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Summary - This paper presents some of our pieces of experience with the psychotherapeutic method of treatment by means of pantomime according to the method introduced by Horetzky. We applied pantomime to various psychiatric patients and addicts, especially to alcoholics and drug addicts. The specific quality of alcoholism points to the need of using special notions. The results of this adjuvant method are encouraging due to excellent stimulating and creative effect in the context of a therapeutic community. (Alcoholism 2006; 42: 79-84)
Key words: Pantomime; Group therapy; Addiction
INTRODUCTION
Pantomime play as a psychotherapeutic technique was applied first by Prim. Dr. Otto Horetzky in 1949 at the Psychiatric Ward in Podsused - Zagreb.1 He demonstrated this technique in the course of the following ten years at many international seminars in this country and abroad.2 He also published several significant discussions in domestic and foreign magazines.3 Invited by Professor Moreno to the International Congress in Milan in 1963, Horetzky presented his group-therapy method, which Prof. Moreno called a "creative method" forecasting its wide application.4 Unfortunately, as it can be noticed from Horetzky's presentation at the Physicians' Council of Croatia in 1972 and in spite of the acceptance of this method abroad, the group therapy by means of pantomime play did not take root in this country. Nevertheless, thanks to the initiative of Breitenfeld, the group psychotherapy by means of pantomime play was resumed and started to be applied again at the University Department for Psychiatry within the Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital, Zagreb from 1975. Breitenfeld gathered works and discussions, both published and unpublished ones, of late Horetzky.
The pantomime play is being tried out and applied as a relevant psychotherapeutic part in the treatment of alcoholics and addicts.
DIMENSIONAND COMPONENTS OF PANTOMIME
The concept of pantomime is of Greek origin and it denotes a scenic performance, where feelings, thoughts and actions are presented only by movements of the body and mimicking. It can therefore be described as a kinetic speech, as a means to express psychic conditions for the purpose of interpersonal communication. It is known namely, that there is no speaking without gestures - a live spoken word produced by movements of the speech organs is always accompanied by nonverbal communication signals -...