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BAMI Newsletter - March 31, 2026 |
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Greetings!
I am pleased to announce an upcoming offering on June 6-7, Cultivating Wisdom in Everyday Life: A Psychodrama Workshop for Personal Growth and Professional Development. The primary focus of this two-day workshop is on personal growth. Those with all levels of psychodrama experience are welcome and encouraged to attend. If you are new to psychodrama or to my work, this will be the perfect opportunity to meet me and experience a psychodrama weekend. If you are experienced with psychodrama, this workshop will provide an opportunity to do personal work and deepen your knowledge of psychodrama. Space is limited so please register soon to save your spot. Scroll to Upcoming Offerings for more information or register here, using a simple Google form.
Since October 2025, I have been enjoying working with the Psychodrama Training Cohort 2025-26. Our fourth and final weekend of the series will take place in April. Dates for the Psychodrama Training Cohort 2026-27 to begin in September will be available soon. Scroll to Upcoming Offerings for more information.
I am also presenting Re-Parenting the Inner Wounded Child: Embodying the Nurturing Parent Role for Trauma Repair at the annual Conference of the American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama (ASGPP) in Niagara Falls, NY on May 6-10, 2026. I highly recommend attending the conference with its many creative and innovative offerings and warm psychodrama enthusiasts! There is still time to register. Scholarships are available. Scroll down for more details, or click here to download the brochure from the ASGPP website.
Bay Area Moreno Institute students have formed multiple Peer Groups, for psychodrama practice and consultation. All groups are open to new members. Scroll to Peer Groups for more information.
Scroll to News From the Broader Psychodrama Community to see a 50th anniversary newsletter from the Board of Examiners of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy as well as information about the 2026 ASGPP conference including the workshop I am presenting, Re-Parenting the Inner Wounded Child: Embodying the Nurturing Parent Role for Trauma Repair.
If you are interested in learning A Bit Of Moreno’s Philosophy, scroll down to the last section.
Please reach out if you have any questions. Hope to see you soon!
Blessings,
Sylvia
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Cultivating Wisdom in Everyday Life:
A Psychodrama Workshop for Personal Growth
and Professional Development
In-Person: Saturday & Sunday, June 6-7, 2026, 9:30 am - 5:30 pm,
San Rafael, CA.
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With the passing years I stopped thinking of myself as a psychotherapist, because it became clear that I do not heal any psyches. Protagonists themselves do the healing. My task is to find and touch that "autonomous healing center" within, to assist and direct the protagonist to do the same. I am merely a guide in the wilderness, clearing away obstacles so protagonists can find their very own path.
Zerka T. Moreno
Each of us has inner wisdom. Yet, there are times when our wisdom seems distant and out-of-reach. Even when we know better, we find ourselves reacting with repetitive, unskillful patterns. We lose touch with the wise part of ourselves, with our autonomous healing center that truly knows what we need. How do we access our inner wisdom? What skills can we draw upon and develop to bring it forth? What blocks us from our inner knowing? What spiritual and other practices can help?
In a supportive group, we will access our deepest knowing and practice applying wisdom to our everyday interactions. We will use psychodrama, expressive arts and guided imagery to accomplish these goals and learn methods to work with ourselves and with others.
Professional Educational Goal (You do not need to be a professional to attend.)
Participants will learn psychodramatic methods to address blocks and access wisdom for personal growth and/or when working with clients.
Learning Objectives
After the workshop participants will be better able to:
- List three phases of every psychodrama
- List at two or more of the five elements of Psychodrama
- Describe the autonomous healing center
- Describe the benefits of role reversing with a wisdom figure
- Explain the importance of staying in the window of tolerance
- Utilize mindful body awareness when taking a role
- Discuss the importance of embodying a role
- Discuss the importance of the warm-up phase of psychodrama
- Discuss at least one application of a wisdom figure
- Demonstrate at least one method of self-regulation.
FEE: $450 by 5/2/26; $500 after.
Students (with full-time ID): $350 by 5/2/26; $400 after.
Full refund up to two weeks prior to first day of workshop. 50% one week prior. No refund thereafter. Payment plans available.
CONTINUING EDUCATION for LMFT, LCSW, LPCC, LEP, Psychologists and Registered Nurses is available. Additional fee applies. See website or registration form for more information.
INFORMATION: sylvia@imaginecenter.net (415) 454-7308
REGISTRATION: Click here to register directly.
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Psychodrama Training Cohort 2026-2027
September 2026 through June 2027
Approximately every other month over five weekends
More Information and dates will be available soon.
| | It Looks Like Magic - But You Can Learn It! | |
This is an in-person closed group, that will provide in-depth training for people seeking to expand their knowledge of the theory and practice of psychodrama, sociometry and group psychotherapy. Whether you are interested in bringing action methods into your work, pursuing psychodrama certification, or seeking an in-depth experience of psychodrama, this training will support you in taking your next steps.
