Let a double voice what you are not saying

A trusted person stands beside you and speaks, as "I", the feelings you are not expressing, and you keep only what fits.

Por que funciona

In doubling, someone stands to the side of or behind the protagonist, takes on their posture and emotional expression, and slowly voices the feelings, fears or motives the protagonist is not putting into words. The literature reviewed by Cruz and colleagues describes it as helping the protagonist express what they do not perceive or avoid saying, and helping them enter a scene more fully. In Ron's case report of an inpatient group, the double offered a line tentatively, the person hesitated, the double tried a different line, and the person confirmed it in their own words. The protagonist, not the double, decides what is true.

Como fazer

1. Choose a friend you trust and a situation from ordinary life, not the most painful thing you carry.
2. Talk about the situation. Your friend stands or sits slightly behind you, matching your posture.
3. From time to time your friend speaks as you, in the first person and tentatively: "I am angrier than I am letting on?"
4. If the line fits, repeat it in your own words. If it does not, say so and correct it. Your correction is part of the work.
5. Swap afterwards if you both want to, and spend a few minutes saying what it was like.

Evidência

Doubling is one of the core psychodrama techniques in Cruz et al.'s consolidation, and Blatner gives the double its own chapter. In Kipper and Ritchie's meta-analysis of 25 experimental studies, doubling and role reversal emerged as the most effective of the techniques compared. A clinical case report describes doubling and group sharing helping inpatients feel understood and less alone. (observational)

The meta-analysis tested doubling by trained directors and auxiliaries; doubling between friends is an untested adaptation. The literature notes that doubling well asks for physical flexibility and fine sensitivity from the therapist and auxiliary, so keep the friend version to everyday matters, and stop if a line lands so hard you feel flooded or lose track of where you are.

Fontes

• Kipper, D. A., & Ritchie, T. D. (2003). The effectiveness of psychodramatic techniques: A meta-analysis. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 7(1), 13-25.
• Cruz, A., Sales, C. M. D., Alves, P., & Moita, G. (2018). The core techniques of Morenian psychodrama: A systematic review of literature. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1263.
• Blatner, A. (1996). Acting-In: Practical Applications of Psychodramatic Methods (3rd ed.). Springer Publishing.
• Ron, Y. (2018). Psychodrama's role in alleviating acute distress: A case study of an open therapy group in a psychiatric inpatient ward. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2075.

Erro comum

The double turning into an interpreter who tells you what you "really" feel and insists on it. A double offers; you decide. A friend who cannot take a correction is the wrong person for this.