervention in adult day centers (ADCs), which integrates playback theatre and life-review principles. Our objective was to provide an evidence-informed framework for drama therapy interventions, which would allow older adults to bring up and explore their life-stories in a dramatic creative process in their own community. A total of 27 participants ranging in age from 63 to 91, took part in one of three playback theatre groups. The playback theatre group intervention comprised 12 weekly sessions. All sessions were videotaped to capture the lived experience of the creative process and were analyzed in post-intervention interviews. In addition, focus group meetings were conducted with 13 ADC staff members to decipher further the effects of the participation as perceived by people outside the groups. Three types of potential transformation were identified in the qualitative analysis: the evolution of life stories, evolution of playfulness, and expansion of social engagement. The results indicate the potential of the integrative framework to serve as a creative intervention in ADC communities, as well as its potential to bring about a personal transformation and expand it to enable a person's social engagement in the community. The findings imply the potential benefits of using playback theatre groups to supplement the routine care provided in ADCs.

Different Shades of Beauty: Adolescents' Perspectives on Drawing From Observation.

BACKGROUND: Drawing from observation (DFO) is an art therapy method that entails drawing an object, along with guided reflections on process and outcome. In this qualitative study, we explored adolescents' perspectives on their DFO experience, and how they perceive it as having influenced their emotional well-being. METHODS: We interviewed 10 adolescents who participated in a DFO group, regarding their perspectives on DFO. Participants were asked to refer to their experience, as well as to provide examples of their drawings. Through a thematic analysis we integrated data from interviews and drawings. RESULTS: Adolescents experienced three lines of tension in DFO: Between self-acceptance and self-judgment, between merging and separation, and between similarities and differences. Processing these tensions has the potential to increase their emotional well-being. CONCLUSION: DFO could make a meaningful contribution to adolescents' emotional well-being. The unique intersection between object, observation, and drawing in art-therapy addresses adolescents' emotional-developmental challenges.

Trust the Process: A New Scientific Outlook on Psychodramatic Spontaneity Training.

Human mind is hypothesis-driven and our observations of the world are strongly shaped by preconceptions. This "top-down" principle is biologically driven and contraindicative to spontaneity, which is non-linear, condensed, and initially incomprehensible. My first argument is that spontaneity entails "bottom up" information processing, as articulated in the hierarchical neurocognitive model of perception. My second argument is that changing the balance between these two processes is important and feasible. Insights from psychodynamic transference and savant syndrome are presented to support these ideas. Uniting these contemporary notions with some essentials of J. L. Moreno's philosophy is my third goal. By violating predictions and expectations, psychodrama interferes with top-down "conserved" processing and cultivates here and now, stimulus-dependent spontaneous acts. Further evidence is presented in support of the claim that adult spontaneity leads to enhanced cognition and creativity through imitating the child's brain, as Moreno envisioned. Because spontaneity is formed before having the evidence for its truth or adequacy, it entails, in adults, overcoming apprehensions about acting without a theory in mind. This is what trusting-the-process means and it requires training, which psychodrama fosters on its stage laboratory.