Experience of significant change for psychodrama audience members

Psychodrama is an action focused group therapy that works with psychological conflict through enacting the problem. Based on the theory of J.L. Moreno, this therapy is comprised of an extensive repertoire of therapeutic techniques. Audience members play a crucial role in the integration phase following an enactment and Moreno believed that therapeutic benefits occurred for both protagonists and audience members. Although the audience is one of Moreno's five instruments, almost no research has focused exclusively on the experience of audience members. This study explored the experience of significant change for six psychodrama audience members. Transcripts of interviews were analyzed employing Giorgi's (1985) existential-phenomenological method resulting in the emergence of five themes regarding the experience of change, three themes regarding the way in which audience members made meaning of their experience, and one theme each regarding evidence of change in daily life, perception of the way in which the experience evolves across several workshops, and the identification of factors influencing change. Results indicated that the experience was intense, cathartic, and a source of significant change and personal learning. Implications regarding audiences in general and psychodrama audiences specifically are discussed, and suggestions for further research are provided.Education, Faculty ofEducational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department ofGraduat