Adaline Starr, 92, a former family living columnist for the Chicago Tribune who pioneered psychodramatic teaching, died Sunday, Feb. 4, in her home in the Andersonville neighborhood. A native of St. Louis, Mrs. Starr was a psychodrama and group therapy consultant to hospitals, schools and clinics throughout Illinois and had lectured on those subjects at Northwestern University’s medical school in the early 1960s. She also wrote numerous articles published in sociology and psychology journals. Introduced in the late 1940s, psychodrama is a method of therapy in which participants reverse roles and act out everyday scenes that can cause frustration. It was initially used to enlighten children about how their behavior is perceived by others, such as their parents. According to family members, Mrs. Starr worked extensively with psychiatrist Rudolf Dreikurs, founder of the Alfred Adler Institute in Chicago. Adlerian psychologists explain human behavior in terms of social purpose rather than biological drives. “She could pick up every little detail about people,” said her grandson, Joe Weisz. “She knew exactly how people communicated and what they were communicating. You walked in and you were under a microscope. But she had a way about her, and you didn’t mind it.” In 1977, she wrote her only full-length book, “Psychodrama: Rehearsal for Living.” Mrs. Starr, who received a bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis, also penned advice columns for the Tribune in the late 1950s and early 1960s. “She had some strong beliefs,” said her daughter, Helene. “She was always worried that I would need counseling because I was an only child. But I didn’t.” Besides her daughter and grandson, survivors include two other grandchildren. Services are private.
