Beginning in September 2020, the Michigan Psychodrama Center will present a four-part Bibliodrama skills training workshop series. Each workshop will provide successively more complex training regarding how to develop and present a Bibliodrama within various environments, including faith and therapeutic communities.
Bibliodrama is a kind of structured sociodrama based on a story of some kind. It alludes to the theater of spontaneity that J.L. Moreno, the father of psychodrama, devised early in his career. While the story explored in a bibliodrama could theoretically come from the oral tradition, in most instances, written text is used. When the story comes from sacred text, then we traditionally refer to this as capital “B” Bibliodrama. The texts explored in this capital B Bibliodrama four part series will exclusively come from the collection of books loosely referred to as the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and is open to participants of all faiths and faith traditions.
The training provided will be the Michigan Psychodrama Center’s unique style of Bibliodrama that is most heavily informed by the type of Bibliodrama originally conceived of and developed by Dr. Peter Pizele, who was consulted in the development of the curriculum. The textbook for the training will be Peter’s book “Scripture Windows.”
The first part of the series will focus on an introductory didactic regarding the history and development of Bibliodrama. Students will also learn how to read scripture “Bibliodramatically” which is to say, read the text while considering the empty spaces, the parts of the story that are implied but not explicit in the written text itself. This white space is also called “white fire” and is what informs this form of Bibliodrama. Storytelling and the identification of at least one role moment will also be explored.
The next two parts of the series will teach students how to create successively more complex Bibliodramas. Including more advanced interactions such as multiple role dramas, encounters between role players and sculpting. Other types of Bibliodramatic tools, such as journaling and messaging will also be explored.
The final part of the series will include how to transition, when appropriate and ethical, into personal work, such as individual psychodrama, using the Bibliodrama as warmup to the personal work. Students will learn when making this move into personal work is appropriate, and when it is contraindicated.
The faculty for this four-part Bibliodrama workshop training series will be Dr. Elizabeth Corby and Patrick Barone. Dr. Corby is a clinical psychologist and a psychodrama Trainer, Educator and Practitioner (TEP) with more than 30 years of experience leading experiential therapy and psychodrama groups. Patrick Barone is a Michigan criminal defense trial lawyer and a Practitioner Applicant for Trainer (PAT) in psychodrama. He will be sitting for the American Board of Psychodrama Examiner’s written TEP Board Exam in October 2021. Mr. Barone trained extensively with Peter Pizele, and continues to work with him, including in the conception of this workshop series. A summary of the training curriculum can be seen on the Eventbrite website workshop listing.
All training will take place via Zoom, and students will be required to pay full tuition and attend all four training sessions with no exceptions. While a proposed syllabus will be utilized and based on a developed curriculum, the training will be based on the direction and progression of the group. This way the focus and the emphasis will be on the needs of the group and the group process. Because the group process and the sociometry of the group will be so heavily emphasized, students are required to commit to participate in every session.
Individuals interested in becoming students may register online. Alternatively, Eventbrite fees can be avoided by sending a check directly to the Michigan Psychodrama Center.
The workshop is limited to 12 students. No psychodrama experience is needed but psychodrama training will undoubtedly prove useful. Please contact the Michigan Psychodrama Center for more information.
In his capacity as a business consultant, Mr. Barone has worked with business owners and executives in businesses of all sizes throughout Michigan.
Additionally, Mr. Barone continues to practice law and is the founding partner and CEO at the Barone Defense Firm.