psychodrama

[ sahy-koh-drah-muh, -dram-uh, sahy-koh-drah-muh, -dram-uh ]

noun

1. a method of group psychotherapy in which participants take roles in improvisational dramatizations of emotionally charged situations.

psychodrama

/ ˌsaɪkəʊdrəˈmætɪk; ˈsaɪkəʊˌdrɑːmə /

noun

1. psychiatry a form of group therapy in which individuals act out, before an audience, situations from their past
2. a film, television drama, etc, in which the psychological development of the characters is emphasized

Derived Forms

• psychodramatic, adjective

Other Words From

• psy·cho·dra·mat·ic [sahy-koh-dr, uh, -, mat, -ik], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of psychodrama¹

First recorded in 1935–40; psycho- + drama

Example Sentences

In channeling John Frankenheimer’s 1966 psychodrama “Seconds” by way of “Beauty and the Beast,” Schimberg has delectably weirder, self-destructive plans for his made-over protagonist — a doom loop of personality disintegration as the past catches up with him.

From Los Angeles Times

Election night Fox is its own recurring psychodrama, so I’ll be fascinated to see what this next chapter looks like.

From Slate

In this mass psychodrama, there isn't a place for female leaders.

From Salon

The presence of so many members of the cabinet at the speech was meant to signal an end to the years of soap opera, psychodrama and unstable personality politics.

From BBC

An appropriately Bergmanesque psychodrama from writer-director Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, the grandson of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann, “Armand” unravels from an unseen “incident” between two primary school students.

From Los Angeles Times