Psikodrama ve Nörobilim: Duygu, Eylem ve Beyin Arasındaki Köprü

Öz

Psikodrama, bireylerin geçmiş yaşantılarını, güncel çatışmalarını ve geleceğe yönelik beklentilerini canlandırmalar aracılığıyla ele almalarını sağlayan, eylem temelli bir psikoterapi yöntemidir. Moreno tarafından geliştirilen bu yaklaşım, spontanlık, yaratıcılık, katarsis ve tele gibi temel ilkeler üzerine kuruludur. Son yıllarda psikoterapötik yöntemlerin nörobilimsel temellerine yönelik artan ilgi, psikodramanın da beyin işlevleriyle ilişkisini araştırmaya yöneltmiştir. Bu derlemede, psikodramanın temel ilkeleri ve evreleri (ısınma, eylem, paylaşım) ile başlıca teknikleri (rol değişimi, aynalama, eşleme) nörobiyolojik karşılıklarıyla ele alınmaktadır. Bulgular, psikodrama süreçlerinin prefrontal korteks, limbik sistem, ayna nöronlar ve dil merkezleri gibi farklı beyin bölgelerinin bütüncül aktivasyonunu içerdiğini göstermektedir. Travma odaklı psikodrama uygulamaları, sağ–sol beyin yarımküreleri ile kortikal ve limbik sistem arasındaki entegrasyonu güçlendirerek travmatik anıların yeniden işlenmesini ve dönüştürülmesini kolaylaştırmaktadır. Grup dinamikleri ise paylaşım ve empati süreçlerini destekleyerek terapötik etkinliği artırmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, literatürdeki çalışmaların büyük ölçüde küçük örneklemlerle sınırlı olması ve randomize kontrollü çalışmaların yetersizliği, elde edilen bulguların genellenebilirliğini sınırlandırmaktadır. Daha kapsamlı ve deneysel araştırmalarla desteklenmesi halinde, psikodramanın nörobiyolojik mekanizmalarının daha açık biçimde ortaya konabileceği ve klinik uygulamalara güçlü katkılar sunabileceği öngörülmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• psikodrama
• nörobilim
• yaratıcılık

Psychodrama and Neuroscience: Bridge between Emotion, Action, and the Brain

Öz

Psychodrama is an action-based psychotherapy that enables individuals to explore their past experiences, current conflicts, and future expectations through dramatic enactments. Developed by J. L. Moreno, this approach is grounded in core principles such as spontaneity, creativity, catharsis, and tele. In recent years, increasing interest in the neuroscientific foundations of psychotherapeutic methods has led to investigations into the relationship between psychodrama and brain functions. This review examines the fundamental principles and phases of psychodrama (warm-up, action, sharing), as well as key techniques (role reversal, mirroring, doubling), in relation to their neuroscientific counterparts. Findings indicate that psychodrama processes involve the integrated activation of diverse brain regions, including the prefrontal cortex, limbic system, mirror neurons, and language centers. Trauma-focused psychodrama appears to facilitate the reprocessing and transformation of traumatic memories by strengthening integration between the hemispheres and between cortical and limbic structures. Group dynamics further enhance therapeutic effectiveness by reinforcing processes of sharing and empathy. However, the generalizability of current findings is limited by the predominance of small sample sizes and the scarcity of randomized controlled trials. With more comprehensive and experimental studies, the neuroscientific mechanisms of psychodrama may be elucidated more clearly, providing stronger contributions to clinical practice.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• psychodrama
• neuroscience
• creativity

Kaynakça

1. Altınay, D. (2015). Psikodrama grup psikoterapisi el kitabı [Psychodrama group psychotherapy handbook]. Epsilon Yayınları.
2. Baker, F. A., Metcalf, O., Varker, T., & O’Donnell, M. (2018). A systematic review of the efficacy of creative arts therapies in the treatment of adults with PTSD. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 10(6), 643–651. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000353
3. Bilik, E. (2019). Neuropsychodrama: What is happening in our brains in psychodrama? Revista Brasileira de Psicodrama, 27(2), 165–173.
4. Dayton, T. (2016). Neuropsychodrama in the treatment of relational trauma: Relational trauma repair—An experiential model for treating posttraumatic stress disorder. The Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy, 64(1), 41–50.
5. Dökmen, Ü. (2017). Sosyometri ve psikodrama: Kuramsal temeller, uygulama örnekleri ve yeni yaklaşımlar. Remzi Kitabevi.
6. Gallese, V. (2001). The shared manifold hypothesis: From mirror neurons to empathy. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 8(5–6), 33–50.
7. Geçtan, E. (1976). Tiyatro yolu ile ruhsal tedavi: Psikodrama. Tiyatro Araştırmaları Dergisi, 7(7), 103–112.
8. Giacomucci, S., & Marquit, J. (2020). The effectiveness of trauma-focused psychodrama in the treatment of PTSD in inpatient substance abuse treatment. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 896. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00896

