By Nick Leung Kin Fai
Introduction: My Paradigm Shift from Classical to TSM
Completing the requirements for the Level 1 certification in the Therapeutic Spiral Model (TSM) has been deeply grounding for both my personal life and my clinical work. While my starting of training is classical psychodrama, I still have immense respect for the raw emotional power and catharsis of traditional psychodrama, directing it always gave me a lot of underlying anxiety about safety. The classical way of pushing a protagonist to re-experience their trauma scenes felt too risky, like walking a tightrope without any safety net.
Discovering TSM completely changed how I look at trauma work. It handed me a reliable, clinical map of safety. Reflecting on the five required workshops I attended between 2023 and 2026, I can see how integrating these TSM structures transformed me from a nervous director who just followed rules into someone who can hold a steady, authentic presence in the room.
The Structure of Safety: Having a Clear Map to Follow
One of my earliest breakthroughs during the Brain in Action and Trauma Triangle workshops back in September 2023 was realizing that clinical spontaneity actually works better when there is a strong structure. In classical psychodrama, the director has to rely almost entirely on pure intuition to guess the next step. TSM, on the other hand, gives us a concrete map: the Trauma Survivor’s Internal Role Atom (TSIRA).
What I appreciate most about TSM is that even though the initial phase of every workshop follows a predictable, structured protocol, it never feels rigid. It just feels safe. Knowing that we must always build up Prescriptive Roles—like the Containing Double or a Cluster of Strengths—before touching any raw trauma creates a vital protective buffer.
Having this roadmap allows me to dive into a drama without the constant fear of re-traumatizing someone. It stopped me from panicking about “What do I do next?” and allowed me to focus on “How do we make this space safer right now?”
Preventing Direct Exposure: Clinical Restraint as Healing
When I first started training, I assumed that real healing meant the protagonist had to physically and emotionally crawl back into the trauma scene. TSM completely shattered that belief by introducing me to the neurobiology of trauma and Polyvagal Theory. I realized that flooding a person’s brain with raw, overwhelming emotion doesn’t heal them; it just forces them to re-experience the terrifying helplessness of the original event.
The TSM rule of not letting the protagonist step directly back into the trauma scene is now the backbone of my clinical work. By using tools like the Compassionate Witness rather than a neutral observing ego (which I learned in April 2024), we give the protagonist a way to look at their past without being swallowed by it.
Learning to work with the Defense Manager in June 2024 also completely changed my attitude toward resistance. Instead of trying to break through a client’s defenses, TSM showed me how to talk directly to that protective part and negotiate a new contract of safety. This gentle approach to boundaries is what makes real emotional integration possible.
Holding Highly Sensitive Spaces: Incorporating TSM into the LGBTQIA+ Community
A major area where I have felt the profound necessity of TSM is in my work with the LGBTQIA+ community. This population often carries a unique layer of deep-seated trauma, frequently stemming from rejection, systemic oppression, and the constant, exhausting hyper-vigilance of living in a heteronormative society. Emotionally, the LGBTQIA+ community is often highly sensitive, as core wounds are tied tightly to themes of shame, identity corruption, and unsafe relationships.
In classical psychodrama, diving into these raw wounds can quickly feel too intense, sometimes triggering a defense response that shuts the protagonist down. This is where TSM shows up as a much more caring, holding structure. Because TSM prioritizes emotional containment over immediate catharsis, it creates a psychological cushion that honors this high sensitivity.
By building explicit prescriptive strengths—like the Containing Double or Compassionate Witness before touching the trauma—the client feels deeply respected, not forced. It allows individuals within the LGBTQIA+ space to gently unpack their stories without feeling exposed or judged, proving that clinical restraint is the ultimate form of care when dealing with marginalized, sensitive hearts.
The Power of Teamwork: Never Alone as a Director
In classical psychodrama, the director carries a heavy, isolating burden that entirely responsible for the emotional energy of the room. Moving into TSM’s team-based model actually washed that isolation away. Serving as a Trained Auxiliary Ego (TAE) in October 2025 and as an Assistant Director (AL) in Bali in June 2026 showed me how powerful a shared container can be.
The TSM habit of having a structured clinical check-in before and after every single workshop is a game-changer. It gives the team a real, vulnerable space to acknowledge our individual strengths and anxieties every single day.
For me as a trainee, this collective support means I am never stranded out there alone. If I get stuck, or if a protagonist gets trapped in their own pain, I can easily lean on the team or the group to offer strengths. TSM taught me to drop the heavy expectation of being an “all-knowing director” and trust that the group matrix always has my back—I just have to ask.
Internalizing the Body Double: Overcoming My Own Anxiety
The most personal shift for me has been learning how to use the Body Double (BD) internally. Originally, I learned about the Body Double purely as an external clinical role to help a protagonist regulate heavy somatic emotions so their brain wouldn’t get overwhelmed.
But over the course of this training, I started applying the concept of the Body Double to myself. Now, before I step in to direct—especially when I am feeling anxious about working with a new group of people—I pause and invoke an internal Body Double. I take a moment to notice where my own body is tightening up, anchor my breathing, and consciously call on my inner strengths.
This simple internal check-in has drastically lowered my baseline anxiety as a director. By learning to somaticize my own safe container, I can step onto the floor feeling steady and grounded, projecting a calm energy that helps the entire room regulate.
Future Horizons: Bringing TSM to the Community
Looking ahead, my goal is to take these Level 1 TSM safety structures and bring them directly into independent community initiatives in Hong Kong. I plan to approach non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to build safe therapeutic spaces for marginalized groups.
Specifically, I want to create groups for the LGBTQIA+ community dealing with family rejection and relational trauma, as well as support groups for people will chronic illness (as myself as a cancer survivor) and carer navigating long-term somatic fears.
