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Regina Moreno – or Gina, as she liked to be called – was born in 1939 to Dr. J. L. Moreno, and his second wife, Florence Bridge Moreno. Her birth came after Dr. Moreno had already founded the Beacon Hill Sanitarium in Beacon, N.Y., which housed the innovative psychodrama theater. She grew up an only child until the age of 13, with the patients at the Beacon Hill Sanitarium as her friends and playmates.
Throughout her life, she remained deeply connected to her father’s work, participating in many trainings with her stepmother, Zerka, and frequently attending the annual ASGPP conferences, witnessing the ways in which psychodrama and sociometry continue to be utilized.
She also wrote “Who Will be There to Catch Me,” about her experiences after the death of her father, which was published the German publication Zeitschrift für Psychodrama und Soziometrie, in 2014. After Zerka’s death in 2016, she contributed “Growing Up with Zerka” for the special commemorative edition of ASGPP’s Journal of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama in 2017. After she became interested in the Family Constellations of Bert Hellinger – which shows some similarities with psychodrama and sociometry – her article “The Imagined Meeting of Bert Hellinger and J. L. Moreno” was published in The Knowing Field, the English-language journal of Family and Systemic Constellations, in 2018.
Gina made a major contribution to the history of the development of psychodrama and sociometry with her book, “Words of the Daughter: A Memoir,” published in 2021 and edited by Karen Carnabucci.
This book provides insight into the social atom of the Moreno family, including notable members of the extended Moreno family including her uncle William Moreno, who provided support to Dr. Moreno’s work, and Dr. Moreno’s mother, who Gina called “Omama.” Even more importantly, Gina is credited with bringing added information on the role her mother, Florence Bridge Moreno, and how Florence played in the development of psychodrama and sociometry.
In Gina’s memoir, Florence is revealed as a woman of accomplishment, present and active professionally during the early days of Moreno’s work in the United States, particularly at the New York Training School for Girls in Hudson, N.Y., where Florence worked as a student counselor. Florence, a psychologist in her own right, made significant contributions both in the integration of developmental issues in human development and in sociometric development and quietly used psychodrama and sociometry in her longtime career as a public school teacher and musician.
Gina is survived by her husband, Janos Kirz, Berkeley, Calif., and her children Miriam and Benjamin Zachariah, and brothers Jonathan Moreno and Robert Gunsher, and her cousin Joseph Moreno and their families.
Linda Condon, past president of the ASGPP, remembers the support Gina and her daughter Miriam have given to the ASGPP over the years, describing Gina as fun-loving and creative, with a beautiful singing voice and always willing to help when asked. She also was a great support to the Executive Council of the ASGPP in planning the memorial for Zerka Moreno.
Hosted by:
Miriam Zachariah, daughter of Regina Moreno, MA, TEP and
Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP
*This event will be recorded and posted on the ASGPP website.
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