PSYCHODRAMA GROUP (October 2025)
A Weekly Drop-in Psychodrama Group in Portland, OR
Thursday Oct 16, Tuesday Oct 21, Monday Oct 27, Tuesday Nov 4 [7-9pm]
Wild Hearts Wellness 4230 NE Fremont St, Portland OR
$25-45
Wild Hearts Wellness 4230 NE Fremont St, Portland OR
$25-45
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. The center of psychodramatic practice is enacted with a group, whereby a director guides a participant (or “protagonist”) through a dramatic exploration of their psyche. Scenes of the past, present or future, conflicts and resolutions, and/or dynamics between inner parts, are all expressed through gesture, sound, movement and words and then mapped in physical space as participants (or “auxiliaries”) stand-in for parts or internalized others. The core method of psychodrama involves role reversals, whereby the protagonist oscillates dynamically between the roles in whatever scene they are exploring, thereby empathizing with their wild totality through dialogue. Directors typically guide a scene to not only repeat and reveal dynamics, but also modify them, allowing trauma to be re-negotiated through the power of our collective imaginations. A typical psychodrama lasts anywhere from 30-120 minutes.
Each session will involve a brief demo of a psychodrama-related technique, a warmup, the selection of one protagonist, the drama, and then shares at the end. Sessions are drop-in, however, registration closes the morning of each session. Participants must register online. And participation will always be capped at 15 participants. Doors will close 10-minutes after beginning in effort to create a safe container.
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 lifework (and PhD in relational practice) involves expanding 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 inspired by key theoretical aspects of Internal Family Systems. Finbloom has seen clients for over 5 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.
Disclaimer: While psychodrama can be incredibly therapeutic, this should not be considered a substitute for individual, one-on-one therapy. 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. We understand that therapy can be very expensive and trusted therapists are hard to find, and there might be some temptation to come to this group for that kind of care, but it is not designed for that kind of individual attention, and the ask is that you have some settledness and calm available (and external resources available to help you process) to you so we can play deeply together.
Illness Policy: If you aren't feeling well, please do not come. If you are getting over an illness please wear a mask.
Price: $25-45 based on what you can afford. If this price is too prohibitive for your given income, please email the facilitator aaron.finbloom@gmail,com and we can try to work something out.
Each session will involve a brief demo of a psychodrama-related technique, a warmup, the selection of one protagonist, the drama, and then shares at the end. Sessions are drop-in, however, registration closes the morning of each session. Participants must register online. And participation will always be capped at 15 participants. Doors will close 10-minutes after beginning in effort to create a safe container.
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 lifework (and PhD in relational practice) involves expanding 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 inspired by key theoretical aspects of Internal Family Systems. Finbloom has seen clients for over 5 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.
Disclaimer: While psychodrama can be incredibly therapeutic, this should not be considered a substitute for individual, one-on-one therapy. 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. We understand that therapy can be very expensive and trusted therapists are hard to find, and there might be some temptation to come to this group for that kind of care, but it is not designed for that kind of individual attention, and the ask is that you have some settledness and calm available (and external resources available to help you process) to you so we can play deeply together.
Illness Policy: If you aren't feeling well, please do not come. If you are getting over an illness please wear a mask.
Price: $25-45 based on what you can afford. If this price is too prohibitive for your given income, please email the facilitator aaron.finbloom@gmail,com and we can try to work something out.
TESTIMONIALS
FROM PAST PSYCHODRAMA INTENSIVES
"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."
"This was a fantastic workshop! Seeing internal experiences and dialogues played out physically was revelatory, and showed me how our internal worlds can be powerfully explored in a group."
"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."
"This was a fantastic workshop! Seeing internal experiences and dialogues played out physically was revelatory, and showed me how our internal worlds can be powerfully explored in a group."
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR
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Aaron Finbloom is a philosopher, artist, therapist, and educator whose work aims to expand transformative inquiry through relational games, role play, performance art, and conversation scores. He co-founded The School of Making Thinking (SMT) and is the founder and director of The Deep Play Institute (DPI). His projects have been featured internationally at venues such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Gallery 151 in New York, Maschinenhaus Kulturbrauerei in Berlin, UNAM in Mexico City, Performance Works Northwest in Portland, and MainLine Theatre in Montreal. Trained in Circling, Psychodrama, Buddhist Meditation, and Processwork, Aaron holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Humanities from Concordia University in Montreal and teaches philosophy at the City College of New York. www.finblooming.com.
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