DIMENSIONS OF CATHARSIS, DISCUSSION OF ZERKA MORENO'S LECTURE

Abstract

Every therapeutic operation has as its base or root a concept of man. As we have heard, the Morenean concept of catharsis rests on a ground different from the Freudian-Aristotelian view. Moreno views man as a creator seeking to free his spontaneity, breaking the shackles of restrictive conserves moving into action to define himself. Catharsis, then, involves action and further interaction.

Actional Catharsis may be viewed along three dimensions: the physical- situational, the temporal, and the role dimension.

Physical-situational dimension. In what place does the catharsis occur? For example sharing the moment with a protagonist who says about his father, "I wish he could have lived to see this. This is a part of my world that I could never share with him." In psychodrama this action can happen- breaking the conserve of the unfulfilled wish.