What does it all mean?

As with any other psychotherapeutic technique there are words which are either used differently from their common meaning or are unusual.  This is my endeavour to make them understandable:-

The Group:  A new group will agree their own boundaries such as time keeping, confidentiality.  No one is required to do anthing they feel uncomfortable with, and there is always the option to sit out.

Active Methods:  a way of working which involve being active rather than sitting and talking

Warm up: the group working together to create an atmosphere of possibility; preparing to work on an issue; developing a safe place

Protagonist:  the person whose story is brought to life by the group

Enactment/Action:  the internal story which the protagonist brings to their external world with the help of the Director/Therapist and the group

Scene Setting:  the protagonist and director may use scarves, props, furniture to create where the story is set

Auxilliaries:  these are members of the group who take on a role for the protagonist in the story.  This might be a real person eg. mother, or it may be a symbolic role eg. the wise women or part of self eg. my anger or child self

Doubling:  speaking the unspoken thoughts of the protagonist to support them express themselves

Role Reversal:  stepping into someone else’s shoes to gain empathic insight through internal conversation

Protagonist selection:  the director works with the group to identify a protagonist whose issue the group shares and who wishes to work

Sharing:  After the story has been told the group gather together to feedback to the protagonist how the work has touched them; or resonated with them personally.  People in the auxillary role will often talk about how it felt to play that role.  This supports the protagonist to integrate the experience and achieve closure at the end of the session