The Leelah Play
Book & Articles
Reading Leelah in Depth
Leelah developed through group work and lived experience, alongside research, writing and theory.
The written dimension of Leelah moves between drama therapy, psychoanalysis, philosophy, hermeneutics and the sociology of role, exploring questions of play, identity, power, freedom, interpretation and avatar.
On this page you can find the book Leelah – The Play Paradigm, alongside selected publications for those who wish to understand the ideas behind Leelah.
Leelah – The Play Paradigm
By Dr Dov Blum-Yazdi | Resling Publishing
The book is an adaptation and continuation of Dov Blum-Yazdi’s doctoral research, presenting the theoretical ground from which Leelah emerged.
It brings together therapeutic, philosophical and cultural thinking on play: Winnicott and the playing space, Foucault and power relations, Huizinga and Homo Ludens, Goffman and the self as social role, Gadamer and interpretation — alongside questions of identity, freedom, avatar, role and group.
Through these encounters, the book asks a simple and profound question: what happens when play is taken seriously — as a way to test possibilities, encounter boundaries, enter a role and discover something new about oneself and the world?
Selected Publications
Articles & Audio
Where to Go from Here
After reading, Leelah can also be encountered from within.
The book and articles open the ideas that hold the method; the live encounter allows those ideas to take shape through play, character and group.
If this way of working speaks to your curiosity, you are welcome to begin with an open session or explore the yearly program.