Healing a Mother's Emotional Pain: Protagonist and Director Recall of a Therapeutic Spiral Model (TSM) Session

Abstract

The authors present a Therapeutic Spiral Model (TSM) case study, illus- trating the healing process of a protagonist working through emotional pain associated with a breakdown in her relationship with her daughter. TSM is a form of psychodrama that is structured to manage overwhelming affect and avoidance mechanisms found in trauma survivors. It could have a broader application to working through the avoidant responses that are a part of unresolved painful emotional experience. From recall by the director and protagonist, the authors concluded that classical psychodrama techniques assisted the protagonist to resolve feelings of grief and guilt, enabling her to develop new ways of responding that she may be able to take into future interactions with her daugh- ter. TSM prescriptive roles of restoration and containment helped the protagonist to develop a sense of hopefulness during the drama and reduce defensiveness. Structures that allowed the affective responses of another group member to be incorporated into the protagonist's drama facilitated a fuller resolution for the protagonist. IN THIS ARTICLE, WE PRESENT THE WORK OF A PROTAGONIST in a Therapeutic Spiral Model (TSM) session, as she addresses the emotional pain associated with the breakdown in her relationship with her adult daugh- ter. TSM is an adaptation of psychodrama, developed to enable groups to work with potentially overwhelming traumatic material without being retrau- matized (Hudgins, 2002). Our intention is to illustrate the protagonist's healing process, as recalled by the protagonist and the director. We describe how the method assisted this