Staging and Performing Dialogue: Employing the Theater Metaphor as a Methodological Strategy for Facilitating a Socratic Dialogue Group

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Abstract

A Socratic Dialogue Group (SDG) harbors human drama in the stories and reflections of its participants.Through the use of a theater metaphor, I theoretically expand the method and practical action of SDG, whereby a distinctive approach is developed that emphasizes the art and craftsmanship involved in facilitating Socratic dialogue. It also allows me to bring forth the particular dramatic circumstances of the participants and the communal effort of each individual player in the ensemble. The micro cosmos of SDG incarnates the living, moving world that theater represents. It connects the drama of an individual life to the larger-scale human stories of moral tragedies and the empowering resilience that we see depicted in great plays. In 2012-2013, I conducted three SDGs in connection with a research project involving seventeen rehabilitating cancer patients. In this article, I use these dialogues as a paradigmatic case to illustrate my theater metaphor.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftJournal of Humaniteis Therapy
Vol/bind6
Udgave nummer2
Sider (fra-til)137-168
Antal sider32
ISSN2233-7563
StatusUdgivet - 31 dec. 2015

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