PSYCHODRAMA INTENSIVE (Fall 2023)
A Weekend Psychodrama Intensive in Portland, OR
Saturday Sep 30th: 9am-6pm | Sunday Oct 1st: 9am-6pm
Burning Spirits Yoga: 2025 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Burning Spirits Yoga: 2025 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
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 weekend intensive will begin on Saturday morning with 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. The weekend will be structured into four 3-hour blocks during which the group will enhance somatic and dramatic expression, use sociometry to deepen connection, enact short vignettes and solo-plays, access allies and self-energy, practice doubling and role reversals, and perform full psychodramas as well. Participants will learn tools for self-facilitating psychodramatic play, so that these resources can be practiced on one one's own outside of a group. This intensive hopes to give participants greater insight into their inner systems of parts or roles, and provide renewed creative vitality and agency to play with these inner worlds together towards the collective goal of healing and self expression.
The weekend is a closed container, and all participants will be required to arrive on Saturday morning at 9am to set a safe container for the group. We will have 2-hour breaks on Saturday and Sunday from 1-3pm for participants to eat lunch they bring, or find lunch to purchase in the area. Psychodrama can be quite intense work, so the lunch break is also intended to provide an opportunity for rest and self care. Price is via sliding scale: Tier 1 $350, Tier 2, $250, Tier 3 $150 | BIPOC Tier 3 Please see chart.
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 is 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.
Note: This weekend intensive is intended for participants who reside in and around Portland, OR. The Deep Play Institute is not able to provide accommodations for out-of-town participants. DPI is also not able to refund any travel or housing costs in the unlikely event of cancellation.
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.
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 [ [email protected] ] .
Maximum # of Participants for the intensive is 13.
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.
The weekend intensive will begin on Saturday morning with 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. The weekend will be structured into four 3-hour blocks during which the group will enhance somatic and dramatic expression, use sociometry to deepen connection, enact short vignettes and solo-plays, access allies and self-energy, practice doubling and role reversals, and perform full psychodramas as well. Participants will learn tools for self-facilitating psychodramatic play, so that these resources can be practiced on one one's own outside of a group. This intensive hopes to give participants greater insight into their inner systems of parts or roles, and provide renewed creative vitality and agency to play with these inner worlds together towards the collective goal of healing and self expression.
The weekend is a closed container, and all participants will be required to arrive on Saturday morning at 9am to set a safe container for the group. We will have 2-hour breaks on Saturday and Sunday from 1-3pm for participants to eat lunch they bring, or find lunch to purchase in the area. Psychodrama can be quite intense work, so the lunch break is also intended to provide an opportunity for rest and self care. Price is via sliding scale: Tier 1 $350, Tier 2, $250, Tier 3 $150 | BIPOC Tier 3 Please see chart.
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 is 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.
Note: This weekend intensive is intended for participants who reside in and around Portland, OR. The Deep Play Institute is not able to provide accommodations for out-of-town participants. DPI is also not able to refund any travel or housing costs in the unlikely event of cancellation.
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.
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 [ [email protected] ] .
Maximum # of Participants for the intensive is 13.
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."