Presents of Mind

Wiener, Daniel J.

doi:10.1300/j085v08n02_08

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…When used in couples or family therapy, Presents allows players with a relationship history to bring out or intensify feelings and expectations that they have toward one another (Wiener, 1997). In brief group settings, where relationships are less established, the more frequent form is that of receiveras-self playing opposite a giver in the role of a significant other in the receiver's life.…”

Section: Presentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rehearsals for growth applied to substance abuse groups.

Ramseur¹,

Wiener²

2003

Action Therapy With Families and Groups: Using Creative Arts Improvisation in Clinical Practice.

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In this chapter we discuss the benefits of Rehearsals for Growth (RfG), Daniel J. Wiener's own adaptation and application of improvisational theater techniques to relationship training, in fostering the development of skills critical to developing and maintaining a sober lifestyle. RfG games and exercises are used here to build group trust and cohesion, foster interdependence, and enhance group members' confidence in using their spontaneity and creativity to successfully and adaptively meet life demands. We draw on both traditional and revised methods of dramatic role development to equip those recovering from substance abuse problems with the roles and responses to meet the challenges of sober living, contending that few distinctions exist between life performances and theater roles. FUNDAMENTALS OF RfGRfG is the use in therapy of theatrical tasks, applied to social skills training and both the assessment of and intervention in relationship difficulties. These tasks take the form of staged enactments: intentional, voluntary Editors' Introduction: Rehearsals for Growth (RfG) focuses on enhancing clients' spontaneity and creativity and expanding their role repertoires by means of improvisational enactments. The method is founded on the recognition that successful life performance requires adequate role and relationship development. The therapist's challenge in using RfG with substance abuse recovery groups lies in the creation of a playful, encouraging, nonjudgmental milieu that fosters the group safety, cohesion, and support necessary to promote individual engagement, motivation, and dramatic exploration of unfamiliar roles and responses. Nurturing leadership, playfulness, affirmation, and flexibility are essential components of the RfG therapist's role in working with this population.

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Section: Presentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rehearsals for growth applied to substance abuse groups.

Ramseur¹,

Wiener²

2003

Action Therapy With Families and Groups: Using Creative Arts Improvisation in Clinical Practice.

Self Cite

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“…Such offers, made in the spirit of invitations to play or experiment, may serve as therapeutic tools for both assessment and intervention (Waters, 1992). Numerous theater games have been adapted, modified, or invented to serve therapeutic ends (Wiener, 1991(Wiener, , 1994a(Wiener, , 199413, 1995(Wiener, , 1996(Wiener, , 1997a(Wiener, , 199713, 1998.…”

Section: Rehearsals For Growth Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rehearsals for growth: Applying improvisational theater games to relationship therapy.

Wiener¹

Beyond Talk Therapy: Using Movement and Expressive Techniques in Clinical Practice.

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In life, people improvise whenever they respond purposefully to situations in a way that is not routine or fully planned. Ordinary social conversation, for example, is improvisational in that each speaker has to adapt continually in the moment to the utterances and reactions of the other or others without knowing where the conversation will lead. Most human activities, to varying degrees, draw on people's ability to improvise; that is, to make things up as they go along. Theater improvisation (improu), in contrast to scripted performance, is the stage use of improvisation-asperformance, particularly the use of playful and interactive theatrical games (Spolin, 1983).Two major figures made significant therapeutic use of theater improvisation-Vladimir Iljine and Jacob L. Moreno. Iljine, who was most active from 1908 to 1917, used improvisation training, impromptu performances, and scenarios around which improvisation would occur in working with long-term groups of psychiatric clients, university students, or 165

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Conducting Substance-Abuse Groups Utilizing Improvisational Action Methods

Wiener

Ramseur²

2014

The Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy

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This article is based on work conducted over a two-year period with several open-ended substance-abuse groups as part of a voluntary acute treatment program treating recently detoxified clients in an outpatient homelike setting. Rehearsals for Growth, an application of improvisational theater techniques to psychotherapy (D. J. Wiener, 1994), was used successfully to teach group trust and cohesion, foster interdependence, and enhance group members' confidence in using their spontaneity and creativity to maintain a sober lifestyle. This article first presents the rationale for using action methods in the treatment of clients with substance-abuse problems; next, it describes the core concepts of Rehearsals for Growth; then it briefly describes some distinctive techniques used in conducting these groups; and it presents information that is useful to therapists for the conduct of these groups. In a final section, comparisons are made between Rehearsals for Growth and psychodrama groups.

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Presents of Mind

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Rehearsals for growth applied to substance abuse groups.

Rehearsals for growth applied to substance abuse groups.

Rehearsals for growth: Applying improvisational theater games to relationship therapy.

Conducting Substance-Abuse Groups Utilizing Improvisational Action Methods

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