Dr Marlene Winberg holds a Doctor of Philosophy with a specialisation in the narrative arts from the University of Cape Town, a Masters of Arts in Fine Art (UCT) and BA in Drama and Literature (UCT). She holds certificates in a range of healing modalities, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy from the Applied College of Psychology in the UK, Clinical Hypnosis and Narrative Therapy from the Dulwich Centre in Australia.

She has served the Sweden-based human rights organisation, The World's Children's Prize Foundation for 25 years. In this capacity she has listened to hundreds of vulnerable women and children from all over the globe tell their stories.

As oral history facilitator for marginalised communities in southern Africa, she has witnessed how indigenous healing practices, including storytelling, support dispossessed communities' mental health and well-being. She brought this experience to her PhD thesis to establish a trans-disciplinary framework for linking traditional creative practices with the contemporary arts and sciences in the mangement of post traumatic stress. She is the author of several books on the integration of the narrative arts, healing and Indigenous Knowledge.