Revisiting Morenian psychodramatic encounter in light of contemporary neuroscience: Relationship between empathy and creativity

Polarization of the biological and psychosocial aspects of the human condition has long created aloofness between psychotherapists and neuroscientists, and prevented an open dialogue regarding a possible integrative approach. While we know that mind and brain are inseparable, the complexity of one's unique subjectivity, moreover intersubjectivity, is not easily translatable to the complexity of the brain's chemistry and physiology. This overview incorporates current biological thinking about the relationship of mind to brain into the philosophy and techniques of psychodrama. J.L. Moreno's concepts of encounter and role reversal are considered in light of the recent advances in cognitive neuroscience regarding creativity and empathy. These two faculties seem to be associated with opposite functioning in the prefrontal cortex, empathy with activation and creativity with inhibition. Although the neural circuitry involved in the two phenomena would be more complex, evaluating these two mental processes within a neuroscientific framework offers a renewed outlook on psychodrama, including more sophisticated hypotheses of how psychodrama may affect brain functioning and vice-versa.

Research highlights▶ Encounter and role reversal refer to the ability to adopt the role of another person or thing. ▶ Empathy and creativity are core components of psychodramatic encounter and role reversal. ▶ Empathy and creativity are associated with opposite functioning in the prefrontal cortex. ▶ The intricate relationship between empathy and creativity during role reversal are discussed. ▶ The article's integrated approach exemplify the neurophenomenology of subjective and intersubjective experiences.