Students create an application that takes psychodrama into the daily routine of companies and their employees
Photo: Augusto de Lara
The intersection between conflict resolution, technology and entrepreneurship resulted in a project called DraMatch, one of the four highlights of the 2019 Torneio Empreendedor (Entrepreneur Tournament). The combination of the words drama and match was created based on Psychology’s theory of Psychodrama, by students from the Computer Engineering, Medicine, Law, Computer Science and Business Administration programs in November 2019.
Students Paulo Ricardo Martins, Augusto de Lara, Lua Vasconcellos, Bernardo Jornada and Alexandre Perucia combined their knowledges from different areas for the planning.
Psychodrama is a group therapy model focused on conflict resolution. Developed through creativity, spontaneity and empathy, it seeks to highlight the negative and positive aspects of conflicts experienced daily in work environments. The activity takes place in a group, with the dramatization of conflicts and resolution, stimulating learning from others and self-knowledge.
The DraMatch project is based on the Business to Business (B2B) model and aims to link companies seeking to resolve such issues to Psychology professionals trained in the method.
The purpose of the initiative is to provide an alternative in issues involving conflicts in human relations within corporations. The methodology aims to increase emotional well-being in daily life and foster more positive forms of coexistence among employees. “We have always been curious about human behavior, and being able to understand the differences between people, their conflicts. We are very confident that we can change lives, and what motivates us is the feeling of helping others”, emphasizes Augusto de Lara, a student at the School of Technology and one of the group members.
In addition to the initial proposal, after the group psychodrama session in the corporate environment, employees will have the possibility to carry on with individual psychotherapy, offered at more affordable prices through the platform, which will present different promotional packages and activity feedback.
In a survey carried out by the students, about 80% of the interviewees informed that they would participate in group therapy. Among the psychologists interviewed, 72.8% would like to have their work published on a platform.
The idea is to create the app, analyze the experiences, and move up to the next stage when it comes to offering the service. According to Lara, the project developers hope to extend the business model, offering the service not only to companies, but to any other users who seek the alternative therapy proposed by DraMatch. To that end, they wish to participate in the Startup Garagem, obtain investments and get their idea out of the paper. “Our perspective is that, by May, when Startup Garagem begins, we will have the project validated and with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) ready”, he says.
Torneio Empreendedor, held by PUCRS since 2007, provides the follow-up of mentors partnering with the PUCRS Interdisciplinary Lab for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Idear) and the opportunity to put ideas that could become big businesses in contact with the market. And, through specific methodologies and individual mentoring, shape viable projects, regardless of their stage of development.
