Journal articles

Authored by Brown, Hamish

Author Title Issue Keywords Abstract Sequence
Brown, Hamish Collaborative Decision Making in Facilitated Groups and Other Organisations (PDF, 230.1 KB) Journal 31 December 2022 collaboration, decision making, dependency, development, facilitation, leadership, Moreno, organisation, relationship, role, role theory, social system, sociometry, subgroups Developing collaborative approaches in organisational settings is very challenging. If collaboration were simple most organisations would adopt such practices with ease. However, this is rarely the case. I have spent nearly three decades working to find effective ways to bring about collaboration in organisational settings. This paper presents the approach that I and my colleagues from Phoenix Facilitation developed to make collaborative decision making in groups and complex organisational settings possible. It is based primarily on the Psychodramatic theories of sociometry and role theory. In this paper I will introduce you to three dimensions of organisational life that are central to organisational functioning and discuss how these dimensions relate to one another. I will present a diagnostic and descriptive model that arises from this approach, which assists in seeing and understanding the relational dynamics people in the organisation are experiencing. This model also directly assists in planning organisational change. 2 2022-12
Brown, Hamish Directing Psychodrama on Stage (PDF, 143.4 KB) Journal 29 December 2020 director, encounter, humanity, love, photography, protagonist, Psychodrama, role It is 10 am. I am sitting at the edge of a horse shoe of 8 chairs on the stage of the dilapidated Crystal Palace Theatre in Mt Eden. It is freezing and a vast blackness stretches upwards and beyond the first few rows of chairs that I can make out. I draw my attention down and into the group, I take in the stage lights set up around the group, the lighting technician adjusting things at the edge of the circle, Yvonne looking on with her camera. Now I can see the people in the group I will be working with, some I know well and we exchange easy smiles, others are new to me and new to the psychodrama method, sent along by enthusiastic friends to a free workshop. Briefly, I get anxious as I consider their experience, this must seem crazy to them, to be sitting in this place among all of this. 6 2020-12
Brown, Hamish The Book of Evan: The work and life of Evan McAra Sherrard (PDF, 166.8 KB) Journal 26 December 2017 book review Phil asked me to review The Book of Evan for our journal. I have found that I don't really want to review it. What emerges in me as I put it down having read it, is a reverie; a reflection on my life and development as it has unfolded and where it interconnects with Evan's work and life path as described in The Book of Evan. Probably, if you have been involved in psychodrama, counselling, pastoral care or psychotherapy in New Zealand over the last 50 years, then Evan's work has also affected you. 7 2017-12
Brown, Hamish Being an Effective Auxiliary: Some Reflections on Doubling and Dependency in Psychotherapy (PDF, 106.6 KB) Journal 21 December 2012 auxiliary, clinical psychodrama, dependency, doubling, relationship matrix, role constellation, social atom As a term, J.L. Moreno's concept of auxiliary captures the idea of entering into a psychotherapeutic relationship for the purpose of consciously assisting another person to develop spontaneity in a specific context. This paper focuses on a number of important elements in this regard: the importance of being an adequate auxiliary able to enact roles in response to specific social atom constellations; the importance of doubling within a role constellation to bring about social atom repair; the importance of allowing dependency in long term therapeutic relationships so that effective auxiliary functioning is maintained over time to promote the development of progressive embryonic roles. The concept of auxiliary is particularly helpful if we keep ourselves involved with the role constellations present in a person's inner world and the needs of the client within a specific context. 2012-12
Brown, Hamish The Hauraki Seachange Project (PDF, 352.1 KB) Journal 23 December 2014 collaboration, decision making, facilitation, multi-stakeholder, sociometry Creating opportunities for a community to resolve issues that affect it is an exciting and empowering notion. Central to this is a sociometric challenge. This paper describes how a large multi-stakeholder group was facilitated in a decision making process. We present the reasoning behind the use and selection of sociometric criteria and describe the application of sociometry in this facilitated process. A liberating notion is that people can work collaboratively to reach alignment regardless of what their organisational structures and decision making modes are. 3 2014-12