The SomatoDrama Effect Model®

Book review from 26 July 2026

„When Anna asked me whether I would like to write a review of her book Understanding the Mind Through Bodily Experience (the SomatoDrama Effect Model), my answer was an immediate yes.
I first met Anna Üveges when she was a 14-year-old teenager staying with our family for a week as part of a student exchange program between schools in the Netherlands and Hungary. I continued to follow her journey on Facebook. Now, our paths have crossed again in a professional context, and it is wonderful to see how little girls grow up and develop into accomplished professionals.
I have worked in child and adolescent mental health care for 42 years and, since 2000, as a family therapist in forensic psychiatry, primarily working with young people. I read the book with great interest and enthusiasm.
The book explains the SomatoDrama method, covering its theoretical foundations, background, and analyses of ten case studies.
The entire book touched me deeply because the method is holistic and based on the circular influences of body, mind, and soul. I found it an inspiring introduction to SomatoDrama. The practical examples are described beautifully, as far as that is possible within the limitations of a book, since each session represents a complete process in itself. The examples are supported by illustrations. What I found particularly fascinating is that a session begins on a circular mat, where participants embody, for example, a diseased organ, or represent inner voices (which are also used in Voice Dialogue work).
The Dutch mental health care system is still largely cognitively oriented, although body-oriented approaches have fortunately gained increasing recognition in recent years. The SomatoDrama model fits very well within this development. I see it as a method that therapists can use as an addition to, or partly integrate into, their existing therapeutic practice. It inspired me to begin exploring it within myself and my own environment first. This provided additional insights, and self-healing often begins there. I would very much like to experience a SomatoDrama session in person. I would encourage every therapist reading this not only to learn about the method but also to experience and practice it themselves, as it can be used alongside or within therapy.
I read SomatoDrama from the perspective of my profession as a family therapist, and this review is based on that professional lens.
SomatoDrama starts from the bodily dimension, and this provides relational information that can reveal family dynamics. Family therapy, on the other hand, begins with family dynamics and interaction patterns, which also help explain physical and psychological symptoms. Ultimately, both approaches overlap because, from a systemic perspective, everything is circularly connected. In this sense, SomatoDrama and systemic therapy can strengthen one another. I would particularly like to see the traditional medical world adopt more of a systemic perspective, a SomatoDrama perspective, so that physical illness is not viewed as an isolated phenomenon.
One of the strengths of SomatoDrama is that family members are literally positioned in space and gain experiential insights through participation. However, I also see a potential risk: the subjective experiences of participants, or of the therapist, may sometimes be interpreted too concretely or too literally. To what extent are these experiences subjective or objective? I see a similar risk in family constellations involving participants (the Hellinger method). Family therapists occasionally use systemic constellations as well, sometimes with figurines, but always from a relational perspective and through questions directed to the clients themselves.
From an attachment perspective, SomatoDrama aligns very well with existing knowledge. Feelings of insecurity are initially experienced in the body, which fits naturally with SomatoDrama’s body-oriented focus, whereas other therapeutic approaches can sometimes become overly cognitive.
SomatoDrama requires further scientific validation and evidence. That is simply how the professional helping professions operate. This book, with its small-scale outcome study, represents a modest but important step in the right direction.
Systemic practice encompasses many theoretical frameworks, schools of thought, and methodologies.
Especially at the beginning of their careers, family therapists often struggle to choose among the many available tools and interventions. SomatoDrama could certainly become a valuable addition to experiential and body-oriented interventions within systemic practice.
Thank you, Anna, for your important contribution to the development of SomatoDrama. And, to be honest, this is the first time I have encountered a word with a capital letter in the middle. It made me smile.”

Anita Lemoine
Family Therapist, De Waag – The Forensic Care Specialists, The Netherlands

Thank you, Anita!

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