Psychodrama: A Humanistic Approach to Psychiatric Treatment for the Elderly

Elderly psychiatric patients confined to institutions frequently become increasingly isolated and debilitated. The verbal therapies and medications traditionally used to help remotivate patients have not been found to be as effective in dealing with these patients. Psychodrama and the tenets of sociometry, however, have been found effective. The author describes a psychodrama program at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., that has helped remotivate elderly patients and reintegrate them into a more active life in the hospital. The author provides a brief review of the literature and an introduction to the methodology and techniques of psychodrama, and presents two case studies of how the program has helped aged patients.