1. The student must have passed the first degree exam and after having passed the first degree exam, he should have another 270 hours, that is totally at least 540 hours in an experiential-educational psychodrama group. The trainers may recognize a part of psychodrama lessons in some other psychodrama education, but the student should have at least 70% of psychodrama lessons in SPA Moreno education and he should meet the other terms. The Educational Board and the Examining Board may exceptionally approve of student taking the second degree exam without having passed the first degree exam. This is possible if the student has already had over 540 hours in an experiential-educational psychodrama group, if he has more than 4 years of psychodrama education, if he has at least 80% of hours in group analysis, that is at least 172 hours, but he should have the remaining part of psychotherapeutic experience in some other acknowledged psychotherapy, he should make enough psychotherapeutic advance, he should have at least 80% of the theoretical hours, that is 360 theoretical hours in SPA Moreno, but he should have the appropriate theoretical hours in some other psychotherapeutical school, that is enough theoretical hours of psychodrama and group psychotherapy as well as he should have written high quality papers. The student should have enough experience in group leading in his professional clinical work, he has to show good group leading from the beginning till the end in the role of a group director, he has to manage well the action scene part which should be in accordance with the necessary quality of the group leading for the first degree exam in an experiential-educational group. These are numerous and demanding terms and therefore a student might be freed from taking the first degree exam exceptionally rarely.

2. The student should have 214 hours of group analysis. If the student has less than 214 hours of group analysis, The Educational Board might approve of student making up a part of hours in some other form of group analysis. The trainers may recognize a part of psychotherapeutic experience in some other psychotherapy. The trainers assess student's psychotherapeutic advance.

3. The student should write:

a) my personal experience in a psychodrama group during the process of my own psychotherapy
b) my personal experience in group analysis during the process of my own psychotherapy
c) the comparison of psychodrama method and the group analysis method, in the theoretical and practical respect
d) the analysis of 3 or 4 psychodrama groups from which 2 or 3 of them the student candidate led.

4. The candidate was at least three or four times the protagonist.
5. The candidate led at least 3 action scene parts with the sharing after having passed the first degree exam. It is desirable that the candidate led at least one group from the very beginning.
6. The candidate successfully led the process at least four times. He should have at least a draft, text or a paper about the process which he led with the ideas of other students during the process. That part of the text should be written after the process took place. He should show that he understands the important group developments enough as well as the meaning of these developments in the group process. He should show that he understands the content and the process in psychodrama (Blatner).
7. The psychodrama trainers as well as the group analysts as trainers-collaborators assess how much the candidate advanced as a student director as well as in his personal psychotherapy, if the papers he has written are satisfactory and what he should still pay attention to before taking the exam.
8. SPA Board along with the trainers assess if the candidate has met the requirements, that is 540 hours in an educational-experiential psychodrama group, 214 hours of group analysis as the additional psychotherapy, 400 hours of theory, theoretical papers, the positive opinion of the trainers.
9. Theory. The candidate should have 400 hours of theory which consists of 45 to 50 sessions lasting 120 minutes respectively led by the trainers and of 40 sessions each lasting 120 minutes in students' study group. The rest of the theoretical hours consists of the theoretical papers and papers scheduled for the first and the second degree. An exception can be made if the candidate has met all exam requirements but he does not have the theoretical hours, he did not have the theoretical sessions during the education and he did not write the papers. The Educational Board and the Examining Board may allow the candidate to take the second degree exam but it is necessary that he has his theoretical hours and writes the papers later. If the student has enough theoretical hours from the psychodrama and group psychotherapy in some other psychotherapeutical school as well as well written papers, then a part of these lessons in some other form of psychotherapeutic education can be recognized. The trainers' board can come to the conclusion that it is necessary that the student takes an extra theoretical exam before the practical part of the second degree exam. But that decesion must have well grounded rationale.

