Your Own Theater of Healing

Step-by-step exercises to act your way to success in your own theater of healing.

Act It Out provides a safe, self-guided method for recovery to adult survivors of abuse.

In her practice, Stefanie Auerbach Stolinsky, Ph.D. treats individuals, groups and couples, addressing relationship issues and those pertaining to trauma and abuse. She confronts the acute stressors of violence, domestic and work upheaval, sexual harassment, and past trauma relating to sexual and physical child abuse.

Act It Out has 25 acting exercises, with links to live video demonstrations of the techniques.

Reviews

Children who have survived physical, emotional, or sexual abuse often have trouble finding and maintaining loving, trusting relationships. Here, licensed psychologist Stolinsky balances background information with stories, effectively illustrating (but not sensationalizing) the horrors of child abuse.

In her clinical practice, the author, a former actress, found that her patients benefited from using acting exercises that create and explore different environments. These same methods allow abuse survivors to explore their feelings, as well as ‘some of the moments, sounds, sights, objects, and feelings connected to the psychologically terrifying experiences that damaged them. Clearly written for a lay audience, this book respectfully and gently treats a difficult topic.

Readers will appreciate the author’s obvious effort and concern. Highly recommended.

— Library Journal.

Dr. Stolinsky’s Act It Out is one of those rare thoroughly readable psychological literary works. Any therapist who works with the sexually abused or any survivor of sexual abuse will want this book by their side.

— Kara L. Cross, Ph.D., forensic psychologist, Psychological Assessment for Professional Pilots

Act It Out is a creative addition to established treatment for adult survivors of childhood abuse. This set of experiential exercises, based on the author’s acting training and experience, offer another way for those with unhealed trauma to explore their memories and associated feelings to a point of completion and resolution. The use of web-based videos adds a distinctive dimension that illustrates the author’s approach. A unique contribution!

— Christine A. Courtois, Ph.D., ABPP, Psychologist.

Stefanie Auerbach Stolinsky, Ph.D., a former actress, is a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist with a private practice in Beverly Hills. A noted speaker for over a decade, Dr. Stolinsky combines drama, acting, and performing, with a unique style of psychotherapy.