Draft:SomatoDrama

Brief Description

SomatoDrama® is a holistic self-awareness and self-healing method developed by Dr. Laszlo BUDA, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, in the early 2010s. The method integrates elements of psychodrama and other body-oriented therapies into a new approach, uncovering a personalized relationship between physical symptoms and mental processes. SomatoDrama is characterized by simplicity, playfulness, emotional richness, and effectiveness.

The name "somato" refers to the heightened attention given to bodily experiences, symptoms, and illnesses during the sessions, allowing the body’s wisdom to guide the awakening of consciousness. In this context, the term "drama" means that the method uses dramatic tools: it removes internal obstacles to healing through direct encounters, conflicts, emotional experiences, and the immediate execution of necessary steps, helping one move closer to the desired physical and mental harmony.

The popularity and spread of SomatoDrama are continuously growing in Hungary and Central Europe.

Applications of SomatoDrama

• SomatoDrama is not dependent on diagnosis or condition; anyone in any state can benefit from it.
• SomatoDrama allows individuals to encounter repressed, often painful feelings that unconsciously direct their lives and manifest as physical symptoms or illnesses.
• The method can be successfully applied to physical symptoms or illnesses as well as to life management difficulties, challenges, and problems. Additionally, learning to communicate with the body and deepening experiential self-awareness can be an excellent tool for health promotion and disease prevention.
• The method can be applied in groups (typically 4-6 participants) or individual consultations.

The SomatoDrama Play

A SomatoDrama play is an entirely free space where anything is possible, but nothing is mandatory. The process is guided by the spontaneous, organic organization towards harmony and unity, which generally emerges and intensifies on its own when:

• A safe, trusting space is created.
• Participants are present with pure intentions, full attention, and openness.
• The participants allow their emotional waves and intuitions to surface and communicate freely.
• The main character experiences complete freedom in deciding how and to what extent they engage in the session.
• The facilitator appropriately guides the organically developing process without hindering it with personal preconceptions.

SomatoDrama plays typically occur in groups of 4-5 people: 1 facilitator, 1 main character, and 2-4 participants. A play usually lasts 45-60 minutes, but there are also so-called rapid plays that are at most 15-20 minutes.

After selecting the main character, a specific theme (physical, life management, or other difficulties) is outlined and represented in space, i.e., the mat is populated. In the SomatoDrama method, round mats are commonly used to symbolize the main character's inner world, fate, and the stage of their body. After setting the initial scene, the participants "come to life", expressing their feelings through words and movements, while the main character has the opportunity to engage with them, enter the session, and voice their own experiences.

The facilitator’s instructional style is characterized by the "tray method" which lies somewhere between expert, directive, and adaptive, following, non-directive styles.

One of the key moments in a SomatoDrama play is the „level crossing”, where the main character suddenly discovers new levels of their world on the mat. The story often shifts from the physical level to the relational level.

General Benefits of SomatoDrama

• Helps dissolve alienation from one's own body.
• Reveals personalized connections between physical symptoms and mental processes.
• Contributes to resolving emotional-relational blockages brought from the past, facilitating emotional detoxification.
• Opens up the possibility of dialogue with body parts and organs.
• Helps model the healing process through imagination and play.
• Strengthens belief in recovery and personal responsibility.
• Mobilizes the internal drive towards healing.
• Offers concrete solutions and action plans.
• Deepens physical and mental self-awareness, self-acceptance, and self-love.

How the Method Works – The SomatoDrama Impact Model

In the book entitled The Message of Our Soul Through the Pathways of Our Body/The SomatoDrama Effect Model (https://www.medicina-kiado.hu/kiadvanyaink/szak-es-tankonyvek/pszichiatria-pszichologia/lelkunk-uzenete-testunk-utjain/), published by Medicina Publishing House in February 2024, the author, Anna Üveges (www.uvegesanna.hu), took the first steps towards scientifically supporting the effectiveness of Somatodrama – pioneering in Hungary – by presenting a pilot experiment and an effect analysis model.

The impact analysis of SzomatoDrama and the birth of the special impact model based on it provide insight into the psychological background of our symptoms and illnesses through ten case histories. The impact model is a significant innovation in modern psychosomatics, providing a more modern, humanistic interpretation of both psychological and medical anamnesis: in addition to the promising illustrative research findings, the early patterns that pervade our relationships, the familiar-looking games and the drawn models of the body language communication further help us to understand the mechanism of action of this body-based self-awareness method.

How do physical sensations reflect an emotional state, a problem, a conflict? How can a thought or an emotional state take on a somatic, physical form? The SomatoDrama effect model, which enables the SomatoDrama method to be studied, is able to capture and express this almost step by step. Its originality lies in the fact that it integrates both traditional and modern psychological systems: it is based on developmental psychology because it is capable of analysing, follow a practical approach of movement (kinesthetic), which represent a complex system of childhood schemas and perception. It consistently follows „practical” approach to human development along three dimensions elaborated by Piaget: symbolic (visual), psycho- and sensorimotor (kinesiostatic), and conceptual (abstraction). The impact model, while incorporating the mental, emotional and physical dimensions of the psychosomatic model, highlights that indeed "everyone is different", because progress can only be made by linking the three dimensions, but the path to resolution and insight reflects a pattern of varied steps: the condition or symptom grasped at the thought level can be expressed in physical and emotional ways, but also in symbolic or more abstract ways.

