Summer Conference 2026

Facilitators & Lecturers

Henk Göbel
He trained in acting, dance, and singing at the Berlin School of Performing Arts and is a certified theatre therapist (DGfT) and trauma pedagogue (DeGPT).
He works nationally and internationally in the field of child protection and the prevention and intervention of (sexualized) violence, and has taught at the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences in Berlin on the subject of “Theatre in Social Fields.”
Alongside numerous theatre projects with people of all ages, he has been performing playback theatre for over 15 years. He was a co-founder of the Berlin-based playback theatre group “Die Spiegelneuronen” and has led workshops in Germany, Lebanon, and at international playback theatre gatherings. In addition to his experience as an actor and conductor in playback theatre, he explores new worlds as a musician with the Tübingen playback theatre group.

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Ingrid Lutz
Trainer and teaching supervisor of the 4-year drama therapy training courses at the Institut für Theatertherapie in cooperation with the Catholic University of Applied Social Sciences in Berlin, former professor of dramatherapy at the HfWU Nürtingen. Additional training in family reconstruction, body-oriented therapy, and transpersonal therapy. Extensive teaching experience at universities and conferences both domestically and internationally (Peru, Israel, USA, Canada …) and field research on rituals and healing methods of other cultures. www.theatertherapie.org

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Amani Mussa
is a drama therapist, supervisor, and lecturer specializing in drama- and arts-based therapy within Arab society in Israel. Her work focuses on supporting children who have been exposed to violence. She serves as Chair of the Drama Therapy Division and is a founding member of the Arab Society Committee at YAHAT.
Her work takes place primarily within Arab educational frameworks, especially in special education. She coordinates arts-based therapy programs, supervises therapists, and lectures at Tel Hai Academic College, emphasizing the integration of Western psychological approaches with Arab cultural values to create sensitive and effective therapeutic responses.
She leads professional workshops that strengthen communication, support therapists working with children, and address violence in educational settings. As a Playback Theatre facilitator and performer, she uses theatre to foster social dialogue and co-founded the bilingual ensemble Here and Now Theatre, which brings together Arab and Jewish women through creativity and shared storytelling.

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Susana Pendzik, MA, PhD, RDT
Associate Professor and Former Head of the Drama Therapy Graduate Program at Tel Hai College (Israel), also lectures at the Theatre Studies Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Swiss Dramatherapy Institute, the Dramatherapy Diploma at the University of Cuyo (Mendoza, Argentina), as well as in other institutions of higher education worldwide. Theatre director and researcher, Susana is a prolific writer, authoring numerous articles and book chapters, a book on Action Techniques for Group Work with Battered women(1999) [Spanish and German];  co-edited Assessment in drama therapy (2012), and The self in performance: Autobiographical, self-revelatory, and autoethnographic forms of therapeutic theatre (2016), and co-authored Dramaterapia: Un enfoque creativo para el trabajo terapéutico (2018) [Spanish]. She is currently coeditor of the Dramatherapy Journal (the journal of the British Association of Dramatherapists  https://www.intellectbooks.com/dramatherapy). She is a supervisor and has a private practice.

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Salvo Pitruzzella
was born and lives in Palermo. He is one of the pioneers of dramatherapy in Italy.
Starting from his previous experiences as actor, playwright, puppeteer, creative theatre trainer and psychodramatist, he developed his own methods and has been working as dramatherapist in various fields, especially in adolescent and adult mental health.
He has directed the Dramatherapy School at the Centro ArtiTerapie in Lecco for 25 years and has been tenured Professor of Arts Education and Creative Writing at the Fine Arts Academies of Bari and Palermo. An Honorary Member of SPID (Italian Professional Society of Dramatherapy) since its establishment, he was one of the founders of EFD (European Federation of Dramatherapy) and has been a member of the Executive Board until 2023. After stepping down from the Board, he was appointed Member of Honour.
He served as Global Representative at ECArTE (European Consortium for Arts Therapies Education) and collaborated with the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London as External Examiner.
He has lectured and led workshops all around Italy, as well as in the UK, Israel, Switzerland, Malta, Romania, Czech Republic, Greece, Belgium, USA, Germany, and Poland.
He has written and edited numerous essays and handbooks on dramatherapy, arts therapies, and creative education and contributed to several international volumes. He has published three novels, the latest of which, Il Vento e la Giostra, was released in 2023 by GFE, Rome.
Currently, he is the co-editor, with Susana Pendzik, of the Dramatherapy Journal, the scientific journal of BADTh (British Association of Dramatherapists). He is also Lecturer of Dramatherapy in the Master courses in Creative Arts Therapies at Milan and Padova Universities.

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Bettina Stoltenhoff-Erdmann
Drama/Theatre Therapist, licensed practitioner for psychotherapy, with 25 years of clinical dramatherapy experience in psychiatry, psychotherapy and psychosomatic medicine, working with adults and adolescents in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
Trained in psychodrama, with further qualifications in trauma counselling, DBT and systemic family therapy. Long-standing trainer and teaching supervisor in the training programmes of the Institute for Theatre Therapy (ITT), Head of Professional Training Programmes at ITT, and co-editor of the two dramatherapy handbooks “Theatre Therapy” and “Learning to Live Through Play”.
German representative of the DGfT and member of the EFD (European Federation of Dramatherapy) steering group.

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Dr. Anna Seymour PhD, PFHEA
HCPC registered Dramatherapist is Emeritus Professor of Dramatherapy at the University of Roehampton, London and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is Visiting Professor, Holy Spirit University, Kaslik, Lebanon, Visiting Professor, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, and an honorary member of the Societa Professionale di Dramaterapia (Italy) She is an international trainer and consultant across the world.  Anna has worked as a Dramatherapist and clinical supervisor in the Uk National Health Service, voluntary sector and private practice.
She has a background in professional theatre with and for working class communities and was associated with more than 30 shows, devising, directing and performing work. She has trained in two physical theatre forms : Commedia dell’Arte in France (with John Rudlin) Italy (with Antonio Fava) and Biomechanics (with Gennadi Bogdanov, Moscow). As an academic she has taught theatre praxis and given lecture series in the Drama departments of several leading UK universities including the Universities of Manchester and Birmingham. Her research interests bring together Marxist ideas, therapy and theatre in the contemporary setting of political activism.
Former Editor of the British Association of Dramatherapists peer reviewed journal, Dramatherapy, she is Senior Series Editor, Dramatherapy: Approaches, relationships, critical ideas – Book Series – Routledge & CRC Press

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Aylien Yanik, MA

is a dramatherapist, supervisor, university lecturer, and doctoral candidate of Armenian descent. She has 23 years of clinical experience in the treatment of depression, addiction, and complex trauma-related disorders, and teaches dramatherapy at university level.
Her therapeutic approach integrates dramatherapy with trauma-informed and neurobiological concepts—particularly Polyvagal Theory—as well as compassion-focused and embodiment-oriented methods. As part of her master’s studies, she developed the programme “Power of Encouragement”, which combines clinical practice, theoretical grounding, and empirical research. In 2023, she published on this work in the Journal of Arts Therapies.
Within a tandem professorship model for dramatherapy, she brings together clinical practice, supervision, university teaching, and research. In her doctoral research, she investigates the effectiveness of the “Power of Encouragement” programme, with a focus on embodied safety and the scientific advancement of dramatherapeutic practice in the context of trauma and regulation.
As the child of Armenian emigrants, Aylien Yanik weaves personal, artistic, and scholarly perspectives into her work. Through her photographic exhibition “Armenia: Beauty of My Roots”, she creates a space for remembrance, dialogue, and transgenerational understanding.