5
Over the years—as I have been trained in it, been a client of it,
practiced it, and now train others in it—I find that it continues to be
one of the most effective therapeutic methods, especially work-
ing with addiction. I also found it to be a great fit with my Christian
faith, which was important to me.
Analyzing a problem and finding my faulty thinking can help
me understand how I make decisions that hurt myself or others,
but the crowning test is whether I do the same old thing when I
encounter a real life situation. In real life, I am in need of something
to bind the knowledge I have gained to my actions spontane-
ously. “This binder is the spontaneity, which the patient must be
able to summon with split-second swiftness when a life situation
calls for it.” (Zerka Moreno; The Many Faces of Drama). In ancient
Greek theater, the production of the play was designed to create a
“spectator catharsis.” Through identification, the audience member
saw the drama as an extension of his/her inner world. Experiential
therapy has its roots here and works in a similar manner. When
comparing the two, Tian Dayton writes, “The drama acts to stimu-
late similar issues from the audience or group members’ own lives
and bring them to the surface for a second look.”
Experiential therapy can take this one step further by provid-
ing a situation from the client’s real life story. Clients then get the
opportunity to more deeply understand what they feel when this
situation arises and how that drives their problem behavior or ad-
diction, even though they “know better” or it goes against their
core values.
When Jesus used parables and stories to teach, it allowed
people the freedom to relate to someone or something in the story
without becoming defensive, which usually happens when you and
I feel like we are being preached at. When something inside them
connected to the character, they could more easily feel convicted or
sense an internal shift with the character. Similarly, when people wit-
ness someone’s work in an experiential group, they often find that
it produces therapeutic work in them as well when they connect
with a part of the person’s story. This is one aspect of the power and
efficiency of experiential therapy; the one who is doing work at the
moment is not the only one who is doing work.
A false myth about experiential therapy is that its purpose is
merely to get a person to express feelings and have some kind of
big “abreactive catharsis.” That, however, is not at all true. That
would be just as harmful as showing a depressed client how his/her
thinking was faulty without helping the person recognize a more
rational way of thinking. The goal of experiential therapy is to bring
integration of our feelings, thoughts, and values into our behav-
iors, bypassing our defenses that so often trip up the therapeutic
process.
When people have unsuccessfully tried to quit using a behav-
ior or substance, they are usually perplexed as to why they cannot
stop. They have often been successful at many, or most, other
things in their lives up to this point, so why not this? Many people
who are addicted describe their emotions as exaggerated when not
medicated and, consequently, use the substance or behavior to try
to feel “normal,” at least after a while.
Experiential therapy helps people realize the feelings that
seem to drive the addiction, helps them get to the source of those
feelings, and facilitates healing that allows new options to be seen.
So, for instance, if someone is struggling with anger that often
results in acting out their addictive behavior, experiential therapy
attempts to create a safe environment where they begin to face
what goes on inside. Tian Dayton, in The Living Stage, puts it this
way, “We look not necessarily only for an abreactive catharsis, but
a catharsis of integration in which anger that has been split out
of consciousness can be felt, comprehended both for what it was
about and how it has affected the self-system and relationships.” As
people experience healing of the original wound, they often experi-
ence a healing in their relationship with God that plants them on a
recovery path based on their trust in the Lord instead of trying to
be in control once again.
Experiential therapy is a broad term that can include modes
such as psychodrama, art therapy, the use of music and movie clips,
equine assisted therapy, as well as others. Creating safety is essen-
tial when using experiential therapy and psychodrama and, there-
fore, being well trained is extremely important. Several research ar-
ticles on experiential therapy are listed below under “References.”
As clinical director at Onsite, I see this method being used daily to
help people find healing from core wounds that interfere with their
recovery, let go of control, and begin to trust God through the dark
times as well as the bright.
Bill Lokey, M.A.,
is Clinical Director of Onsite, which
conducts therapeutic groups and workshops in middle
Tennessee. He earned a master’s degree in Clinical
Psychology and is licensed as a Senior Psychological
Examiner. Bill has completed a 200-hour certifica-
tion as a Certified Trauma Therapist and is also a
level-three Certified Experiential Therapist. He leads presentations
around the country on trauma, codependency, experiential therapy,
and relationships.
References
Dayton, T. (1994). The Drama Within: Psychodrama and Experiential
Therapy. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications.
Dayton, T. (2005). The Living Stage. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health
Communications.
Klontz, B., Bivens, A., Leinart, D. and Klontz, T. (2007). The Effective-
ness of Equine-assisted Experiential Therapy: Results of an Open
Clinical Trial. Society and Animals, (15) 257-267.
Klontz, B., Wolf, E. and Bivens, A. (2001). The Effectiveness of a
Multimodal Brief Group Experiential Psychotherapy Approach. The
International Journal of Action Methods, (53, 3/4) 119-135.
Klontz, B.T., Garos, S. and Klontz, P. (2005). The Effectiveness of
Brief Multimodal Experiential Therapy in the Treatment of Sexual
Addiction. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, (12) 275-294.
Moreno, J.L. and Fox, J. (1987). The Essential Moreno: Writings
on Psychodrama, Group, Method, and Spontaneity. New York:
Springer.
Moreno, Z.T., Blomkvist, L.D. and R.tzel, T. (2000). Psychodrama,
Surplus Reality, and the Art of Healing. London & New York:
Routledge-Taylor & Francis.
“Experiential therapy helps people
realize the feelings
that seem to
drive the addiction, helps them
get to the source
of those feelings,
and facilitates healing that
allows new options
to be seen.”
