IN PERSON TRAINING!
Date & Time: Friday, December 18th from 9:00am - 5:15pm
Facilitators: Kate Merkle MPH, RDN, LCSW, PAT & Brittany Lakin-Starr, Ph.D.,TEP
Location: Nourishment Works, 3921 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
Lunch break: Together we’ll break for lunch. Enjoy complimentary snacks and beverages during our training day.
Contact: info@chicagopsychodrama.com
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Regular Rate: $260
Early Bird: $240 (ends 11/30/26)
Staff Rate: $240
Student Rate: $120
Early Bird Pricing Ends 11/30/26!
Wrapping Up 2026 with Gratitude: A December Psychodrama Training
As 2026 comes to a close, this experiential psychodrama training invites participants to pause, reflect, and honor the people, roles, experiences, and moments that have shaped the past year. Through the lens of psychodrama, sociometry, and role theory, we will explore gratitude not simply as a feeling, but as a lived and embodied experience that can deepen connection, foster resilience, and strengthen our capacity for spontaneity and renewal.
Through guided warm-ups, sociometric exercises, and psychodramatic action methods, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on meaningful relationships, acknowledge personal growth, and express appreciation for the roles and resources that have supported them throughout the year. Using techniques such as role reversal, doubling, concretization, and guided dramatic action, we will explore both spoken and unspoken gratitude while creating space to celebrate “wrapping up” 2026 and prepare for new beginnings in 2027.
Whether you are seeking personal reflection, professional renewal, or a meaningful way to close out the year, this training offers a supportive and engaging environment to connect with others, cultivate gratitude, and carry the strengths of 2026 forward into the year ahead.
What You’ll Learn
By the end of the day, participants will be able to:
Use core psychodramatic methods (e.g., doubling, role reversal, mirroring, concretization).
Describe how sociometry and role theory can be utilized to deepen awareness of personal strengths, supportive roles, and significant life experiences.
Identify at least two psychodramatic action methods that can be used to explore gratitude, appreciation, and meaningful relationships.
Practice psychodramatic techniques (e.g., role reversal, doubling, concretization, and guided dramatic action) and demonstrate how they can be incorporated into clinical practice to facilitate gratitude, reflection, and renewal.
Who Should Attend
This workshop is ideal for mental health professionals, drama therapists, educators, social workers, coaches, lawyers, nurses, physicians, and allied health professionals, managers, team leaders, and HR professionals and anyone interested in incorporating psychodramatic methods into their work. No prior experience is necessary—just a willingness to learn and participate.
Previous training in psychodrama and/or acting is NOT required. This training is designed to introduce new students to Psychodrama while also advancing the skills of those with prior training.
What to Expect
This highly interactive day will include:
Warm-up activities that build connection and prepare the group for embodied compassion work.
Guided psychodrama experiences focused on developing and exploring compassionate inner roles.
Opportunities to engage in personal reflection and professional skill-building within a supportive group.
Time for integration, discussion, and connection with fellow participants.
Opportunities to practice skills in small groups and receive valuable guidance and feedback from the trainers.
A lunch break will be provided, and complimentary snacks and beverages will be available throughout the training.
Psychodrama has been used all over the world in many different clinical settings and has helped in the treatment of mood disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse, trauma, chronic mental illness, and relational issues.
Facilitators
Brittany Lakin-Starr, Ph.D.,TEP and Kate Merkle, LCSW, MPH, RDN, PAT, are board certified psychodramatist and experienced trainers of psychodrama and sociometry. Attendees will have opportunities to practice skills in small groups and receive valuable guidance and feedback from the trainers. Participants can expect to gain a deeper understanding of the psychodrama approach and will develop the skills necessary to incorporate these tools into their own professional work.
Continuing Education (CE) Credits
This training provides 7 CEs for Illinois Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors, U.S. Registered Dietitians (RD/RDN), Diet Technician Registered (DTR, NDTR), and Public Health professionals (CPH).
Psychodrama Training Hours
Additionally, this training offers 8 psychodrama training hours for students who are working toward the American Board of Examiners (ABE) certification in Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy. These hours are valid indefinitely.
Drama Therapy Training Hours
This training offers (1 credit/7 hours) of the required Psychodrama/Sociodrama credits/hours. For students in NADTA’s Registered Drama Therapist Alternative Training Program. All trainers are TEPs and PATs as required by NADTA.
