Paper Example on Roleplaying: A Therapeutic Tool for Self-Exploration

Introduction

It is a form of therapy whereby an individual performs their challenges as part of an act to investigate and come up with an appropriate solution. Jacob Moreno is the pioneer of roleplaying. He was a psychologist and his study focus on the notion that an individual gets the best from themselves by performing in front of other people. The whole process consists of three parties. They include the individual, the therapist and an audience. It goes down in a group setting, where they all know each other, and they are seeking solutions to their problems (Ariel, 2019). The group's responsibility is to react like it was a real-life event. It is crucial to get as much from the real situation to get the real picture. The group members in a specific act represent the personas of the people in the individual's life. Several other techniques can fuse with roleplaying. They include a projection of the future, mirroring, doubling and reversing roles (Daniel, 2019).

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The counsellor is responsible for guiding the whole process. They set up the scene and organize the actors. During this process, they support the protagonist, who is the main actor, emotionally (Ferro & Byers, 2017). They guide the stage, so the protagonist gets help from it during and after the event. Before the process, the counsellor makes sure the players of the scene warm up. It is necessary to set a conducive environment for them to cooperate to get the best out of them. In this environment, everyone trusts each other, and they all believe the counsellor (Halfon et al., 2016). It is essential because some experiences are personal and may affect other actors apart from the protagonist. During the process, the main actor gets advice and support from everyone, not the counsellor alone (Hartwig & Bennett, 2017).

Research questions

• How can role play be more productive?
• What are the goals of roleplaying?
• Where is roleplaying useful?
• How does role play work?

Research objectives

• The research aims to find out how to make roleplaying more effective to get the best results.
• The research analyzes the goals of roleplaying to find out why its implementation is essential.
• The research gives the importance of using roleplaying as a mode of counselling or therapy.
• The research deciphers the processes that make up roleplaying.

Statement of the problem

Therapy is an essential factor in mental health. There are many ways of doing therapy, and they all have different rates of effectiveness or success. Roleplaying is a unique form of treatment, therefore; it is essential to know what is about and how to make it more effective.

Literature review

Effectiveness of roleplaying

Role-play is useful in activities in people's lives. They use it to prepare for events like interviews and practice by creating scenarios. Role-play breeds confidence and is helping to make up for unexpected situations (Locatelli, 2020). Role-play adds a different touch in counselling. It allows an individual to discover their feeling and learn to let go and get lessons from it. It also boosts confidence, consequently improving socializing skills. The following tips are useful to get the best out of roleplaying for counselling (Paderno et al., 2020).

The first step is to isolate the situation. It sets the tone for a discussion basing on the same. Everyone in the group can participate in the debate and contribute more information which can be helpful for counselling (Powell, 2016). Dialogue creates a comfortable environment for everyone willing to assist. Next is to get all the details of the situation. It is crucial to develop a very close scenario resembling the real event. Features are essential to guide the whole process to give the best results (Ray & Robinson, 2019).

The next step is to give roles to the group members, and they are essential for everyone in the group. They are not only doing it for the protagonist but for themselves too. Switching roles can also be an advantage to the group. It brings out different emotions and ideas on how to deal with the situation. Finally, they set off the acting scene. Approaches within the scene are flexible. It is essential to be like so to get the most out of one situation. After acting, a discussion is necessary to summarize the whole process and identify the main points from the scenario.

The goal of role play

The main objective of role play is to help an individual overcome their feelings. Its mostly fear which is a result of another feeling or a collection of them (Salter et al., 2016). A therapist is responsible for making sure a patient changes and develops a new mentality to tackle the same in the future. These fears can be as a result of a traumatic event (Shirazi, 2017). The therapist must come up with the best way to make the protagonist comfortable to let go of these memories and phobias. After the counselling session, an individual can apply the knowledge they gain in their lives (Stewart et al., 2016).

Application of role play

Role-play is useful for counselling individuals with social anxiety. It is not the only phobia, but it is applicable in any of them. Mostly, people have these phobias as a result of adverse events in their lives while others come naturally to them as there is no specific reason. Role-play allows collaboration between the therapist and the individual to do away with these fears (Stutey et al., 2019).

