Lois Holzman, Ph.D.,
is a pioneer of a new “psychology of becoming” that incorporates play,
performance, improvisation and practical philosophy to inspire life-long human
development. Her work builds on that of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who
advanced the understanding of learning and development in early childhood as
social, cultural, improvisational and playful. Holzman is director of the
non-profit East Side Institute for Group and short
Term Psychotherapy and lead organizer of the
biennial Performing the World conferences. Her books include Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary
Scientist (with Fred Newman), Vygotsky at Work and Play; Schools
for Growth: Radical Alternatives to Current Educational Models; and Performing
Psychology: A Postmodern Culture of the Mind. She is a commentator at Psychology
Today ("A Conceptual Revolution”), Mad in America, and the
blog, "A Psychology of Becoming."