“The injured self” and the misery of Medusa - A research paper on female-specific psychodramatic trauma therapy

Abstract

This article is the result of a grounded theory applied to the psychodramatic understanding of dissociation and its therapy. As a warm-up to the topic the myth of Medusa inducts into the comprehension of scenes and symbols. The theoretical focus is on the psychodramatic perception of the developing self and on the aftermath of violation in the »self« structure caused by early complex traumata. The following part expounds the core concept called »Looking at the mirror together.« It was developed on two prototypical cases and outlines a principle in the psychotherapeutic treatment supporting integration, especially for women with injured »self« structure. As one of the results this shared external perspective could be rooted in the psychodramatic space of action as »mirror position«. The external perspective opens up a meta level which enables self-direction.