Welcome to the website of the conference ‘Forty years Elefthery's Psychodrama in Europe’, which took place in the Netherlands on 1, 2, 3 and 4 May 2008.
Doreen Elefthery was also present at the conference - and how! The main reason of the conference was to honour Doreen and Dean Elefthery. We did not meet her as a queen in a radiating centre, or as the transferential 'mother'. For many of us she remains the personal guide in Psychodrama therapy, with her gentle approach. She was among us with her striking - and very well known - direct attention and warm concern for everyone she met.
The conference was dedicated to the development and the different applications of the psychodrama method, since it was introduce in Europe by Dean and Doreen Elefthery 40 years ago. It was a geat opportunity to deal with, look back and reflect on the current state of several Psychodrama issues. One of us referred to the conference as a tree with many branches and as many blossoming flowers. The visitors also decribed it as a 'marketplace', offering so many fresh, spontaneous, vital, creative experiences, performances, and encounters. Also modern theoretical foundations of psychodrama were widely demonstrated in the 18 workshops.
Maybe the most important yield of the conference was the free floating dialogue between young and old, modern and classic, liberal and orthodox. It empowered us and gave us a something to look forward to. The inspiration will be carried on by a group of ca. 20 younger participants of the conference, who will create an interactive network or forum, through which the Dutch speaking psychodrama therapists will stay in touch and develop new ideas in the Elefthery tradition or otherwise.
For a short impression of the movie, made by Edith Wegman, watch the YouTube-clip above. The full length version (40 minutes), including the complete interview with Doreen Elefthery by Roberto de Inocencio, is available on dvd. The price is ca. € 10,- excluding postal costs. For more information or orders, please mail to edithwegman@planet.nl
This site will be updated with more information about the past conference and what it might have started.
A selection of photographs taken at the conference can be found on Flickr:
