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Relational Trauma Repair (RTR): Virtual Training Course
Module 6: The Social Atom: Mapping the Proxemics and Dynamics of the Family and Social Network
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Module 6: The Social Atom: Mapping the Proxemics and Dynamics of the Family and Social Network
0.0 CE Hours
$225
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Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
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Explain how the Social Atom is both a diagnostic and experiential process drawn from Moreno’s triadic system of psychodrama, sociometry, and group psychotherapy.
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Describe each step of the Social Atom process and how it can be used exclusively as a mapping technique that can be shared in one-to-one, couples, family and/or group or moved into role plays and sculpturing.
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Explain how the Social Atom helps clients map out key relationships and roles in their lives and recognize patterns of connection, distance, neutral connections.
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Discuss how the Social Atom can bring relational dynamics into focus and serve as a springboard for embodied role plays, such as doubling and role reversal.
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Identify two ways the Social Atom supports clients in seeing themselves within their relational field and fosters self-awareness, emotional literacy, and relational healing.
Educational Goal
The goal of this module is for participants to gain understanding of how to use the Social Atom as a psychoeducational and experiential process for exploring relational proxemics and patterns and facilitating embodied, role-based interventions in individual and group therapy.
Description
The Social Atom is a cornerstone of sociometry. It offers a simple yet profound way for clients to map their relational world—past or present—by identifying significant people, parts of self, groups or organizations that populate their inner and outer lives. Through this process, clients gain clarity about connection, distance, loss, and support in their relational field.
At its core, the Social Atom is both diagnostic and dynamic. Simply drawing and sharing one can be a complete intervention, helping clients understand proxemics and context surrounding any life moment, circumstance and relational world. The Social Atom provides a natural bridge into role-based work. Clients may be invited to choose group members to represent people or roles in their atom and step into an embodied dialogue using techniques like role play, empty chair, doubling, or role reversal.
In individual therapy, clients can draw and share the social atom and use the empty chair to follow up with a role play talking to themselves within the atom or anyone else present.
In virtual therapy, clients can draw their social atom on a whiteboard, share it with the therapist or group as a complete process. Or they can move into role play or experiential letter writing.
Clients place themselves at the center and position others around them based on perceived closeness or distance, using lines, shapes, or color coding to indicate relational qualities (e.g., supportive, conflictual, ambivalent). This mapping can then guide conversations about attachment, boundaries, and unmet needs.
In group therapy, participants can create their Social Atom on paper first and then bring it into the room by positioning chairs or group members to represent their chosen roles. This embodied “living atom” transforms a static map into a dynamic, relational exploration.
Two Chair Role Play: In this module participants will also learn the basics of two-chair role play as a structured, trauma-informed method for exploring inner conflicts and relational dynamics. They will be guided step by step through using doubling to give voice to unspoken thoughts and feelings, and role reversal to build empathy and perspective-taking, creating a safe and contained way for clients to work through stuck narratives and relational wounds.
Applications and Variations
Sharing the Social Atom in Group
- Clients may draw their Social Atom then present and share it with the group, describing placement or various roles and reflecting on insights and feelings.
- Group members can be invited to step into and represent roles from the atom and interact with the protagonist, creating a living snap shot or sculpture of relational dynamics.
- The therapist may call for doubling and role reversal to deepen the process.
Closure and Integration
-The Social Atoms can also be used as a map of wished for, future scenes or relational worlds. Clients may reflect on shifts in their relational patterns over time and draw a “Resilience Atom” highlighting supportive people and connections that have helped them grow.
At its core, the Social Atom is both diagnostic and dynamic. Simply drawing and sharing one can be a complete intervention, helping clients understand proxemics and context surrounding any life moment, circumstance and relational world. The Social Atom provides a natural bridge into role-based work. Clients may be invited to choose group members to represent people or roles in their atom and step into an embodied dialogue using techniques like role play, empty chair, doubling, or role reversal.
