Citation

Scher M. J. Spec. Group Work 1981; 6(2): 115-120.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1981, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/01933928108411375

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article describes a program for working with acting students in groups and examines qualities of actors' lives as well as professional issues for them. Recommendations are made for counselors working with actors in a university setting. Dealing with the qualities of an actor's life just enumerated, as well as confronting the demands of acting as a career, seems to be best accomplished in a group setting. The group allows individuals to examine their behavior in relation to other actors. If leaders are sensitive to negative comparisons they can help individuals understand how the process of self-depreciation works. Although groups do provide an excellent breeding ground for paranoia (Mann, 1974), they are also fine situations for gaining support and discovering that one is not alone. The leader can help to encourage a climate of support. This is very important because actors must discover ways of creating support systems, which is difficult when life is lived as a nomad. The creation of these support systems causes acting students to examine and resolve the major issues facing them. This is accomplished when particular skills are modeled in the group and the dynamics preventing support systems are explored. The group can also be used to deal with the anxieties caused by evaluation. If the potentially dangerous peer evaluators in the group can be seen as accepting, then anxiety will be greatly reduced. This acceptance regularly occurs because, even though there is competition, there is also caring and concern. If honest feedback is modeled by the facilitator, then the participants can behave similarly, trust the feedback, evaluate themselves more realistically, and experience closeness. It is possible to work through some of the rejection felt by actors when roles are not offered them. This oppor-. tunity occurs after a group has been functioning for a while and the members feel safe enough to explore their feelings of rejection and to offer each other long-term acceptance that will enable them to deal with temporary rejections. This acceptance is essential because the actor spends so much time alone and is so vulnerable to the rejection inherent in job hunting. Once there is a greater self-acceptance, many of the difficulties actors face diminish. Counselors working with actors would do well to be flexible, candid, at peace with their competitive needs, willing to be totally accepting, comfortable with their own narcissism, and possessed of respect for strongly individualistic people. It is also important "to understand the demands of a unique and special world" (Wykert, 1978, p. 72).

Language: en