Psychotherapist uses puppetry to bear witness to current events <\/p>\n
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When Avi Steinhardt ’03 acquired Louie — a furry, blue monster puppet — about a year ago, he didn’t know why.<\/p>\n
The Brooklyn-based psychotherapist didn’t have a background in puppetry, but had suddenly found himself wanting to own a monster puppet. As someone deeply influenced by the work of American psychologist James Hillman, who wrote that images, dreams, and fantasies are the language of the soul, Steinhardt decided not to brush off the desire. Instead, he commissioned Louie from a puppet and prop builder in Washington.<\/p>\n
“I thought it was interesting that I seemed to want this in my mid-30s, but I couldn’t shake it,” he recalls.<\/p>\n
Steinhardt didn’t have plans for the puppet at first. But once New York City was issued a stay-at-home order to stem the spread of COVID-19, he began filming videos with Louie in his apartment and posting the short clips on his “Monster Insight” Instagram<\/a> and YouTube<\/a> pages. Last month, the videos were featured on Spectrum News NY1’s “Acts of Kindness” segment.<\/a><\/p>\n “We put the first one out there totally spontaneously and the response was really tender right away,” Steinhardt recalls. “People were like, ‘Thank you, I needed that, please keep doing this.’ That was very touching, so then it immediately felt like a service I could offer.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n