In individual therapy, clients can draw and share the social atom and use the empty chair to follow up with a role play talking to themselves within the atom or anyone else present.
In virtual therapy, clients can draw their social atom on a whiteboard, share it with the therapist or group as a complete process. Or they can move into role play or experiential letter writing.
Clients place themselves at the center and position others around them based on perceived closeness or distance, using lines, shapes, or color coding to indicate relational qualities (e.g., supportive, conflictual, ambivalent). This mapping can then guide conversations about attachment, boundaries, and unmet needs.
In group therapy, participants can create their Social Atom on paper first and then bring it into the room by positioning chairs or group members to represent their chosen roles. This embodied “living atom” transforms a static map into a dynamic, relational exploration.
Two Chair Role Play: In this module participants will also learn the basics of two-chair role play as a structured, trauma-informed method for exploring inner conflicts and relational dynamics. They will be guided step by step through using doubling to give voice to unspoken thoughts and feelings, and role reversal to build empathy and perspective-taking, creating a safe and contained way for clients to work through stuck narratives and relational wounds.
Applications and Variations
Sharing the Social Atom in Group
- Clients may draw their Social Atom then present and share it with the group, describing placement or various roles and reflecting on insights and feelings.
- Group members can be invited to step into and represent roles from the atom and interact with the protagonist, creating a living snap shot or sculpture of relational dynamics.
- The therapist may call for doubling and role reversal to deepen the process.
Closure and Integration
-The Social Atoms can also be used as a map of wished for, future scenes or relational worlds. Clients may reflect on shifts in their relational patterns over time and draw a “Resilience Atom” highlighting supportive people and connections that have helped them grow.
Presenters
Tian Dayton MA, PhD, TEP
For more than thirty years, Dr. Dayton has been a leading voice in the fields of trauma healing, addiction recovery and experiential, embodied therapy. A clinical psychologist, licensed creative arts therapist, and certified trainer in psychodrama and sociometry, with a master’s in educational psychology she is a Senior Fellow at The Meadows and the author of over fifteen acclaimed books including Growing Up with Addiction, Treating Adult Children of Relational Trauma, The ACoA Trauma Syndrome, Sociometrics, Emotional Sobriety, Forgiving and Moving On, and Trauma and Addiction.
Her pioneering work integrates psychodrama, sociometry, and nervous system-informed approaches into a cohesive model Relational Trauma Repair (RTR) used by therapists and treatment centers across the world. As a Fellow of the American Society of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy, she has received their highest honors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Scholar’s Award, President’s Award and Gratitude Award. She also served for eight years as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy. She is on the scientific board of The National Association of Children of Alcoholics, (NACoA). In the addiction’s field, her contributions have been recognized with The Martie Mann Award The Mona Mansell Award and The Ackermann Black Award.
Dr. Dayton’s work is widely respected in both academic and clinical settings, as well as in the public sphere. She has been a guest expert on NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and other national platforms, and is a frequent speaker at leading conferences on trauma, mental health, and recovery.
To learn more about her work, visit www.tiandayton.com.
Her pioneering work integrates psychodrama, sociometry, and nervous system-informed approaches into a cohesive model Relational Trauma Repair (RTR) used by therapists and treatment centers across the world. As a Fellow of the American Society of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy, she has received their highest honors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Scholar’s Award, President’s Award and Gratitude Award. She also served for eight years as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy. She is on the scientific board of The National Association of Children of Alcoholics, (NACoA). In the addiction’s field, her contributions have been recognized with The Martie Mann Award The Mona Mansell Award and The Ackermann Black Award.
Dr. Dayton’s work is widely respected in both academic and clinical settings, as well as in the public sphere. She has been a guest expert on NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and other national platforms, and is a frequent speaker at leading conferences on trauma, mental health, and recovery.
To learn more about her work, visit www.tiandayton.com.
Financially Sponsored By
- Relational Trauma Repair (RTR)