Sociometry and Psychodrama in Higher Education: Experiential Teaching in Counseling, Psychology, and Social Work

This chapter will orient on the implementation of Moreno’s methods of sociometry, psychodrama, and group psychotherapy within university programs both as experiential teaching processes and as foundational content for university programs in social work, counseling, psychology, creative arts therapies, and psychodrama. Moreno’s spontaneity learning theory will be introduced along with its connections to the larger experiential education field. The warming-up process will be emphasized as it relates to learning, action, and integration. This chapter will help educators reframe the classroom as a group where group work interventions, group dynamics, group development phases, group cohesion, and group learning processes are illuminated as relevant to the teaching process. Both the possibilities and limitations of integrating psychodrama into graduate university programs will be outlined, drawing from the experiences of related fields and international contexts. Furthermore, the author will describe his work implementing sociometry, psychodrama, and group psychotherapy processes to support university students in the United States. Examples will include using sociometry as an experiential teaching method prompting critical reflection on the six trauma-informed principles or the core values of the social work profession; using sociodrama to explore difficult interactions with counseling clients; and using psychodrama work to help doctoral students in exploring their relationship to their dissertation. Moreno’s methods offer rich potentialities within university programs, particularly for the helping professions. Students are hungry for an engaging learning experience, as well as for practical tools that can be implemented into their internships and future work—Moreno’s methods satisfy both of these hungers. This chapter will focus on the author’s experience developing curriculum, teaching courses, providing guest lectures, and supervising graduate students in university programs of social work, counseling, psychology, and the creative arts therapies. Differences and adaptations across the spectrum of university instruction from undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs will be discussed. Sociometry, psychodrama, sociodrama, and group psychotherapy can be implemented as experiential teaching tools to enhance and bring to life the educational process of any content. Students in the helping professions would also significantly benefit from learning Moreno’s methods (as curriculum content) to bolster their skills in working with individuals, groups, and communities.