by Linda Ciotola, M.Ed. CHES, CP/PAT
(This article was excerpted from its first published version and copyrighted in The Journal of Group Psychotherapy, Psychodrama and Sociometry, Vol. 59, Spring 2006.)
The Body Dialogue is an action structure which can be used with clients in private practice as well as in groups. Read more
Containment: The Key to Safety
Action Methods with the Therapeutic Spiral Method
September 26-28, 2014
Co-Sponsored by Bay Area Moreno Institute
San Rafael, CA
Sylvia Israel, MFT, RDT/BCT, TEP
Kate Hudgins, PhD, TEP
sylvia@imaginecenter.net www.drkatehudgins.com
www.bayareamorenoinstitute.org
www.imaginecenter.net
6 Safety Structures (Cox 2001)
1. Observing Ego (OE)
The OE role is a neutral cognitive role that is non-judgmental whether you are following your intent for healing or getting stuck in a trauma pattern during a session. One cannot heal if all energy is going into self-blame, shame, or defenses such as dissociation and denial or acting out with addictions or eating disorders. The OE is an important role to first establish in all trauma healing or nothing else can occur. Also the OE keeps a cognitive role available at all times in case someone gets triggered into defenses of dissociation, regression, etc. during experiential work. Then they can be immediately role reversed into the OE to balance thinking and feeling.
TSM Six Safety Action Structures
American Society for Psychodrama,
Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy
April 2014, Oakland California
Kate Hudgins, Ph.D., TEP
The TSM Six Safety Action Structures have been developed and used to concretize spontaneity and provide containment and group cohesion for all Therapeutic Spiral Model (TSM) groups for several decades now (Hudgins & Toscani, 2013). The original paper on these safety structures (Cox, 2001) is available on my website at www.drkatehudgins.com. This handout is an expansion on the original use of the structures with examples of how they can be used in individual, couples, group and family therapy, as well as in communities and organizations. At the workshop, they are presented in action just as they would be used to start a TSM group in any of the above settings.
