hypnodrama

n. a technique of psychodrama in which a hypnotic state is induced and the client, or protagonist, is encouraged to act out his or her relationships and traumatic experiences with the aid of auxiliary egos. Hypnodrama might be used to overcome a client’s resistance to dramatizing his or her problems in conscious psychodrama and to stimulate the revival of past incidents and emotional scenes in their full intensity. The technique is rarely used now. [introduced in 1959 by Jacob L. Moreno]

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Psychology term of the day

November 18th 2024

center–surround antagonism

a characteristic of the receptive fields of many visual and somatosensory neurons in which stimulation in the center of the receptive field evokes opposite responses to stimulation in the periphery. Thus, some neurons depolarize with center stimulation and hyperpolarize when the same stimulus appears in the surrounding region of the receptive field, whereas other neurons have the opposite pattern of responses. Center–surround antagonism greatly increases the sensitivity of the nervous system to contrast. See also off response; on response; simple cell.