Webinar | 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.
The learning objectives of this webinar are:
- Understand basic differences between family tree, genogram and social atom.
- Learn the basic components of the social atom and the variety of ways they can be expressed.
- Understand the benefits of using the social atom with addicts.
- Understand the problems with having a depleted social atom or a crowded social atom.
- Learn ways of doing social atom repair work and integration with experiential methods such as psychodrama.
About the Speaker
Michael Murphy, MFA, MSW, LCSW
Private Practice
Michael Murphy, MFA, MSW, LCSW, is a native of Washington, D.C., where she studied at American University and Catholic University. Before she became a psychotherapist, she produced and directed professional theatre with Touchstone Theatre Company. Over the course of 10 years, she studied psychodrama, Playback theatre and sociometry with Ann Hale, John Nolte and Jonathan Fox. Her first job in the addiction field was at a private treatment center in Leesburg, VA.
In 1992, Michael moved to Nashville, TN, where she worked at a hospital-based treatment center. When she started her private practice, she trained in Transactional Analysis and Redecision Therapy with Vann Joines of Chapel Hill, NC. She also completed a two-year program in advanced psychodynamic psychotherapy with psychoanalysts in Nashville.
While Michael herself is not a "friend of Bill W.", she had a father who did become one, giving her a personal understanding of the impact of alcoholism as well as a clinical one.
Michael maintains a full-time private practice and gives presentations to treatment centers. She has worked with the social atom in both treatment settings and her private practice. Michael is happy to share her ideas with you.