Psychodrama, Personality Development and

Theory: The Phenomenological-Dialectical Personality Model (Phe-Di PModel)

The Phe-Di PModel has mainly grown from Verhofstadt-Denève's psychodrama group work with students and clients. Within the scope of this entry, it is impossible to elaborate the whole theory. Highlighted here are some theoretical accents and referral of the interested reader to other publications (Verhofstadt-Denève, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2003).

In this model, the phenomenological aspect refers to the unique subjective content that every human being attributes to himself or herself and to the surrounding world. The dialectical aspect, on the other hand, refers to the underlying process that gives rise to these contents and makes them develop.

The basic content of the model harks back to William James's I-Me-Self model. The Phe-Di PModel views the Person as a dynamic I-ME relation, in which the I (as subject) is capable of reflection on the ME (as object). For example, a person can reflect on his or her capacities and weaknesses. The possibility to reflect belongs to the I; the result of reflection (capacities and weaknesses) belongs to the ME.

Among the multitude of I-ME personality constructions, six major dimensions can be focused on, each corresponding with a specific question:

• “Who am I, with my potential and my shortcomings?” Answers to this question refer to the self-image.
• The question, “What are the others like?” refers to the alter-image.
• If, in this alter-image, one tries to form an idea of “how one's own person is viewed by the others,” one reaches the important sphere of the meta-self.

These three dimensions (the self-image, the alter-image, and the meta-self) are counterbalanced by three ideal images:

• The ideal self, with the corresponding question, “Who would I like to be or become?”
• The ideal alter, with the question, “What should the others be or become like?”
• The ideal meta-self, with the question, “How should the others perceive me?”

In this model, the ME is clearly a multivoiced self, with six main dimensions that can interact and be in conflict.

Moreover, in each dimension, a distinction can be made between an external aspect (the way we behave externally) and an internal aspect (what we think and feel at the same time).

As stated above, the six dimensions of the Person refer to the content or the result of the I-ME reflection; the dialectical component of the model refers to the underlying motivational process as a strong stimulus to personality development. One important consequence of this view is the positive interpretation of oppositions and conflict. This view is underpinned by follow-up research, therapeutic practice, and theoretical interpretation via dialectical developmental psychology (Brown, Werner, & Altman, 1998; Verhofstadt-Denève, 1985, 1997). The assumption is that the six dimensions of personality need to relate to each other as dialectical oppositions. This will be illustrated below in the discussion of action and drama techniques.

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