Towards the development of Helpful Aspects of Morenian Psychodrama Content Analysis System (HAMPCAS)

Abstract

The main goal of this study is to develop a system of categorizing what clients find helpful and hindering in psychodrama sessions using a patient-generated process measure, the Helpful Aspects of Therapy (HAT; Elliott, Helpful Aspects of Therapy Form. http://www.experiential-researchers.org/instruments/elliott/hat.html, 1993). An existing system, the Helpful Aspects of Experiential Therapy Content Analysis System (HAETCAS; Elliott, Helpful aspects of experiential therapy content analysis system (HAETCAS): Rating manual. Unpublished manuscript. Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, 1988), was adapted to psychodrama, by exploring to what extent its categories were applicable or not to this therapeutic approach. HAETCAS is meant to categorize each client identified therapeutic event from three aspects: action (to which the event refers to), impact (that the event had on the individual) and content (that the event is about). This study showed that the majority of impact and context categories of HAETCAS are potentially applicable to psychodrama. In relation to action, the results demonstrate the need for psychodrama specific categories, which would reveal theoretical aspects of this therapeutic model. An extended version of HAETCAS, which includes the categories of action specific to psychodrama was identified as HAMPCAS (Helpful Aspects of Morenian Psychodrama Content Analysis System). The implications of using it to analyze HAT data, for both therapists and clients will be addressed; highlighting the possibilities and drawbacks of routinely taking clients’ perspectives on board. This study is part of the IPHA Group (Sales et al., Counselling and Psychotherapy Research 14(3):181–191, 2014), an international practice-based research network dedicated to personalized assessment.