Shoshi Keisari, Ph.D. is a certified drama therapist and lecturer at the School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, Israel. She is a member of the Center for Research and Study of Aging, the Drama and Health Science Lab, and the Emilie Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center at the University of Haifa.
Her research areas include drama therapy and arts participation in aging, psychotherapeutic playback theater, clinical gerontology, and drama therapy incorporating grief therapy and palliative care.
She is the co-author of the book An Introduction to Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater: Hall of Mirrors on Stage, published by Routledge. She has presented her work at international conferences and published in international refereed journals. In addition, Dr. Keisari has vast clinical experience working in mental health institutes, hospitals, nursing homes, adult day care centers and private clinics.
She has received several awards including the Center for Research and Study of Aging Award, The Drama Therapy Fund Thesis/Dissertation Award, a grant from the Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, an APA Div 10 micro-grant, and a grant from the Minerva Center for Intersectionality in Aging (MCIA).
Selected Publications
- Keisari, S., & Palgi, Y. (2017). Life-crossroads on stage: Integrating life review and drama therapy for older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 21(10), 1079-1089.
- Keisari, S., Yaniv, D., Palgi, Y., & Gesser-Edelsburg, A. (2018). Conducting playback theatre with older adults—A therapist’s perspective. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 60, 72-81.
- Kowalsky, R., Keisari, S., & Raz, N. (2019). Hall of mirrors on stage: An introduction to psychotherapeutic playback theatre. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 66, 101577.
- Keisari, S., Palgi, Y., Yaniv, D., & Gesser-Edelsburg, A. (2020). Participation in Life-Review Playback Theatre enhances mental health of community-dwelling older adults: A randomized controlled trial. Psychology of Aesthetics Creativity and the Arts
- Keisari, S., Gesser-Edelsburg, A., Yaniv, D., & Palgi, Y. (2020). Playback theatre in adult day centers: A creative group intervention. Plos One, 15(10), e0239812.
- Keisari, S., Feniger-Schaal, R., Palgi, Y., Golland, Y., Gesser-Edelsburg, A., & Ben-David, B. (2020). Synchrony in old age: Playing the mirror game improves cognitive performance. Clinical Gerontologist, 45(2), 312-326.
- Kordova, S., & Keisari, S. (2020). ‘Great red anemone and its beautiful black pollens’: On tele-drama therapy sessions with older adults in times of COVID-19. Drama Therapy Review, 6(2), 15-19.
- Testoni, I., Pedot, M., Arbien, M., Keisari, S., Cataldo, E., Ubaldi, C., ... & Zamperini, A. (2020). A gender-sensitive intervention in jail: A study of Italian men convicted of assaulting women or femicide. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 71, 101704.
- Keisari, S. (2021). Expanding the role repertoire while aging: A drama therapy model. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 635975.
- Keisari, S., Hoffman, Y., Ring, L., & Palgi, Y. (2021). The moderating effect of older adults' receptive arts engagement on the association between resilience and anxiety symptoms during coronavirus breakout. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 209(6), 443.
- Harel, D., & Keisari, S. (2021). Drama therapy in late life: Taking life-story work one step further. Drama Therapy Review, 7(1), 23-36.
- Keisari, S., Piol, S., Elkarif, T., Mola, G., & Testoni, I. (2021). Crafting life stories in photocollage: An online creative art-based intervention for older adults. Behavioral Sciences, 12(1), 1-23.
- Keisari, S., Piol, S., Orkibi, H., Elkarif, T., Mola, G., & Testoni, I. (2022). Spirituality during the COVID-19 pandemic: An online creative arts intervention with photocollages for older adults in Italy and Israel. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 897153.
- Shapira, O. M., Shem-Tov, N., & Keisari, S. (2022). Social role development in playback theater groups in light of the Mackenzie and Livesley model. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 80, 101942.
- Feniger-Schaal, R., Orkibi, H., Keisari, S., Sajnani, N. L., & Butler, J. D. (2022). Shifting to tele-creative arts therapies during the COVID-19 pandemic: An international study on helpful and challenging factors. The Arts in psychotherapy, 78, 101898.
- Keisari, S., Palgi, Y., Ring, L., Folkman, A., & Ben-David, B. M. (2022). “Post-lockdown depression”: Adaptation difficulties, depressive symptoms, and the role of positive solitude when returning to routine after the lifting of nation-wide COVID-19 social restrictions. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13.
- Kowalsky, R., Pendzik, S., Raz, N., & Keisari, S. (2022). An Introduction to Psychotherapeutic Playback Theater: Hall of Mirrors on Stage. Routledge.
- Orkibi, H. & Keisari, S. (2023). Creative arts therapies for emotional well-being: Processes and outcomes. In Z. Ivcevic, J.D Hoffmann & J.C Kaufman (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity and emotions. Cambridge University Press