Table Of ContentPsychodrama, Group Processes
and Dreams
‘The harmonious combination of psychotherapy theory, dream interpretation,
mythology, folklore and metapsychology results in an inspiring work of art.’
Kate Bradshaw Tauvon
Psychodrama, Group Processes and Dreamsis the result of years of analytic work
with groups and individuals. There are many links between individual and group
therapy, group members’ personal interactions in and out of the group, and the
meanings of dreams. This book introduces us to the dramatic representation of
dreams – a new perspective on psychodrama and group therapy – where dramatic
action, catharsis and conflict elaboration are of central importance. It is unique in
the field of therapeutic practice as it unites Jung’s analytical psychology with
Moreno’s psychodrama. It includes material on:
• The work of Jung and Moreno
• How their theory works in practice
• The constellation of the archetype as transformation.
This unique book enables psychodramatists to incorporate Jungian ideas into their
psychodramatic work and gives Jungians a guide to how psychodramatic techniques
may help in group therapy. It will also be of great interest to psychotherapists, espe-
cially those working in group settings.
Wilma Scategniis a psychiatrist and individual and group psychoanalyst in private
practice in Turin, Italy as well as member of the IAAP and IAGP.
Translated by Vincent Marsicano
ii The constellation of the archetype as transformation
recto running head iii
Psychodrama, Group
Processes and Dreams
Archetypal images of individuation
Wilma Scategni
Translated by Vincent Marsicano
Original Italian version – Psicodramma e terapia di Gruppo:
Spazio e tempo dell’anima, Como: Red edizione (1996)
First published 2002 by Brunner-Routledge
27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Taylor & Francis Inc
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Brunner-Routledge is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group
© 2002 Wilma Scategni
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Scategni, Wilma, 1946–
Psychodrama, group processes, and dreams: archetypal images
of individuation/Wilma Scategni; translated by Vincent Marsicano.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Psychodrama. 2. Drama–Psychological aspects. 3. individuation
(Psychology) in literature. 4. Psychoanalysis and literature.
I. Title.
RC489.P7 S286 2002
616.89′1523–dc21 2001043683
ISBN 0-203-98909-0 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 1–58391–161–8(Print Edition)
This book is dedicated to my daughter,Virginia
Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xix
Introduction 1
PART I
Space and time in psychodrama 5
1 Psychodrama 7
Historical origins 7
Jacob L. Moreno and Morenian psychodrama 10
Carl Gustav Jung, Jacob Moreno, and ‘Jungian’ psychodrama 14
Therapeutic technique: from catharsis to the working out of conflicts 19
Psychodrama and the dream 21
2 Psychodramatic space 25
Physical space and the space of the soul 25
Symbol and archetypal image as gateway between physical
space and the space of the soul 29
Psychodramatic space as it appears in group
members’ dreams 31
3 Psychodramatic time 36
Historical time and the time of the soul 36
Symbol and archetypal image as gateway between linear
historical time and cyclical time 40
Time as it appears in group members’ dreams 44
viii Contents
PART II
The constellation of the archetype as transformation 51
4 Introduction: the constellation of initiation symbols in the
group’s dreams 53
5 The magic tree or axis mundi: the ascent 57
6 Hermaphroditism 62
7 Transvestitism: ritual dressing and undressing 68
8 The sacred meal 76
9 Ritual dismemberment 81
10 Initiatory sickness and ritual suicide 87
11 The voyage to the underworld 94
The descent into the bowels of the earth 95
Underground water and the open sea 97
Depth, abyss, void 100
Death as a character and a symbol 102
12 The passage through the elements 105
Earth 105
Water 112
Air 118
Fire 126
13 The hidden treasure and the white light 134
Conclusion 140
Glossary 144
Bibliography 155
Index 161
Foreword
MARCIA KARP: ‘ARTISTIC CREATION LIES WITHIN
EACH OF US’
When my daughter was small, she knocked on the door of our bedroom in the early
morning. She looked amazed and pleased with herself. She said, querulously, ‘Last
night I went to sleep and I had all pictures in my head’. It was her first dream. It
was her first awareness of her ‘head’ being able to create something beyond her-
self, the pictures in a dream. This ability to explore beyond oneself is the strength
of the dream. Both Moreno and Jung thought that the goal of the dream is to take
the dreamer inside the dream itself. One might ask why it is important to go inside
the dream itself. Searching for the meaning of the dream, dreamt beyond the time
and space that we know, enriches the time and space we cannot know but wish to.
We can make guesses about our lives, but in our dreams we dare to seek answers.
By going inside the dream we attempt to make sense of the questions and answers
we seek. Sometimes we find their meaning.
When I was 23 years old, Moreno himself directed me in a psychodrama of my
dream. I had met him before the dream enactment and was struck by his clarity and
wisdom. The night before I began psychodrama training with Moreno and his wife,
Zerka, I had to go to the Hamptons in upstate New York to connect with a ride by
car to Beacon, New York, where the training began. The Hamptons was a kind of
singles cattle market, with young people surveying the goods with an eye to form-
ing relationships. I detested the experience, found it shallow and chose to go to bed
early and to meet my car driver (who was enjoying herself on the dance floor as I
had tried to do) the next day.
The next day, I took myself and my dream to the new training experience. Before
I knew it, Moreno was directing me in the dream. I began by enacting the role I felt
just before retiring, a single girl, not happy being perused by the local males. I then
performed my role as a potential sleeper, brushing my teeth and getting into bed in
preparation for my role as dreamer. I lay on the mattress on the psychodrama stage
and was asked by Moreno to first see the dream in my mind as it occurred and then,
with the help of the group, to enact it. It involved my family standing on chairs
watching me, with a huge cardboard collar around my neck, being eaten by a group