9. Goldman, A. I. (2006). Simulating minds: The philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience of mindreading. Oxford University Press.
10. Hug, E. (2013). A neuroscience perspective on trauma and action methods. In K. Hudgins & F. C. Toscani (Eds.), Healing world trauma with the therapeutic spiral model (pp. 41–56). Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
11. Moreno, J. L. (1955). Theory of spontaneity-creativity. Sociometry, 18(4), 286–320.
12. Fonseca, J., & Sacks, J. M. (2004). Contemporary psychodrama: New approaches to theory and technique (1st ed.). Routledge.
13. Kaner, S. (1990). Psikodrama: Kuram, teknik ve araçlar. Ankara Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi, 23(1), 363–373. https://doi.org/10.1501/Egifak_0000000790
14. Kellermann, P. F. (1994). Role reversal in psychodrama. In P. Holmes, M. Karp, & M. Watson (Eds.), Psychodrama since Moreno: Innovations in theory and practice (pp. 263–279). Routledge.
15. López-González, M. A., Morales-Landazábal, P., & Topa, G. (2021). Psychodrama group therapy for social issues: A systematic review of controlled clinical trials. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(9), 4442. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094442
16. Marmarosh, C. L., Sandage, S., Wade, N., Captari, L. E., & Crabtree, S. (2022). New horizons in group psychotherapy research and practice from third wave positive psychology: A practice-friendly review. Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process, and Outcome, 25(3), 643–654. https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2022.643
17. Moreno, J. L. (1953). Who shall survive? Foundations of sociometry, group psychotherapy and sociodrama. Beacon House.
18. Nolte, J. (2018). Psychodrama and creativity in education. In P. Duffy & E. Vettraino (Eds.), Creativity in theatre: Theory and action in theatre/drama education (pp. 191–207). Springer.
19. Orkibi, H. (2025). Psychodrama: A creative method to survive and thrive. Cambridge University Press.
20. Özbek, A., & Leutz, G. (2003). Psikodrama: Grup psikoterapisinde sahnesel etkileşim. Abdülkadir Özbek Psikodrama Enstitüsü Yayınları, 71–111.
21. Panksepp, J. (2004). Affective neuroscience: The foundations of human and animal emotions. Oxford University Press.
22. Pies, R. (2008). Summoning the muse: The role of expressive arts therapy in psychiatric care. Psychiatric Times, 25(1), 10–11.
23. Riessman, F. (1965). The helper therapy principle. Social Work, 10(2), 27–32.
24. Ron, Y. (2022). The role of group sharing: An action research study of psychodrama group therapy in a psychiatric inpatient ward. Psych, 4(4), 626–639. https://doi.org/10.3390/psych4040048
25. Sacks, J. M., & Fonseca, J. (2004). Contemporary psychodrama: New approaches to theory and technique. Routledge.
26. Schützenberger, A. A. (2012). Psikosoybilim (K. Kahveci, Çev.). Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları.
27. Şimşek, Ç., Yalçınkaya, E. Y., Ardıç, E., & Yıldırım, E. A. (2020). The effect of psychodrama on the empathy and social anxiety level in adolescents. Turkish Journal of Child & Adolescent Mental Health, 27(2), 85–91. https://doi.org/10.4274/tjcamh.galenos.2020.69885
28. Vieira, F., & Risques, M. (2013). Psychodrama and psychopathology: Purposefully adapting the method to address different pathologies. In C. Baim, J. Burmeister, & M. Maciel (Eds.), Psychodrama (pp. 247–260). Routledge.
29. Yaniv, D. (2012). Dynamics of creativity and empathy in role reversal: Contributions from neuroscience. Review of General Psychology, 16(1), 70–77. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026580