E X A M : There must be three members of the Examining Board. The candidate leads the group from the beginning. Everything written for the first degree exam applies for the second and the third degree exam, too. The following text should be understood as a sequel, appendix. The candidate should facilitate the group developments and he has to show good clinical judgement. Perhaps he should explore and clarify on the psychodrama scene the important group developments when the group is well warmed up. He can initiate the group warming up when it is in accordance with the group developments. He should lead the group securely and safely enough, he should respond to the destructive manifestations in the group and he should follow the group members who have a genuine emotion. He chooses the protagonist in accordance with the group developments, but he also has to follow the rest of the group members because the psychodrama is a form of the group psychotherapy and from time to time all group members can partially become the protagonists. The student director should follow this or point to this when it is possible. Dependant on the group developments, the student most often leads the action psychodrama scene parts with one protagonist, but he can also lead two shorter psychodramas. He should have the satisfactory collaboration with the protagonist and the group. The choice of the scenes, the scene setting, following of the significant scene developments and introducing for the protagonist significant persons into the scene, the choice of the auxiliary egos shoud enable futher development of the scene. He should follow the interpersonal relationships on the scene, he should appropriately reverse the roles after the protagonist expressed himself in the chosen role enough. He should enable the protagonist to receive the double and to respond to the double spontaneously. He should enable the group to double creatively and he should not frustrate the group by not noticing the doubles if he turned his back to the group. But the student should also know how to stop the doubles and to explain that to the group if it is necessary. For example, the protagonist is intensely involved in the drama and if the doubles do not have good timing, they will overwhelm the protagonist who has no time to receive and process the doubles. He should also examine the need for doubling of a group part in case the doubles are more needed by that group part and if they represent their projections on the protagonist. This means that the student can both encourage and disrupt the doubles depending on the group developments and explain that. He should feel the necessity of following the internal monologue of the protagonist. When it is necessary, he should explore the intrapersonal parts and relationships of the protagonist in psychodrama form, he should appropritely use the mirroring and the surplus reality. He should be able to follow the protagonist's wishes, needs and capacities and to explore the intrapersonal and the interpersonal events and relationships. He should explore the significatn things in the present of the protagonist and his significant present interpersonal relationships. Depending on the present needs of the protagonist and the drama development, he should explore the important past events of the protagonist and connect them with the present. Together with the protagonist, he explores the possible repetitions of the interpersonal relationships and situations, when and how certain conditions started. When in the natural, spontaneous drama development possible repetitions, selfsabotage, destruction manifest, the candidate should clinically judge them and explore them in psychodrama if the protagonist agrees. He should not explore only the shadows of the protagonist but also his qualities and strength, his vitality, his good interpersonal relationships and allies or he should search for them together with the protagonist when it is possible. When he follows possible traumas, he should take care not to retraumatize the protagonist or a group part but to protect them. This means that he has good clinical judgement. He should support the protagonist and the group members when it is necessary, but the student director should also know how to withdraw from the focus of the scene and not to inhibit the scene when he initiated it. He should be able to return the protagonist back to the present at the end of the drama and try with the protagonist to work through the possible insights acquired during the drama. These are the ideal terms and they are not all possible to come true in a psychodrama session. That is why the mentioned pieces of advice should not encumber the student director and hamper his creativity, but when he is leading a drama, he should achieve such results which are naturally possible. The student should be in harmony with the group and the protagonist, he should not obstruct the drama development but harmonize with it. He should have the sense of timing and know what he can do in the given period of time and say it when it is necessary. He should know when to bring to the end the action part of the drama. He leads the sharing, encourages and channels the sharing in terms of sharing personal experiences felt in the drama or in real life and he leaves the analysis for the process. When a group member feels a significant emotion and can do something brief on the scene, then the director leads a short action sharing but it is important that he finishes in time both the sharing and the group. Exceptionally the director can prolong the session for 10 to 15 minutes. The candidate is advised to trust the psychodrama method and the group. He should pay attention to his own warming up. He should be aware to what extent his possible personal problems overlap with the protagonist's problems. The candidate should not be perfect but good enough. The candidate leads a group from 2 hours to 2 hours and a half. It is essential that the candidate can show that he can lead the group safely enough in terms of therapy and creativity. He should show the empathy and the warmth, the tele phenomenon. After he has finished the action scene part and the sharing, there is 20 minutes break when the candidate prepares the selfassessment of his leading of the group and the protagonist. He should be aware of the important happenings and set forth the possible alternatives, failures and errors. The protagonist states his own experience and the rest of the students comment and perhaps put short questions. The Examining Board puts to the candidate the practical and theoretical questions.

It is important the the candidate's practice was safe, that he followed the needs of the protagonist and group, that he showed enough spontaneity and creativity, that he had enough clinical judgement, that he did not miss the important developments in the group and protagonist, that he did not entangle himself in his personal stuff and confused it with the protagonist's. He should feel and notice the transference and the countertransference, the tele phenomenon. When it was necessary, he should explore them in a psychodrama using the auxiliary director and mirroring. It is important to what extent the student can understand, accept and integrate the feedback and the constructive group's and the trainers' criticism, with how grounded arguments he can polemicize and explain his clinical judgement, how large the student's capacity of making progress is.

The assessment of The Examining Board and the result of the exam:

1. The student passed the exam.
2. The student passed the exam conditionally. He must lead successfully another 3 dramas, he should be a protagonist three times, he should show clinical understanding and advance and perhaps to write some more papers. The Examining Bboard of the trainers assesses the student's psychotherapeutic advance and when it is necessary, it can suggest additional psychotherapy and additional theoretical work.
3. The student has to take the whole practical exam again and perhaps to write some more papers.

The Examining Board gives the oral and the written assessment in all 3 cases and it suggests to the candidate what he should pay attention to in futher work.

The student who has passed the second degree exam is expected to lead his own therapeutical group, by himself or with a colleague who has passed at least the first degree exam, during at least 80 sessions and under supervision.

The chief SPA trainer Dusan Potkonjak

June 2006