Is play only a children’s activity? How is the spontaneous play of adults expressed? What is the difference between “play” and “game”? What function does play have during war? Play:Psychoanalytic Perspectives, Survival and Human Development explores the importance of play in the life of the individual and in society. Most people associate psychoanalysis with hidden and “negative” instincts, like sexuality and aggressiveness, very seldom with “positive urges” like the importance of love and empathy, and almost never with play. Play, which occupies a special place in our mental life, is not merely a children’s activity. Both in children and adults, the lack of play or the incapacity to play almost always has a traumatic cause – this book also shows the crucial importance of play in relation to the survival in warfare and during traumatic times. In this book Emilia Perroni argues that whether we regard play as a spontaneous creation or whether we see it as an enjoyable activity with defined rules (a game), that it is impossible to conceive human existence and civilization without it. The papers collected in this book are the results of the research offered on the subject of play by several Israeli therapists from different psychoanalytic schools Freudian, Jungian, Kleinian, Winnicottian and Self-Psychology. Other contributions are from Israeli researchers and academics from various fields such as literature, music, art, theatre and cinema, contemporary psychoanalysis and other disciplines. Play: Psychoanalytic Perspectives, Survival and Human Development offers new ways to think about, and understand, play as a search for meaning, and as a way of becoming oneself. This book will be of interest to psychoanalysts, researchers, therapists, parents, teachers and students who are interested in the application of psychoanalytic theory to their fields including students of cultural studies, art, music, philosophy. Emilia Perroni is a clinical psychologist, supervisor at the School of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at the University of Tel Aviv and the Bar Ilan University. She has a private practice in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv. She is a member of the Israeli Association of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, the Israeli Association of Psychotherapy, she is an Associated-Member of the Israeli Institute of Jungian Psychology, and Research Fellow at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem.

An Introduction to Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater is a comprehensive book presenting Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater as a unique form of group psychotherapy. This pioneering book is the first of its kind, examining this new approach, the theory behind it, and the numerous considerations and diverse possibilities involved in using the technique to promote a significant reflective process among participants. Informed by years of Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater practice and research, the authors detail a collective-creative method that allows for the creation of a therapeutic experience centered on feelings of belonging, acceptance, visibility and liberation. It is presented to the reader as a path toward their development and growth as a conductor working in this newly evolving field of group therapy. The book will be of great interest to dramatherapy students, trainees and professionals, and group therapists who wish to reflect upon their practice through the mirror of Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater as well as facilitators and actors working with Playback Theater or other improvised genres.

This book is the result of the first two-year work of Working Group 1 of the network “LUDI – Play for children with disabilities”. LUDI is an Action (2014-2018) financed by COST; it is a multidisciplinary network of more than 30 countries and almost 100 researchers and practitioners belonging to the humanistic and technological fields to study the topic of play for children with disabilities within the framework of the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (WHO, 2001).The principal objective of this book is to bring the LUDI contribution to the important topic of play in children with disabilities, because today an international consensus on the definition of play and disabilities is still lacking. The process of ensuring equity in the exercise of the right to play for children with disabilites requests three actions: to approach this topic through a “common language”, at least all over Europe; to put play at the centre of the multidisciplinary research and intervention regarding the children with disabilities; to grant this topic the status of a scientific and social theme of full visibility and recognized authority. Children with disabilities face several limitations in play, due to several reasons: impairments; playgrounds, toys and other play tools that are not accessible and usable; environments and contexts that are not accessible nor inclusive; lack of educational awareness and intentionality; lack of specific psycho-pedagogical and rehabilitative competence; lack of effective intervention methodologies. Moreover, disabled children’s lives are dominated by medical and rehabilitative practices in which play is always an activity aiming to reach an objective or to provoke an improvement; play for the sake of play is considered a waste of time. The concept of play for the sake of play strongly refers to the distinction between play activities and play-like activities. Play activities are initiated and carried out by the player (alone, with peers, with adults, etc.) for the only purpose of play itself (fun and joy, interest and challenge, love of race and competition, ilinx and dizziness, etc.). They have of course consequences on growth and development, but these consequences are not intentionally pursued. Play-like activities are initiated and conducted by an adult (with one or more children), in educational, clinical, social contexts; they are playful and pleasant, but their main objective is other than play: e.g., cognitive learning, social learning, functional rehabilitation, child's observation and assessment, psychological support, psychotherapy, etc. This book, then, contributes to a clear distinction between play and play-like activities that, hopefully, will bring to new developments in play studies.

Play takes up much of the time budget of young children, and many animals, but its importance in development remains contested. This comprehensive collection brings together multidisciplinary and developmental perspectives on the forms and functions of play in animals, children in different societies, and through the lifespan. The Cambridge Handbook of Play covers the evolution of play in animals, especially mammals; the development of play from infancy through childhood and into adulthood; historical and anthropological perspectives on play; theories and methodologies; the role of play in children's learning; play in special groups such as children with impairments, or suffering political violence; and the practical applications of playwork and play therapy. Written by an international team of scholars from diverse disciplines such as psychology, education, neuroscience, sociology, evolutionary biology and anthropology, this essential reference presents the current state of the field in play research.

Psychoanalytic and Cultural Aspects of Trauma and the Holocaust presents interdisciplinary postmemorial endeavors of second-, third- and fourth-generation Holocaust survivors living in Israel and in the Jewish diaspora. Drawing on a wide range of fields, including psychoanalysis, Holocaust studies, journal and memoir writing, hermeneutics, and the arts, this book considers how individuals dealing with the memory, or postmemory, of the Holocaust possess a personal connection to this trauma. Exploring their role as testimony bearers, each contributor performs their postmemorial work in a unique and creative way, blending the subjective and the objective. The book considers themes including postcolonialism, home, displacement, and identity. Psychoanalytic and Cultural Aspects of Trauma and the Holocaust will be key reading for academics and students of psychoanalytic studies, Holocaust studies, and trauma and cultural studies. It will also be of interest to psychoanalysts working with transgenerational trauma.

'Participatory Practice in Space, Place, and Service Design' is premised on a belief in the importance of participatory practices in finding creative solutions to the plethora of problems we face today. It argues that engaging professions with the public in mutual exploration, analysis, and creative thinking is essential. It not only ensures better quality products, places, services, and a greater sense of civic agency but also facilitates fuller access to them and the life opportunities they can unleash. This book offers a uniquely varied perspective of the myriad ways in which participatory practices operate across disciplines and how they impact the worlds and communities we create and inhabit. This book suggests that participatory practices are multi-disciplinary and relevant in fields as diverse as design, architecture, education, health care, sustainability, and community activism, to name a few of those discussed here. How do designed objects and environments affect wellness, creativity, learning, and a sense of belonging? How do products and services affect everyday experience and attitudes towards issues such as sustainability? How does giving people a creative voice in their own education, services, and built environments open up their potential and strengthen identity and civic agency? Addressing these questions requires a rethinking of relations between people, objects, and environments; it demands attention to space, place, and services.

Art and artmaking are at the basis of art therapy as a healing practice. Teachers of art therapy emphasize the role of the creative process and the symbolic use of materials in the training of art therapy students. This volume suggests an innovative research approach that examines different art therapy teaching and training practices, and studies them as parts of one picture.