How it works

Role-play exposes an individual to a scenario that disturbs them. They learn how to deal with it through advice from the therapist about the situation. It involves the use of relaxation methods to reduce anxiety, and the therapist analyzes the status. Some medications accompany role play, but it is only in severe cases (Swank, 2018). An example is antidepressants to relieve social fears. Role-play teaches an individual to relax as a way of desensitization. Relaxation is an essential factor for role play to work (Thanasiu et al., 2018).

Significance of the study

The study gives an in-depth analysis of all aspects of roleplaying in counselling. It is essential to follow all the details to get the best out of the process. It explains how it works from a patient's perspective and ways which a therapist can better their trade. It shows the relevant areas of role play. It is best for social anxieties but also for other phobias.

Research methodology

The methodology in the research is qualitative. It involves the use of interviews and document review. Professional counsellors provide more insight into how role play works from their experience. Roleplay is practical and is different from most therapy sessions which involve sitting and doing interviews every time. Document review provides more knowledge from previous research on role play. They are collections of peer-reviewed articles, and it gives opinions from various professional counsellors and researchers.

References

Ariel, S. (2019). The therapeutic powers of play, revisited. Integrative Play Therapy with Individuals, Families and Groups, 108-116. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429198151-13

Daniel, S. (2019). Play therapy and Polyvagal Theory. Becoming and Being a Play Therapist, 234-246. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203711224-18Ferro, M. J., & Byers, J. G. (2017). Expanding the Range of Puppetry in Expressive Play Therapy. Advances in Psychology, Mental Health, and Behavioral Studies, 158-181. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-2224-9.ch010

Halfon, S., Cavdar, A., Orsucci, F., Schiepek, G. K., Andreassi, S., Giuliani, A., & De Felice, G. (2016). The Non-linear Trajectory of Change in Play Profiles of Three Children in Psychodynamic Play Therapy. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01494

Hartwig, E. K., & Bennett, M. M. (2017). Four approaches to using sandtray in play therapy supervision. International Journal of Play Therapy, 26(4), 230-238. https://doi.org/10.1037/pla0000050

Locatelli, M. G. (2020). Play therapy treatment of pediatric medical trauma: A retrospective case study of a preschool child. International Journal of Play Therapy, 29(1), 33-42. https://doi.org/10.1037/pla0000109

Paderno, D., Piana, E. A., Bodini, I., & Villa, V. (2020). Medical Play Therapy: Development of the JUNIOR-MRI Role Play. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering, 219-226. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41200-5_24

Powell, M. A. (2016). Using Developmental Play to Build Affective Social Competence. Not Just for Children: Interdisciplinary Explorations of Play. https://doi.org/10.1163/9781848884984_002

Ray, D. C., & Robinson, H. (2019). The Clinic as the Classroom. Advances in Psychology, Mental Health, and Behavioral Studies, 109-130. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-8226-7.ch004

Salter, K., Beamish, W., & Davies, M. (2016). The effects of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) on the social and emotional growth of young Australian children with autism. International Journal of Play Therapy, 25(2), 78-90. https://doi.org/10.1037/pla0000012

Shirazi, M. (2017). The Effect of Social Skills through Role-play on the Self-concept of Students with and without ADHD. New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(7), 01. https://doi.org/10.18844/prosoc.v4i3.2617

Stewart, A. L., Field, T. A., & Echterling, L. G. (2016). Neuroscience and the magic of play therapy. International Journal of Play Therapy, 25(1), 4-13. https://doi.org/10.1037/pla0000016

Stutey, D. M., Klein, D. E., Wubbolding, R. E., & Dunnigan, N. (2019). Therapists' perceptions of the reality play therapy model. International Journal of Play Therapy, 28(2), 69-78. https://doi.org/10.1037/pla0000092

Swank, J. M. (2018). Peer feedback within a play therapy course: A qualitative exploration. International Journal of Play Therapy, 27(1), 25-34. https://doi.org/10.1037/pla0000060

Thanasiu, P. L., Rust, K. L., & Walter, S. M. (2018). Service learning and live supervision as early components in play therapy training. International Journal of Play Therapy, 27(2), 103-113. https://doi.org/10.1037/pla0000069