About the Congress
What Can Psychodrama Do?
Psychodrama emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, between the two World Wars, a period marked by profound social transformation. Through his observation of a society shaped by conflict and collective tension, Jacob Levy Moreno proposed an innovative vision: to understand and transform not only the individual, but also the relationships between people and society itself.
A truly therapeutic procedure cannot have less an objective than the whole of mankind.
Jacob Levy Moreno
For Moreno, true therapy cannot have a lesser objective than the totality of humanity, and Psychodrama can thus be understood, from its very beginnings, as a project that is simultaneously clinical, relational, and social.
More than a hundred years on, we once again find ourselves in a particularly demanding historical moment. Armed conflicts, humanitarian crises, political polarisation, online radicalisation, intense cultural tensions, and the growing materialisation of the climate crisis are all expressions of the multiple challenges of the contemporary world. Researchers have referred to this context as a polycrisis, in which different crises interconnect and reinforce one another, or as the expression of a deeper metacrisis, related to the many ways in which we organise societies, values, and the relationship between humanity and nature.
No adequate therapy can be prescribed as long as mankind is not a unity in some fashion.
Jacob Levy Moreno
In this context, it becomes increasingly clear that many contemporary challenges, including those that manifest in mental health, cannot be understood at the individual level alone, and must also be seen as expressions of collective, social, and cultural dynamics. Never before in history have these problems been discussed with such openness. A growing number of civic movements, community initiatives, and spaces for reflection on the future of our societies are emerging across the world.
Human beings can consciously create something new through spontaneous action in the here and now.
Jacob Levy Moreno
In a world where tensions are becoming ever more visible, perhaps the time has come to revisit one of Moreno's central ideas: the relevance of community, encounter, and the capacity to generate new responses to old problems. In celebrating the 40 years of the Portuguese Psychodrama Society (Sociedade Portuguesa de Psicodrama), this congress invites professionals, students, and the wider community to take part in a space of encounter, experience, and dialogue.
An invitation for us, together, to reflect:
What can Psychodrama do in the face of the State of the World?
Thematic Areas
The 17th Congress is organised around the following thematic areas, which framed the submissions of oral presentations, posters, and Psychodrama and/or Sociodrama workshops, experiential and/or educational in nature.
Theoretical and practical reflections on the role of Psychodrama in understanding current social transformations, including phenomena such as polarisation, violence, migration, the climate crisis, and emerging collective dynamics.
Psychodramatic approaches to psychological suffering today: anxiety, depression, burnout, isolation, identity, ADHD, eating disorders, the impact of social media, and cultural pressures.
Psychodramatic practices in community, educational, and organisational contexts. Sociodrama, sociatry, and psychodramatic methodology applied to promoting social cohesion, inclusion, and participation.
Exploring creativity as a tool for individual and collective change. Intersections between Psychodrama, the arts, and expressive practices.
Psychodramatic work with cultural diversity, gender, identity, and social inequalities. Reflections on inclusion, otherness, and social justice.
Empirical studies, theoretical reviews, research methodologies, and impact assessment of psychodramatic interventions.
Training processes in Psychodrama, contemporary challenges in the training of psychodramatists, and models of supervision.
Organising Committee
Honorary Committee
In 2026, the Sociedade Portuguesa de Psicodrama celebrates 40 years of history: a history made of people, of encounters, and a shared commitment to Psychodrama in Portugal. The Honorary Committee brings together founding members, former presidents, and members of the Training Committee who, over four decades, shaped the path of the Society, contributing to its consolidation, growth, and educational mission.
Founder · trained the first group of Portuguese psychodramatists
In Memoriam
The Honorary Committee also pays heartfelt tribute to the founding members and defining figures of the Sociedade Portuguesa de Psicodrama, whose memory and contribution live on in the history of Psychodrama in Portugal.