Therapeutic Puppetry 
Empowering - Transformative - Healing

The therapeutic use of puppetry is still quite much in its infancy, in some countries more than others. That´s why this page is created, as a kind of web-based ´playground´ where different therapeutic theories and techniques can meet and evolve. Psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, Jungian, cognitive and narrative theory can stand side by side and be combined with techniques from art therapy, play therapy, drama therapy and psychodrama. 

To reach that goal it is as well necessary to make space for dialogue. That possibility is provided on Facebook. You are therefore encouraged to join the closed facebook group Therapeutic Puppetry, which already has about 450 participants worldwide. There is a LinkedIn group with the same name and since 2022 we also have a YouTube Channel. Also, for this work, the puppeteer and occupational therapist Ingrid Lagerqvist is a source of inspiration and a great role model for combining puppetry and therapy. She became interested in drama, music therapy and puppetry early in life and was the child of Polish puppeteers. Hand- and paper puppets were her specialty working in the area  from 1951 until she passed away in Austria July 2003. From 1969 Ingrid was a co-founder of UNIMA-Sweden. Her work was mainly in schools for children with special needs, although she also worked in children´s hospitals and psychiatric wards. She especially emphasized the use of puppetry as a continuous method including the whole process from creation to play. This website is made in Ingrid Lagerqvist´s honor. An everyday Hero crossing borders as well geographically, culturally and therapeutically. 

Briefly about me: I am an arts therapist working with child, adolescent and family therapy in Sweden. My background is mainly in Mental Health Care, psychiatry and work in a Children´s Hospital. My believe in puppetry as a vehicle for change inspired me to create this website in 2008, with the intent of broadening the field of therapeutic puppetry. Read and Enjoy!


Åsa Viklund