Psychodrama in the era of COVID-19 crisis

Lyudmyla Litvinenko, Ukraine

Due to the extraordinary events related to the emergence and spread of coronavirus COVID-19, which are happening around the world in recent years, there is an urgent need to study this issue to effectively engage in socio-psychological support of various social groups.

Large-scale globalization has turned the disease into a universal problem:  the extreme situation related to the virus radically changes people's way of life and forces them to adequately adapt to new living conditions.

It was difficult to stay calm when there was more negative news about the coronavirus than any positive information.  All the measures taken by the authorities were perceived by most people as an alarm signal, and thus the psychological state of society was being «shaken».  Thanks to the Internet and social networks, which never stopped sending alarming signals, events that took place in other parts of the world were perceived as if they were happening at our homes. Such blurred borders heightened anxiety and insecurity.  There were many frightened people around, the danger was imperceptible, the virus itself was imperceptible.  We couldn't see it, but we heard a lot about it.  We did not know exactly what we were facing, and in this case our body was sending distress signals, danger signals, so we were worried.  We felt that the «enemy» was completely unknown and we did not know what tools could be used to deal with this situation.

The coronavirus situation has put us face to face with the need to start looking for solutions – what exactly can we do with a group online?  No meeting in this format has been held before. 

 The Board of the Institute of Psychodrama, Modern Psychology and Psychotherapy, psychodrama trainers, colleagues tried to cope with the atypical situation.  There were groups of the first and second level in training, we didn't want to suspend educational process.  But there were quarantine restrictions and they were applied to all of us.  Therefore, it was in everyone's interest to do everything possible to cope with the challenges of pandemic and quarantine.  We began to consider the Zoom platform as a form of working with groups.

It was not easy to turn the usual work (which I have been doing since 2001), which strongly depends on group interaction, focused on spontaneity and creativity - into a screen version.  There was resistance, distrust of the small screen, Zoom was perceived as an inadequate form of communication.

We had our first online meeting via Zoom, which took place on April 1, 2020, the 99th anniversary of the birth of psychodrama.  Quite a lot of students from different groups have joined it.  We greeted each other, were glad to see each other, talked about the situation that arose.  And after the meeting it became clear that the topic of coronavirus sounds quite acute, it causes a sense of uncertainty and it was necessary to find a way out what to do next.

It was a real test of spontaneity; it was a challenge to find something new.  We remember J. Moreno, who said that spontaneity is an adequate response to a new situation, or a new response to an old situation.  It was necessary to find an adequate solution to a new, unusual situation.

At that time, I had six groups studying psychodrama: four groups on a Basic level I, and two groups on a Basic level II; four groups from Ukraine, and two from Kyrgyzstan. Overall 63 members, mostly women, and ten men. Participants started training at different periods: groups from Kyrgyzstan – in 2016, groups in Ukraine during 2018. Each group developed at its own pace and had its history. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March, the planned schedule of sessions was interrupted and everyone appeared to be in a state of uncertainty.

I work a lot with groups since it is a very fruitful format of therapy. Each individual wants to be in a group, such desire is mainly manifested on a psychological level, being by nature biological and instinctive. A group is perceived as a mold of individuals, as an entire dynamic field that enables interpersonal interaction. 

In the early stages of human evolution, people gathered in groups, which helped them to survive and thrive. Our ancestors knew about the effective impact of a group on a person.  Throughout the history of mankind, shamans and healers have demonstrated the success of public influence of ritual and ceremonial procedures for the treatment of the sick. Many monks of the Middle Ages united in religious groups to purify the soul and discover the truth, and many Greek philosophers used the group approach to understand the essence.

According to Moreno, «a person is born and immersed in the "social atom», a network of social relations which continues to affect the individual throughout life" [3]. The need to be closely connected with others is the same basic need as any biological need, and its satisfaction is necessary for survival. J. Moreno wrote, «People join or organize groups in order to live a full life, to reveal themselves in relationships with other people» [3].

We are aware that in group psychodrama a lot of attention is paid to creating a «safe space» that is significant and necessary for individual development. The group serves as a «good mother» who symbolizes a solid foundation that possesses trust, warmth, understanding, and acceptance. 

When the group becomes a single entity (as the unity of mother and child), when there are no fears and anxieties, the group allows others to be in their own world and at the same time in the world of others: «The stronger I feel with others, the more I can separate from them and be with myself. If I allow myself to be, then I can allow myself to be different. Together, we can be more than each of us individually» [3].

All the groups described spent a lot of time hand-in-hand; they already had their own story in the struggle to understand how to show anger or love for one another; they knew they could be trusted; they could be together. The group has already established norms of mutual care, support, acceptance, and love.

The pandemic closed many doors for us, took away plenty of opportunities, but it has no power to take away love and respect for each other. It is love that has given us resilience and endurance in challenging times. C. Jung stated that: «A person can cope with any suffering that has a meaning» [5].

And we kept finding meaning in what we were doing.

Support Groups

All we could do at first was just meet with the groups, try to cultivate relationships and support each other. We called these meetings «Support Groups». Physical distance should not increase the distance between our hearts, we felt that we have strength, we have a connection. Our resilience, psychological stability comes from the strength of our relationship. We did not know what lay ahead and what we still had to go through, but we understood that we could be together, that we were not alone in these trials, that we could all lend a helping hand. So we were stronger and had less fear and more hope. Such meetings were regular with all groups.

At the «Support Groups» we had the opportunity to talk, to get our own stage where you could put your feelings. We tried to live in the here and now, to remember values. The BASIC Ph Model (The Integrative Model of Resilience) proved to be very effective, helping us to restore the sources of our strength through faith, spirituality, resource texts, artworks, contacts with people, memories, dreams, physical activities, etc.

In these meetings we learned to listen carefully, to be silent, to speak and just to be. We learned to be present, to be attentive, looking at each other through the camera, so as not to miss the wonderful moments of life, the moment that united us in a difficult period of stress and uncertainty.

Together we managed to share the grief, to go through the pain, to be supportive of each other; we rejoiced together, laughed, thanked. Such a presence in Zoom was a way to gain energy and strength to cope with all the challenges.

The students said, «It was important for me to participate in this online meeting because it was a way to keep the relationship going»,  «The isolation issues were the same for all of us, it helped me feel less lonely, it was a great support», «It seemed to me that we all sailed in the same boat», «I was inspired by our meetings», «I was glad to see familiar faces and eyes», «These meetings showed me that the depth, the closeness between us, which was formed during our acquaintance in psychodrama did not pass, that we became even stronger», …»What a luck, that we can communicate in order not to lose the thread of communication». K. Rogers writes that «the relationship of the participants looks like a large and colourful carpet, always different, but it is always based on large threads, on which the thinner are superimposed» [4]. We were a group, a team, a force. Each of us was a beautiful colour, but in itself this colour was not so bright and visible. And the very union of these colours turned into a rainbow that spread light, faith and hope.

These comments underscore the importance of the online group, which continued to be a fairly good mother and took on the role of a basic starting point in the general state of panic and...