The closed cohort training group creates a supportive, stimulating community of learners committed to personal and professional growth. The training group is a laboratory in which to develop spontaneity as a director, auxiliary, protagonist and group member. Special topics will be presented which might include sociometry, role development, spontaneity/creativity, playback theater, defenses and working with trauma. Trainees will have input into specific areas of study and numerous opportunities for directing.
Participants develop their skills as auxiliary and director through leading warm-ups, practicing psychodramatic techniques and interventions, and by directing vignettes and short psychodramas. Advanced trainees may have the opportunity to direct a full drama.
If you are interested in being part of the cohort, please let Sylvia know as this will help with planning. sylvia@imaginecenter.net
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Bay Area Moreno Institute (BAMI) Peer Groups | |
We are pleased to announce that BAMI trainees have formed three in-person Psychodrama Peer Practice Groups with the possibility of a fourth group in Marin, and one online Peer Consultation Group.
Membership is free and open to anyone with experience in psychodrama and an interest in further study and practice.
Each group welcomes new members. See descriptions below for details.
North Berkeley Psychodrama Peer Practice Group
We practice directing psychodrama: warm-ups, action and sharing. Many members are trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS). Elements of IFS are often integrated into the dramas.
When: 3rd Tuesday of the month, 6:15 - 8:30 pm.
Where: Private home in North Berkeley
Contact: Hannah Rudsten, hannahlmft@hannahrudsten.com 510.485.9757
Alameda Psychodrama Peer Practice Group
There is a 50-hours of psychodrama training requirement (or 45 hours from a Drama Therapy Program). This is mainly a closed group although newcomers who commit to at least 9-sessions per year are welcome. It is not a teaching group nor a space for personal work, although personal work does happen in the process of practicing. The focus is on psychodrama skills building.
When: 3rd Sunday of the month, 1 - 4 pm
Where: Church in Alameda
Contact: Daphne Ong, daphneong@gmail.com
San Francisco Psychodrama Peer Practice Group
We are currently practicing warm-ups, doubling, and psychodrama structures. We are building our skills to direct full psychodramas.
When: One Wednesday per month (either the 1st or 2nd Wednesday) 6:30 - 9:00 pm. Next meetings: April 1 and May 6.
Where: Private home in the Outer Sunset District.
Contact: Gabrielle, chezgabrielle881@gmail.com
Virtual Peer Consultation Group
Group members support each other in working with their clients, with an emphasis on integrating psychodrama into our sessions.
This is a small group and new members would be welcomed.
When: 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month 11:45 am - 1:00 pm
Where: Online via Zoom
Contact: Hannah Rudsten, hannahlmft@hannahrudsten.com 510.485.9757
Marin County Psychodrama Peer Practice Group
If you are interested in being in a peer practice group in Marin County
Contact: Pam Ross, pamelaross415@gmail.com
| News from the Broader Psychodrama Community | |
The American Board of Examiners of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy celebrated its 50th anniversary in December 2025. For this occasion, the Board published a special edition of its biannual newsletter with articles by two of the Board’s founders, Dale Richard Buchanan and Bob Siroka (interviewed by Louise Lipman). If you are interested in learning a bit about the Board’s history and development, I highly recommend these articles. The Board is a vital part of our profession as it oversees certification standards and examinations. The Board sets ethical standards and reviews ethical complaints. Before the Board was formed in 1975, these tasks were informally carried out by JL Moreno and Zerka.
Click here to read the special 50th anniversary newsletter.
Click here to visit the Board’s website.
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Re-Parenting the Inner Wounded Child Dialogue:
Embodying the Nurturing Parent Role for Trauma Repair
Presented by Sylvia Israel, LMFT, RDT/BCT, TEP
American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama (ASGPP)
Niagara Falls, New York Saturday, May 9, 2026
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We have within us our own first-born child. Our job is to reparent that child.
Dorothy Satten, PhD, TEP
Developing the role of the Nurturing Parent is an important aspect of trauma repair. Yet often we, and/or our clients, are at a loss for words and actions, unable to fully take the role. Psychodrama, somatic practices, movement and music will support us to embody our Nurturing Parent role and talk to and care for the Wounded Child. The Magical Child, the part of us that was never touched by trauma, will surely join us on the journey. Remaining in the window of tolerance will be essential for safety, spontaneity and healing.
Learning Objectives:
- Name two important aspects of the Nurturing Parent-Inner Child dialogue.
