03/08/2026
Through a Parent's Eyes - A reflection on the July Swastham session
Some experiences are best understood through the eyes of those who live them.
The following reflection has been thoughtfully written by Ramya, a parent participant at Swastham. It beautifully captures the essence of our recent Psychodrama Group Therapy session and reminds us of the power of holding space, listening deeply and healing together.
We are grateful to Ramya for allowing us to share her reflections with our community.
Swastham session began with a check on how each person was feeling that afternoon : fine, tired, excited (about the session), hot and so on. The facilitator suggested starting the first activity : A circle of labels was laid out on the floor. The labels were The Learner, The Silent one, The Hope Keeper, The Fixer, The Protector, The Fighter, The Patient one, The Questioner, The Tired Parent, The Encourager. Based on how each participant felt with regard to the roles she played and emotions she was going through, the facilitator asked us to stand next to the label that represented them. The popular one seemed to be The Tired one and then, The Silent one, The Patient one, The Encourager, The Questioner and The Fixer in descending order. Each of the participants introduced themselves and explained why they chose the particular label. Travel across time zones, work, increased family responsibilities, tending to a sick member in the family, dealing with extended family, handling others’ mood swings etc were some of them.
The facilitator then gave a brief description of Psychodrama, and how it functions as a powerful tool to self-heal, self-regulate and increase self-awareness. She quoted an example of an event in her life, that had occurred recently. By practising Psychodrama on herself, she was able to identify the underlying emotions, understand why she was experiencing anxiety and therefore have a better perspective on how to address the emotions so as to function calmly and more empathetically, towards herself as well as the others involved.
Unlike previous sessions which were group activities where a general emotion or experience was discussed, this session on Psychodrama was about going deeper under layers of emotions by enacting a specific event or situation chosen by a single protagonist. She would involve auxiliaries to represent people or/and emotions in her story. The rest of the observers would later be asked to reflect on whatever was shared/enacted.
After a few hesitating moments, one participant volunteered to be the protagonist. She chose to enact the scene of a recent episode where she and her child were having a breakdown in communication, leading to shouting and escalating tension. She gave a background of the scene first and then shared the characters in it, namely herself and her son. One of the participants was chosen to represent the child while the protagonist played herself. The latter first enacted as both the characters, which probably gave her an insight into how the child felt. The focus was always on the protagonist and her emotions, though.
Playing the scene brought out many emotions. The Protagonist was asked to label the emotions she felt, which were disappointment, humiliation, anger and exhaustion respectively. She was asked to choose participants who would represent each of her emotions as auxiliaries, and had to face them, one by one. The facilitator prompted, “What do you have to say to that (particular) emotion?” This brought out tears, pent up sorrow, confusion and yet it served as a release, an aid for self-acceptance and gave a closure to what she was experiencing. It was also an important reminder to the self that it was perfectly fine to feel this way, without feeling guilty about it.
The observers, as well as the auxiliaries, were asked to reflect, share and elaborate on their own emotions after watching the scene being enacted. It served as catharsis and many shared similar feelings of humiliation, disappointment and even guilt and shame. Though the original idea was to discuss each emotion in the same order (disappointment, humiliation, anger and exhaustion), the reflections on disappointment from each observer’s personal experiences was the only one achieved in the stipulated time. The idea that when one person heals, the group heals, as rightly stated by the facilitator earlier, was internalized by all.
The participants were next asked about their take away from this session. Some of the answers included: Group healing, how empathy heals, I am not suffering alone, What I am doing is actually right since others are doing the same too, sharing gives better perspectives and gets us out of “Why me?”, more clarity and validation from people who really understand me.
The session concluded with a question posted by the facilitator, “What would you like to change?” : Society, including the mindset of people in the family, their judgements, criticism, advice, to have more inclusion, educating more people, removing the sole onus on the mother, learning to be proud of my child, taking the space I need when I feel overwhelmed, saying NO, better boundaries, being assertive, meeting and supporting each other (fellow Moms) more, creating a healing circle where it is a safe space to just be etc.
When the session ended, everyone felt heard, seen, more equipped, better composed and grateful for this time for themselves. We parted with laughter, smiles and renewed hope for the days ahead.
