Can a performative understanding of art through philosophy, anthropology and aesthetics become the foundation of therapeutic practice? Peter Sinapius and Mona Behfeld formulate a paradigm shift in artistic therapies and initiate a groundbreaking discourse. The first part of the handbook on the critique of therapeutic practice deals with causality, language, practices of self-awareness and the relationship between artistic and therapeutic practice. The second part deals with the philosophy of therapeutic practice and looks at the interfaces between art and living spaces, social interaction and media, perception and representation.