Existential Psychodrama: A Way to Incorporate Otherness and Open Up to Existence: A Clinical Approach of Psychosis
Résumé
The authors argue that Morenian-inspired
existential psychodrama turns out to be a formidable
lever for opening up existence as it allows schizophrenic
patients to incorporate the experience of an “absolutely
other” on which the foundation of any autonomous
self is built. More precisely, by relying on their clinical
experiences, the authors show how psycho-dramatic
play goes along with an intense movement of original
projection which carries psychotic patients externally
in relation to themselves. Offset from their pathological
world, these patients feel more inclined to “wear
someone else’s shoes,” for the duration of the game,
and they do so in a manner that is both sensorial and
pathic. This surprising and creative “journey,” which
allows them to return to the world better attuned to
others and to themselves, is merely an enactment of a
“true” intersubjective encounter: the very essence of
existential psychodrama. By applying phenomenology
to this psychodramatic method, notably by relying on
the hypothesis of psychosis being a disorder of what Bin
Kimura calls the “aida,” the authors hope to contribute
to the advancement of psychosis’ psychotherapy.