“Mark O’Connell writes to enliven therapists’ use of their selves as creative artists. He situates himself at the intersection of acting and psychotherapy from which he offers practical exercises that focus on mind, body, emotion and breath; he does so not in the manner of a how-to guide but in keeping with a therapist’s reach for the freedom of potential and the luxury of being. Sweetening the read, O’Connell serves up wonderful anecdotes from well-known actors who help bring to life his valuable psychotherapeutic suggestions.”

“The Performing Art of Therapy brilliantly explores the nuances of therapist and patient on the therapeutic stage. O’Connell’s creative, useful and inspiring work offers us new ways of thinking about our clients as well as our own aliveness, engagement, and self-care.”

“This revelatory book proposes that the elements of observation, empathy and truthful self-examination so essential to the art of acting are also fundamental to the practice of therapy. In clear, readable, almost conversational prose that is remarkably free of scientific jargon, Mark O’Connell shares insights learned through years of training and practice that are equally applicable to artists and mental health professionals. Any student actor could open a page of this delightful, thought-provoking book and find a nugget of wisdom or practical advice, and any seasoned professional could find—analyzed with simple clarity—the lessons of a lifetime of experience and training. This book, written in a voice that is at once wise and wise-cracking, serious and ironically self-effacing, is a great gift to the field of therapy.”

“The Performing Art of Therapy, is a tour de force presentation of how skills in which actors are commonly trained, can become ways to prepare for being on the “stage” of each therapeutic session. [Both therapist and client] assume a variety of roles depending on the contemporaneous dramatic context. These roles shift rapidly for both participants, revolving through being players, audience, directors, editors, and so forth to one another, all in an effort to author a new, more meaningful and fulfilling fiction.
”

“Drama is often dismissed as a means of exaggerating a point, as in making something “dramatic”! By contrast, I see drama as essential to our theories and practice. It is the “flesh and blood” on the epistemological “bones” of every theory of contemporary psychoanalysis, making it essential to Relational Meta-psychology. Properly trained in dramatic techniques, clinicians become more alive, authentic, and effective in how they perform their interventions. In this vein, The Performing Art of Therapy is the best book I have read proffering both exercises and techniques for helping clinicians better “use themselves” therapeutically. This is critical, since as Mark O’Connell argues, psychotherapists are inescapably performers of their art. Further, of much greater significance than our theory-driven interventions, is how our clients experience us performing them. This book is a drama training manual for therapy par excel lance, breaking down every dramatic element of treatment in both highly meaningful and useful ways. As a sincere, serious, fun, and deeply engaging text, it is a must read for clinicians of all levels.”

“The Performing Art of Therapy explores the value of the relationship that develops between therapist and client. It brilliantly demonstrates how authentic connection forms the foundation of all therapeutic processes, and more important, how therapists can use their presence to help build this connection with their clients.”