Psychodrama is a technique that is used more and more frequently in organizations. It helps to strengthen employees in the resolution of conflicts and situations that often arise due to daily contact and the mixture of emotions that arise as a result of almost permanent human coexistence. It is also functional in terms of training the professional role of people
Psychodrama allows changing behaviors in any type of situation, among them: myths, beliefs, specific organizational culture, conflictive situations, fears, hierarchies, work, vices and a series of emotions that are often experienced in any organization.
This technique consists of taking people to an experience of past situations, with their depths and particular characteristics, in order to bring out the emotion they felt at some point in their lives
It is important that this work is developed by professional staff, because they are the ones who can generate the guidelines to revert negative situations into positive ones, and in the positive ones to reaffirm the emotion experienced at that moment. The development of this technique through trained professionals avoids negative and counterproductive situations
When people remember the past situation, the scene gives them the possibility to see the situation in action, to stop it as a statue or image, and to see it happen. The real deep contents appear in the body postures. Often the bodily postures are discrepant with what is said verbally, and the bodily prevails over the verbal; that is to say, it presents real evidence of a state of mind or a given situation
From the possibility of thinking in scene, it is possible to go to the past to improve the present and not to find causes in the past, this differs from psychoanalysis
Sometimes, we are not aware of how others see us
It is also possible to resort to past situations, through metaphors, without the need to go to a real and concrete moment, although sometimes it is difficult to approach because of the emotions it causes
In this case, other participants are asked to act in the way the person experienced the conflict and the way they resolved it; then, they are asked to provide other possibilities of how they would handle that situation
People see themselves in someone else’s shoes. This is transcendental for them. It is usually customary to analyze how others act, but not how one acts oneself
Seeing their behavior in other people, and the way they resolve conflict, will provide them with a range of options to face the situation with more confidence
Past, present and future situations
Psychodrama is a possibility to explore the present, going to the past just to relive a situation that helps today, without being limited to a particular time; an important aspect is that it also allows to rehearse the future
Many times, there is a fantasy that a future situation will behave in a certain way, or people believe that they will be happy when they have X or Y satisfier, which they say they want. Going to the future produces a situation of displeasure, and people realize that this was not what they wanted – and it does not produce happiness; that is why the psychodrama situation, going backwards and forwards, allows them to influence and improve the present
By exploring the past and present, in different ways, trying new approaches, without risks and with the freedom that is not provided in group, family and social life, you will find the way to improve today
Psychodrama has its positive applications. On the clinical side, because it is a tool for psychotherapy; on the pedagogical side, because when one experiences a situation one learns to act differently; and on the community side, because it is used to solve sexual issues, both in children and adults, as well as in moments of violence and aggression between families, etc
who is responsible for leading an emotion management program at work?
Emotions are the order of the day in everyone, although sometimes they are repressed or silenced. The Human Resources professional is the one who has more contact and knowledge of these emotions, for example, when people apply for a job, or for reasons of sick leave, leaves, errands, dismissals, calls for attention or simply when they tell them about their problems
This professional should have a record of their own emotions, and develop their capabilities in this sense, to enrich the relationship with employees in daily work, so that people find a channel of expression, either verbally, through a survey, or in the facilitation of rapprochement work between different sectors
When there are critical situations in the organizational culture, those that are too rigid in nature and penetrate strongly into the situation, it is advisable to use techniques such as psychodrama, among others
Sometimes, employees’ comments are very strong and are very interpenetrated in the culture; in these cases, it is recommended that psychodrama be carried out by independent consultants, because it is difficult for the Human Resources manager to deal with this type of situation
It is advisable to make a previous study, as we have done in order to know what is the culture of the organization, what are the different roles that people play, not only functions, positions or hierarchies, but how they behave in relation to other people. All this in order to take advantage of the benefits of this technique.