Psychodrama in Individual Therapy
Rebecca Walters MS, LCAT TEP 

Exploring the Healing Power of Action Methods in One-on-One Clinical Practice
Psychodrama, developed by Jacob L. Moreno in the early twentieth century, is a therapeutic approach that employs guided dramatic action to help clients gain insight, express emotions and resolve issues.
Traditionally, psychodrama has been practiced in group settings; however, its techniques have been effectively adapted for use within individual therapy. This adaptation opens up a powerful dimension for therapists and clients, merging the creative spontaneity of drama with the focused intimacy of the one-on-one therapeutic relationship.

Understanding Psychodrama
Psychodrama is an experiential form of therapy in which the client, under the guidance of a trained therapist (the “director”), enacts scenes from their life, internal conflicts, dreams, or unrealized aspirations. By “acting out” these elements, clients become active participants in their healing journey rather than passive recipients of insight. Key elements of psychodrama include the protagonist (the client), the auxiliary egos (group members who act out roles significant to the protagonist), and the group/audience. In individual therapy, the therapist often assumes multiple roles, adapting the classic structure to a dyadic context.

Theoretical Foundations
Moreno’s psychodrama is rooted in existential and humanistic traditions, emphasizing spontaneity, creativity, and the therapeutic value of action. The approach recognizes that talking alone does not always reach the deeper layers of experience—sometimes, the body must move, the voice must sound, and the psyche must play in order to heal. Through enactment, clients break out of static narratives and rehearse new ways of being.
In individual therapy, psychodrama aligns with contemporary understandings of embodied cognition and the integration of mind, body, and emotion. The enactment of scenes enables clients to access implicit memories, bodily sensations, and subconscious patterns that may remain inaccessible in traditional “talk therapy.”

Adapting Psychodrama to Individual Therapy
While group psychodrama relies on the presence of multiple participants to take on roles, individual psychodrama adapts its methods to fit the dyadic therapist-client relationship. The therapist uses chairs or props to represent the various people, entities, qualities, emotions, parts, roles or anything the client brings into the scene. Engaging in “role reversal” with each of these helps the client externalize and process their inner world. This adaptation preserves the spontaneity and creativity of the original method while tailoring it to the individual’s needs.

• Empty Chair Technique: This technique involves the client addressing an empty chair as if a significant person or part of themselves is present, encouraging honest dialogue and emotional release.
• Role Reversal: The therapist invites the client to switch roles—becoming, for example, a parent, partner, or even a younger version of themselves. This fosters empathy, new perspectives, and often surprising insight. At times, the therapist may step into the protagonist’s role so the protagonist, in the role of the other, can experience the conversation from the auxiliary role.
• Soliloquy: The client is encouraged to articulate their inner thoughts aloud, often while standing or moving, allowing suppressed feelings and patterns to surface.
• Doubling: The therapist may “double” the client’s experience by standing beside or near them and voicing possible inner thoughts or feelings, thus amplifying awareness and self-understanding. The client repeats what is true for them, changes what is not.
• Future Projection: Acting out desired or feared future scenarios helps clients rehearse new behaviors and envision possibilities beyond their current limitations.

Applications in Individual Therapy
Psychodrama in individual therapy is especially useful in addressing trauma, grief, relationship issues, anxiety, depression, and personal growth. By enacting scenes, clients can:

• Look at past traumatic events in a controlled, supportive environment
• Explore unresolved feelings toward significant others
• Practice new coping skills and assertive behaviors
• Clarify life goals and values
• Integrate fragmented aspects of identity

For trauma survivors, psychodrama can be a gentle way to externalize and renegotiate overwhelming experiences. The action-oriented method helps bypass intellectual defenses and connects clients to their emotional truth.

Stages of the Psychodramatic Process
A typical psychodrama session, even in individual therapy, unfolds in three stages:
1. Warm-up
The therapist helps the client relax and become present, often through grounding exercises, creative visualization, or simple movement. The warm-up establishes psychological safety and tunes the client to their emotional state.
2. Action
This is the heart of the session. The client, guided by the therapist, selects a scenario to explore. They enact significant moments, express forbidden feelings, or “try on” new solutions. The therapist provides props or imagery, acts as a supportive double and encourages spontaneity.
3. Sharing and Integration
After the enactment, the therapist guides the client in reflecting on their experience. What was learned? What feelings emerged? This stage fosters insight, emotional processing, and the integration of new perspectives into everyday life.