- Discuss the importance of assisting clients to stay in the window of tolerance in order to access spontaneity and heal.
| A Bit Of Moreno's Philosophy | |
I recently attended Berkeley Repertory Theater’s moving production of Arthur Miller’s 1946 play, All My Sons. The play explores themes of ethics, honesty and responsibility to one another. At the end of the play, the protagonist painfully realizes that his responsibility is not only to his family, but to all his sons, to all of humanity.
When reflecting on the play, I was reminded of the discussion at our March 14-15 psychodrama training about the underlying philosophy of Psychodrama. Moreno, a student of philosophy, was highly influenced by existential philosophy. Existential philosophy was popular in Vienna in the wake of WWI as people were searching for ways to make meaning of their lives in the midst of profound social, cultural, and psychological upheavals. As a young man he published Daimon (1918-20), a quarterly journal of existential literature. Existential philosopher Martin Buber was a contributor.
Moreno believed that our experience is the highest authority and that cultivating our individuality versus identifying with the cultural conserve (fixed behaviors or beliefs a group holds) is crucial for creating our own lives and the world we envision. He recognized that there is a strong temptation to escape the burden of our individuality by identifying with the cultural conserve and that, in spite of that pull, we need to choose what is true for us.
Alongside Moreno’s emphasis on individual choice, he also believed that we are not isolated beings. We develop our true potential through interacting and communicating. He emphasized the encounter and the belief that an individual achieves a realization of the self through the other. He taught that we are responsible for how we choose to live, not only to ourselves, but also to each other.
In the 1953 edition of Who Shall Survive? Moreno writes, A truly therapeutic procedure cannot have less an objective than the whole of mankind. This reflects Moreno’s expansive vision that therapy, should aim not just at individual healing, but at the transformation of society as a whole. Miller’s protagonist comes to recognize that the cultural conserve of only taking care of one’s family caused him to act in a way that hurt many others, including his own family. He had not had the opportunity to question his beliefs. Facing the truth of his beliefs and the consequence of his actions, was more than he could live with.
Thankfully, most of us are not faced with choices that involve life and death. Yet it is challenging to be spiritual beings having a human experience and it is not always obvious what course of action is best. Psychodrama provides a way to find our deepest truth and try out various actions. We can project ourselves into the future and explore the consequences of our choices. At the same time, we can explore the messages that fuel our choices, bringing awareness to our inner lives and our motivations. Through psychodrama, we learn to be more comfortable with making choices and practice making conscious choices for the highest good of ourselves and others. If only Miller’s protagonist had access to a psychodrama stage! Of course, that would be another story!
After many years of practicing psychodrama, I continue to feel fortunate to deepen my understanding of the philosophy and to be sharing the practice with others. If you have not experienced psychodrama, I hope you will give yourself that gift someday.
| What is Psychodrama and Who Should Attend? | |
What is Psychodrama? Psychodrama is an experiential method of exploring our private and public worlds in a multidimensional, creative way. It helps you to safely express feelings, develop insights and practice new, desired behaviors. Psychodrama meets you where you are in the present and assists you in contacting and developing the best that is within yourself. As a natural outgrowth, people experience a deeper connection and appreciation of others. Psychodrama emphasizes creativity and spontaneity rather than illness and pathology.
Who should attend? Bay Area Moreno Institute workshops are appropriate for those new to psychodrama, as well as experienced practitioners; anyone wanting to further their knowledge of psychodrama; and those seeking personal growth. No acting skills are needed and participation is at your level of comfort. Shy people are welcome.
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| |  | Sylvia Israel Board Certified Trainer, Educator and Practitioner of Psychodrama and Registered Drama Therapist/Board Certified Trainer, is adjunct faculty at CA Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and Kansas State University. Sylvia is cofounder of Bay Area Moreno Institute, IMAGINE! Center for Creativity & Healing and Bay Area Playback Theatre and is a past Board Member and Officer of the American Board of Examiners of Psychodrama. She is also a Certified Trainer in the Therapeutic Spiral Model of working with trauma, and a national and international presenter and trainer. Sylvia also uses psychodrama to help civil and criminal lawyers with trial preparation. She enjoys supporting clients in practicing self-compassion, awakening to their spontaneity and creativity, and living more fully in the present moment. Her work blends verbal and somatic therapy with drama, sandtray and other expressive arts. Sylvia has maintained a private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area working with individuals, couples, families and groups for 30 years.
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About Bay Area Moreno Institute
THE BAY AREA MORENO INSTITUTE for Psychodrama and Applied Expressive Arts and Action Methods (BAMI) is dedicated to promoting the training, practice and development of Psychodrama, its offspring action methods & philosophies, and related fields in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.
www.bayareamorenoinstitute.com
www.Imaginecenter.net
sylvia@imaginecenter.net
(415) 454-7308
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