Psychodrama was developed by Jacob L. Moreno (1892–1974), a psychiatrist born in Romania, who lived and practiced in Vienna until he came to the United States in 1927. He soon began to conduct psychodrama sessions and founded a psychodrama institute in Beacon, New York, in 1934. Largely because of Moreno’s efforts it is practiced worldwide.

Psychodrama is defined as a method of group psychotherapy in which personality makeup, interpersonal relationships, conflicts, and emotional problems are explored by means of special dramatic methods.