This study, published in the Zeitschrift fur Psychodrama und Soziometrie, aimed at exploring the benefits of an empowerment-oriented psychodrama group programme for young people in care, which was introduced to improve their preparation process for their transition into adulthood. The research design of the current study, which is part of broader action research project that began in 2005, is qualitative and uses as its research methodology Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The sample consisted of 6 young women from one residential centre and one psychodramatist. Data were collected using phenomenological interviews with the young people and the psychodramatist and the psychodramatist’s report. The interpretative phenomenological analysis led to a matrix of four themes: “beginnings”, “what helped me most …”, “I found it hardest …”, “Myself before, myself now”. Results showed that, in the perception of young people, the main benefits of participating in the programme were: developing personal strengths (talking about one’s life, accepting one’s personal history, courage, self-esteem, self-expression) and interpersonal strengths (trust, openness, listening, acceptance of others, being less judgmental, collaboration skill). The most helpful techniques were role play, role reversal, encounter, mirror and warm-ups. A key result was the changing of roles within the safety of the psychodrama group context; from playing the superior, being aggressive, or inhibited as protective and coping mechanisms, to acting out the role of empathic listener, being supportive and generous. The results hints that these achievements are part of the prescriptive roles of restoration: personal strengths, as part of one’s identity; and interpersonal strengths for the young people, that have been traumatized as children, helping them recapture a sense of interpersonal trust. The implications for leaving care services and professionals are discussed.