Benefits of Psychodrama in Individual Therapy
Psychodrama offers unique advantages within the one-on-one therapeutic context:

• Active Engagement: Clients move beyond passive storytelling to become participants in their own healing.
• Emotional Release: The embodied nature of action techniques allows for catharsis—releasing pent-up feelings safely.
• Insight and Perspective: Role reversal and enactment provide fresh viewpoints on entrenched conflicts.
• Mind-Body Integration: Action techniques help clients reconnect with their bodies, often leading to a deeper sense of self-awareness.
• Behavioral Rehearsal: Clients can practice, in a safe setting, new behaviors and responses to life’s challenges.

Limitations and Considerations
While psychodrama is a powerful modality, it may not be suitable for all clients or all situations. Some individuals—especially those who struggle with dissociation, acute psychosis, or severe trauma—may find enactment overwhelming. The therapist must assess readiness and adapt interventions accordingly.
Further, the success of individual psychodrama relies on the therapist’s skill in facilitating action methods, maintaining safety, and attuning to the client’s emotional state. Continuous training and supervision in psychodrama methods are strongly recommended.

Techniques to Enhance Psychodrama in Individual Sessions
Therapists have developed creative adaptations to maximize the benefits of psychodrama in individual therapy:

• Use of objects or props to represent people or aspects of the self
• Drawing or writing to externalize thoughts before enactment
• Incorporating art, music, or movement for clients who are less comfortable with verbal expression

Descriptive Case Studies

Case Study 1: Addressing Social Anxiety through Role Play
A young adult client experiencing intense social anxiety was guided to reenact upcoming social situations in therapy. Using a combination of props and role reversal, the client practiced introducing themselves to new people and responding to imagined criticism. By shifting between their own role and the imagined role of others, the client gained insights into their inner fears and learned to challenge negative assumptions. Over several sessions, this experiential rehearsal led to increased self-confidence and measurable improvements in the client’s ability to engage socially.
Case Study 2: Healing Family Conflict with Empty Chair Work
A middle-aged client grappled with unresolved anger toward a sibling after years of family discord. The therapist invited the client to use two chairs to symbolize themselves and their sibling, facilitating a dialogue between the two. Through role reversal, the client voiced both their grievances and their sibling’s possible responses, uncovering hidden emotions and misunderstandings. The enactment provided emotional release and fostered empathy, helping the client identify new ways to communicate and set boundaries in real-life interactions.
Case Study 3: Processing Trauma and Reclaiming Agency
A survivor of a car accident found it difficult to discuss the traumatic event verbally. The therapist introduced creative options, such as drawing the accident scene and using small objects to represent those involved. Gradually, the client enacted the incident step by step, pausing to express thoughts and feelings at each stage. The action methods allowed the client to safely process the trauma, confront lingering fears, and experience a sense of mastery over the memory. This approach contributed to reduced anxiety and a restored sense of control in daily life.
Case Study 4:
A client struggling with unresolved grief over a parent’s death may be invited to enact a final conversation with the deceased, using an empty chair or a cushion as a stand-in. Through role reversal, the client might step into the role of the departed, expressing words left unspoken and gaining unexpected comfort. In the sharing phase, the therapist helps the client process what emerged, linking the experience to ongoing life challenges.
Case Study 5:
A twelve year old, teased by peers on the playground, had the opportunity to first express his anger with puppets and then role play how he would actually handle the teasing in the future.
Case Study 6:
A young woman trying to decide to have a baby or not acted out, set up two chairs: one represented her wanting a child. One represented not wanting a child. She then created a dialogue between them. This led to several future scenes: moving five, ten and twenty five years forward, first with a child and then without having a child.

Conclusion
Psychodrama in individual therapy offers a vibrant, holistic approach to healing. By harnessing the power of action, imagination, and embodiment, it allows clients to move beyond words, break free from constrictive patterns, and discover new possibilities for growth and change. Therapists seeking to deepen their practice may find psychodrama a rewarding addition to their therapeutic repertoire—one that brings the drama of life into the healing space, where transformation becomes possible, one scene at a time.

Rebecca Walters, MS, LMHC, LCAT, TEP is the Director of the Hudson Valley Psychodrama Institute in Highland, NY, which she co-founded in 1989. For over 45 years Rebecca has utilized action methods with individuals and groups of children, adolescents and adults. She was the director of psychodrama services at Four Winds Hospital in Katonah NY where she worked for 25 years. In addition to HVPI, Rebecca has trained throughout the United States. She is an internationally respected trainer at conferences and institutes in the UK, Europe, Asia and Central America, specializing in experiential group work with children, adolescents, trauma survivors and in psychoeducation.