Did you know?

The original version of Psychodrama, Volume 1 was published in 1946. The full title was, and is, Psychodrama. Volume 1. Psychodrama and Group Psychotherapy. Beacon House, Beacon, New York.

I first read the fourth edition (published in 1972, two years before Moreno's death) Psychodrama. Volume 1. Psychodrama and Group Psychotherapy. Fourth Edition with New Introduction. Rather a mouthful, yet very appropriate and this was followed by an introduction to the third edition, which the reader will find full of role theory, essential reading for the interested trainee or any psychodrama lover. My earliest personal copy of Psychodrama, Volume 1, was the seventh edition, a paperback version, published in1985.

Curiously there has been some confusion in the literature regarding the title of Psychodrama. Volume 1. Sometimes I have seen it referred to as Psychodrama, Vol. 1 and also I have seen it referenced as Psychodrama and Group Psychotherapy. The eighth paperback edition (1994) published by the ASGPP (American Society of Group Psychotherapy) proclaims it thus. On the front cover, it reads in this order; J.L.Moreno. First Volume. Psychodrama and Group Psychotherapy, yet on the inside page it reads: Psychodrama. First Volume. Fourth Edition with New Introduction. I wasn't able to find anywhere in that edition that it actually was the 9th edition but I worked that out by deduction. I could be wrong.

Nevertheless, the 'whole' title of the first volume is important to note for the curious or avid psychodrama reader, or for those that care about such things because there are two more volumes on psychodrama and its applications; Psychodrama. Second Volume. Foundations of Psychotherapy and Psychodrama .Third Volume. Action Therapy and Principles of Practice. The latter volumes were written in collaboration with Zerka T. Moreno (nee Toeman). Zerka also co-authored "The Group Approach in Psychodrama" in Volume 1. (Section 8: Sociodrama, pp.322-325). All three volumes are highly significant theoretically, conceptually, and in practice. I recommend them all.

In the First Volume, Moreno and his second wife, Florence B. Moreno (nee Bridge) co-authored, "The Spontaneity Theory of Child Development" (Section 4: Principles of Spontaneity, pp. 47-80). Florence also co-authored "Role Tests and Role Diagrams of Children" (Section 5: Role Theory and Role Practice, pp.161-176).

For interest sake, several other people co-authored segments in Psychodrama, First Volume. Helen Jennings (who was instrumental in the success of the Hudson School for Girls program) co-authored "Spontaneity Training" (Section 4: Principles of Spontaneity, pp. 130-143). In section 6: Psychodrama, Abraham L. Umansky wrote the description of the "Beacon Model, 1936" while Francis Marriott and Margaret Hagen wrote the description of the "St Elizabeth's Model, Washington, D.C". In Section 8: Sociodrama, Paul Cornyetz designed, "Charts-Spectators in Psychodrama", and in Section 9: Therapeutic Motion Pictures, John K. Fischel co-authored "Psychodrama and Television", pp. 402-419).