The volume Theater – Trauma – Therapy includes 57 texts and testimonies about the therapeutic nature of drama and theater in their various forms and applications from the perspective of the performer-artist, the spectator, and the therapist through art.

Experiential reflections and deep confessions from artists intersect with historical and theoretical approaches from academics, psychotherapists, and educators regarding ancient Asclepiada, theater in schools, pedagogy, dramaturgy, contemporary stage practice, the theatrical role, rituals, performative nature, cultural theory, psychoanalysis, and madness.

At the center of the inquiries are the processes of trauma healing, the staged representation of the wounded body, catharsis and salvation, as well as the ways in which personal pain connects with collective trauma and is transformed performatively by social actors into a driving force for change.

With examples from mourning performances, activist practices, and artistic performances, new fields of research are opened for the studies of performing arts as well as for medicine and therapy with the tools of the arts.

With its rich thematic content, the book addresses a wide reading audience and serves as a resource for a better understanding of the impact of theater on therapeutic practice for educators, teachers, pedagogues, social workers, health professionals, psychologists, psychotherapists, researchers, and artists, as well as for students and scholars of theater and medicine.