Status Training

Basic Status Training

• Status Games – A series of games that teach Status cues, conflict and transfer. “Status” refers to relative social positioning that reflects power and importance, not necessarily corresponding to formally recognized standing, rank or prestige.
  • Reading Status – demonstrating postural, behavioral and verbal cues that indicate status.
  • Status Conflict – a role-play in which two players both attempt to play higher or play lower status than the other.
  • Status Transfer – a role-play in which the status hierarchy at the end reverses that at the beginning of the scene.
• Status Party – Each player is first asked to privately create a character with:
  • a fictional name
  • an occupation
  • a life ambition

Everyone then mills around the room as their character, greeting and briefly interacting with other characters while assuming a variety of status positions: (benevolent high, oppressive high, friendly equal, shy equal, submissive low, hurt low, etc.).

Advanced Status Training

• Hidden Pecking Order – Each of the players in a 3- or 4-person scene privately assigns self a status rank before interacting in a scene.
• Unknown Status – Players are privately assigned instructions as to the status hierarchy of everyone in a 3- or 4-person scene.
• Simulated Family Therapy sessions with status shifts by the therapist.