The Evolution of the Method in Hungary

• In 2015, SomatoDrama specialist and lead instructor Beáta Pataki and mental health professional and family systems therapist Orsolya Koncz developed a version of SomatoDrama applicable to children.
• Since 2017, the training of SomatoDrama facilitators has been supervised by the method’s lead instructors, Katalin Oláh and Beáta Pataki, who have played a significant role in enriching the method and expanding its applicability.
• Since 2023, the application of SomatoDrama, and the work of consultants, facilitators, and specialists, has been regulated by the document "SOMATODRAMA® Practical Guidelines / Profession – Ethics – Law – Business – Marketing."

Opportunities to Learn the Method

Those who wish to apply the method at a professional level can participate in the SomatoDrama Facilitator and/or SomatoDrama Individual Consultant training after completing the 8-day self-awareness SomatoDrama Core Experience course.

The elements of the SomatoDrama training system in Hungary:

1. SomatoDrama Facilitator Training – 16 days
   The training prerequisite is participation in the 8-day SomatoDrama Core Experience course. The goal is to learn the method's theoretical foundations, structure, and functioning, as well as the professional possibilities and perspectives of SomatoDrama sessions, and to acquire and practice the SomatoDrama facilitation attitude and work.
   Completing the training entitles one to use the title "SomatoDrama Facilitator" and organize a one-day, one-mat (4-6 people) SomatoDrama program.
   
   
2. SomatoDrama Individual Consultant Training – 10 days
   The training prerequisite is participation in the 8-day SomatoDrama Core Experience course. The goals are to learn the theoretical foundations, structure, and functioning of the method in an individual consultation context, to acquire the tools of SomatoDrama consultation, and to facilitate focused, intense, dramatic individual consultation processes.
   Completing the training entitles one to be called "SomatoDrama Individual Consultant" and conduct "SomatoDrama Method Individual Consultations."
   
   
3. SomatoDrama Specialist Training – 12 days
   Eligibility for SomatoDrama Specialist Training requires SomatoDrama facilitator certification, the facilitator training leaders' recommendation, at least one year of active facilitation experience, and regular professional development. The training aims to:
   Prepare SomatoDrama facilitators to lead groups, coordinate multi-mat programs, plan and conduct multi-day programs, handle special session situations, and fine-tune facilitation skills.
   Completing the training entitles one to use the title "SomatoDrama Specialist" and organize and lead multi-mat, multi-facilitator SomatoDrama programs and multi-day retreats.

Criticisms and Challenges

The holistic nature of the method can evoke skeptical reactions from proponents of more traditional psychotherapeutic approaches. Critics often emphasize that the method's lack of scientific foundations makes it challenging to assess its effectiveness objectively. In this regard, the breakthrough was made by the SomatoDrama impact model presented by Anna Üveges, the first research study to take the initially experience-based method towards scientific validation.

Some critics argue that SomatoDrama's playful and intuitive nature may not suit everyone. They believe that some individuals prefer more structured, verbal-based therapeutic methods and are less open to dramatic and body-oriented approaches.

One of the method's main challenges is that SomatoDrama practitioners and therapists come from different backgrounds and training, which can lead to differences in the application and quality of the process.

Traditional psychologists often criticize the intense, emotionally stimulating methods for the potential risks of unintegrated catharsis.

One of the main challenges of the method is that practitioners and therapists of SomatoDrama come from various backgrounds and have different levels of training, which can lead to variations in the method's application and quality.

In this context, traditional psychologists often criticize the potential dangers of one-time, intense, emotionally stirring methods, which may lead to catharsis without proper integration. Dr. László Buda addressed this topic in his 2024 study, "On the Risks and Responsibilities of Intensive Self-Healing and Therapeutic Experiences".

The spread of SomatoDrama may also face obstacles due to social and cultural factors, as the close connection between body and mind and the dramatic expression of bodily experiences may have varying levels of social acceptance. However, the growing awareness and demand for self-care in recent years have led to changes in this area. As a result, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of men, generally considered more rational, who are interested in, using, and learning this method.

Sources and Literature

Books:

• Laszlo BUDA Md, PhD -   "Unread Messages From Your Body – A Healing Communication with Your Inner World" - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGXBN5HR
• Laszlo BUDA Md, PhD - "SomatoDrama - Leading the Healing Play" 2015.
• Dr. Anna Üveges - "Messages from Our Soul on the Paths of Our Body – The SomatoDrama Impact Model" 2024. Medicina Publishing

Websites:

• drlaszlobuda.com