Using the Social Atom to Treat Addicts and Assess Their Potential for Recovery

According to J.L. Moreno, each person lives in a “social atom”. The “social atom” is the smallest social unit and serves as a structural representation of the individual social universe. Each person is the “nucleus” of their social atom and the arrangement of other parts of their social atom in relation to the person indicates the significance of that person or object to the individual. Michael Murphy is excited to share techniques she has utilized with the Social Atom to help both adults and adolescents who are in treatment for addiction. When a patient enters treatment, their social atom reflects their view of the state of their relationships and resources. By using social atom repair, clinicians can help patients realize their existing social state and their potential social state without their addiction. Michael will address the various problems and risks of an addict’s social atom and will explain how she has used psychodrama to do social atom repair work with the patient.