Trauma-Focused Psychodrama

Experiential Therapy for Complex PTSD

Scott Giacomucci

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9781040610558
• Topic: Psychology
• Index: Psychology

This book presents trauma-focused psychodrama as an effective treatment for trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and complex PTSD.

Chapters focus on common themes and psychodrama enactments related to trauma, including strengths-based scenes, working with defenses, parts of self, traumatic loss, inner child work, perpetrator work, embodying posttraumatic growth, and vicarious trauma. Psychodrama's interventions, history, theory, and research for the treatment of trauma and trauma-related conditions in group therapy settings are outlined. Trauma-informed principles, risks of retraumatization, sociometry, and psychodrama-like interventions will be covered. Each chapter contains various examples and depictions of interventions and experiences from the author's practice in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

Trauma-Focused Psychodrama provides psychodramatists and other group practitioners with essential teaching related to trauma-informed practice and trauma-focused psychodrama. Psychotherapists and psychodrama trainees will find this book useful to guide and support their learning and clinical practice.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsements
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• About the Author
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction to Trauma-Focused Psychodrama
• 2 Trauma-Informed Principles, Safety, and Harm in Psychodrama
• 3 Psychodrama Theory and Trauma Treatment
• 4 Healing Complex Trauma With Psychodrama
• 5 Sociometry Group Processes for Trauma Therapy
• 6 Basic Psychodrama Directing Elements and Interventions for Trauma
• 7 Psychodrama-Like Interventions, Sculptures, Structures, and Empty Chairs
• 8 Strengths-Based Roles and Resourcing in Psychodrama
• 9 Honoring Defenses and Dissociation with Psychodrama
• 10 Working With Parts of Self or Body Parts in Psychodrama
• 11 Psychodramatic Grief Work with Death, Traumatic Loss, and Complicated Grief
• 12 Inner Child Work and Psychodrama
• 13 Psychodramatic Anger Work, Empowerment, Antagonists, and Perpetrators
• 14 Trauma Recovery Integration, Posttraumatic Growth, and Role Training for the Future With Psychodrama
• 15 Advanced Directing Techniques: The Group as the Protagonist
• 16 On Becoming a Psychodramatist: Spontaneity Training and VPTG
• Index