PSYCHODRAMA IMMERSION

A One-Day Deep Dive into Psychodramatic Practice in Victoria BC

Saturday August 8th, 2024: 10am-6pm (with a 1-hour lunch break)
3575 Beach Drive Victoria BC

Psychodrama is an action method (developed in the 1920s by Jacob Moreno in Vienna) in which participants use spontaneous dramatization, role playing, and dramatic self-presentation to engage a situation or encounter. It is an incredible performative practice for diving deeply and playful into intra/inter-subjective facets of self and other. Psychodrama is practiced in a group, whereby one participant volunteers to be the protagonist who then acts on their "drama" with the aid of other group members as auxiliaries. It is a highly structured technique with forms that establish safety, minimize projection, and create the capacity for extremely deep and transformative expression.

The focus of practice day will not be learning psychodrama theory, but rather jumping into practice. The goal of our practice will be to deepen and refine our expression of inner parts (ex- my inner critic), internalized others (ex- my mother), and archetypes (ex- the healer). We will begin with checkins, safety agreements, a brief explanation of the practice, and then exercises to help the group warmup to each other and begin to deepen self expression. Some of our time together will involve solo dramas (i.e. where the protagonist is playing all roles, including the director) and this work will be informed by Fooling - a practice of authenticity and self-expression taught by Christie Animas. The rest of our time together will be spent doing short-form psychodramas in large group and also in small groups. The hope is that this practice day will provide participants with greater insight into our psyches (with their beautiful and dynamic breadth of images, voices, parts, internalized others, and archetypes) and provide renewed creative vitality and agency to play with these inner worlds together towards the collective goal of healing and self expression. This workshop is for all levels of experience: those who have never heard of psychodrama, those who are novices in dramatic-authentic expression, and those who are deeply familiar and experiences with these things. Please come ready with an open mind and heart.

Practicals: Participants should arrive at the venue promptly for our opening circle. Late arrivals are not possible, as there is a need to create a safe container with community agreements. Lunch should be brought with you as our lunch break will be short and not able to easily accommodate leaving to get lunch elsewhere.

Price is via sliding scale: Financially Abundant $160, Financially Stable $120, Financially Strained $80 | BIPOC $80

Sliding Scale: Hopefully the sliding scale fees make this workshop accessible for those who want/need to participate. DPI recognizes the incredible value of this work, and wants very much to make this workshop both accessible for participants, while also providing fair payment to both facilitator and venue. If the tiered, sliding scale, price structure does not work for you, and you are very much wanting to take this workshop, please reach and we will try to accommodate your needs [ thedeepplayinstitute@gmail.com ] .

About the facilitator: Aaron Finbloom is a philosopher, artist, pedagogue and counselor. He is also the founder and director of the Deep Play Institute. Finbloom's work (and play) involves expanding and deepening transformative inquiry through games, performance, and structured play. After an initial 40-hour psychodrama training in 2018, Finbloom co-led a psychodrama group in Montreal, and has directed dozens of psychodrama sessions in the forthcoming years. His facilitation style is informed by training in Circling, Authentic Relating, Vipassana Meditation and profoundly inspired by Internal Family Systems Therapy both in theory and practice. Finbloom has been seeing individual clients for over two years using transformative deep play techniques derived from these aforementioned practices. He holds a PhD in relational practice from Concordia University's Interdisciplinary Humanities & Fine Arts program, and teaches philosophy at the City College of New York and The University of Portland.

Disclaimer: This intensive is not therapy, nor should be considered a substitute for therapy. That said, the explorations we will engage in will have the potential to go rather deep, and may be quite intense. The Deep Play Institute upholds the belief that deep play lives on an edge between safe and dangerous. As such, we invite participants to play in this liminal space, and as facilitators we work to help participants stay on this edge. We see it as our responsibility to design a space that is trauma-informed, holds space for emotional processing, includes self-care, and normalizes opting out at any time. We ask participants to gauge when their experience has crossed into territory that they deem “too edgy” and take the steps necessary for their own emotional safety. Finally, we want to acknowledge that insofar as we occupy privileged identities we bring our personal limitations and biases into the space, and while we are working to educate ourselves and minimize harm, we recognize that harm may be caused and we take accountability for this.

Maximum # of Participants for the workshop is 15.

Cancellation Policy Refunds are available up to 30 days before the event - minus a $20 processing fee. After this time we are unable to provide a refund for the event.

TESTIMONIALS
FROM THE WINTER 2023 PSYCHODRAMA INTENSIVE

​"Aaron and The Deep Play Institute's Psychodrama workshop was a joyous, deep, uplifting experience. I felt both held in safety and able to expand my range." 

"Aaron was a skilled facilitator and space holder. I felt myself go from feeling unsure and trepidatious about the weekend to feeling so much love, connection and safety by the end of the weekend. Aaron also taught us skills we can use on our own and with friends so we can integrate some of this work into our lives. I'd definitely recommend this workshop and look forward to attending more events with the Deep Play Institute." 

"The facilitator of the Psychodrama Intensive did an excellent job of creating a safe environment to play, explore and dive deep. I learned some valuable tools to help support myself. I experienced a lot of compassion for others as I witnessed their challenges."

"Aaron creates a comfortable container for self and group exploration. He holds space for emergent expression and sensitive exploration. During the weekend intensive, there was a moment when I was in a role, got confused and panicked. I was able to say so and he was right there to help me get my bearings again. So grateful to get to explore my edge and psyche in a low pressure environment."