role reversal
Trading places phenomenon
Role reversal is a situation where people swap their usual positions or functions.
A parent and child experience role reversal when the child becomes the caregiver.
In therapy or training, role reversal is a technique where participants act out each other's parts to gain perspective: The exercise had managers and employees do a role reversal for an hour.
Therapy through enacted scenes
- empty chairUnoccupied seating spot
- perspective-takingUnderstanding another's viewpoint
- reenactmentStaged reproduction of events
- gestaltIntegrated perceptual whole
simulation · debriefing · processing · boundaries · safe space · facilitator · scenario · walking in shoes
Superior influence over others
- submissionYielding to another's will
- authorityPower to enforce obedience
- controlAuthority to direct
- hierarchyRanked authority structure
empowerment · subversion · reclaiming · oppressor · oppressed · dynamics · leadership · subordination
Backup actor, ready nightly
- protagonistStory's central figure
- antagonistOne who opposes another
- plot twistSudden narrative redirection
- character arcProtagonist's gradual transformation
transformation · redemption · villain · hero · narrative · disguise · masquerade · dramatic irony
One providing daily assistance
- dependentRequiring outside support
- parent-childCaregiver-descendant relation
- providerOne who furnishes things
- nurturerOne who fosters development
breadwinner · protector · mentor · mentee · elder care · generational · spouse · partnership
Alternating speaker roles
- strategyPlanned approach to goals
- gameplayInteractive elements of gaming
- tagIdentifier or classifier
- chaseRapid following of quarry
predator-prey · simulation · tabletop · improv · warm-up
psychodrama
Therapy through enacted scenes
- empty chairUnoccupied seating spot
- perspective-takingUnderstanding another's viewpoint
- reenactmentStaged reproduction of events
gestalt · simulation · debriefing · processing · boundaries · safe space · facilitator · scenario · walking in shoes
dominance
Superior influence over others
- submissionYielding to another's will
- authorityPower to enforce obedience
- controlAuthority to direct
hierarchy · empowerment · subversion · reclaiming · oppressor · oppressed · dynamics · leadership · subordination · supremacy
understudy
Backup actor, ready nightly
- protagonistStory's central figure
- antagonistOne who opposes another
- plot twistSudden narrative redirection
character arc · transformation · redemption · villain · hero · narrative · disguise · masquerade · dramatic irony · unmasking
caregiver
One providing daily assistance
- dependentRequiring outside support
- parent-childCaregiver-descendant relation
- providerOne who furnishes things
nurturer · breadwinner · protector · mentor · mentee · elder care · generational · spouse · partnership · guardian
turn-taking
Alternating speaker roles
chase · predator-prey · simulation · tabletop · improv · warm-up
- changeschange, shift, alter, transformation, modify
- Family Relationshipsfamily dynamics, emotional support, caregiving, communication, family expectations
- animal playplay bow, roughhousing, rough-and-tumble, chasing, pouncing
- Codependencycodependency, enabling, enmeshment, people-pleasing, caretaking
- drama therapypsychodrama, sociodrama, drama therapy, doubling, mirroring
- Shakespeare disguisesRosalind, cross-dressing, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Portia
role reversalstatus quo
Existing condition of affairs
traditional roles · established order · business as usual · stability · permanence
role, reverse, reversal, roles, reversed, reversing, irreversible, reversible, roleplay