ABSTRACT
Roleplaying has numerous variations and formats. The procedure, known as roleplaying, is a natural method of interaction used by all children in their play. It consists essentially of a formal agreement for a group of people to act "as if" a situation to be enacted were actually occurring. Therapists may employ this procedure in individual and in group therapy for one or any combination of three major purposes, namely: to better understand the patient, to instruct him, or to give him new experiences in behaving. Therapists who use roleplaying generally design or adapt various formats to meet individual needs. Roleplaying appears to be an effective and therefore an economical method of operating. Since the major social problem in psychotherapy is that of meeting the needs of so many people with a limited number of professional workers, experimentation with procedures that are faster or cheaper for particular purposes seems to be a professional obligation.
