By: Adam Davis
What is Improv Group Therapy?
A group therapy designed to help increase Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and/or Dialectical Behavioral Therapy skills, encompassing the use of mindfulness and emotional regulation, through the practice of improv!
How could this workshop/group be beneficial for me?
Repetition can be a helpful aspect when it comes to learning. Whether your therapist has encouraged you, or recommended you, to practice certain coping skills, or you have taken an interest in learning about aspects of mindfulness on your own, this improv workshop/group offers a way to practice such skills in a challenging, yet fun and creative way! The workshop/group is designed to help participants internalize and practice clinical skills in a different way, compared to that of a traditional clinical setting, in order to make parallel connections to real-life experiences.
So, what does a workshop/group entail?
A typical workshop/group can entail somewhere between 3-5 improv warm-up games/exercises that are explained, and led by, the therapist/facilitator. Some exercises last a handful of minutes, while other warm-up games could last 15 or more minutes. In addition, the therapist will explain at the beginning of the group, and end of the group, what clinical intentions/skills are focused on and how such skills can be used in one's personal life.
What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and improv?
ACT: An engaging perspective to therapy in which clients attempt to learn how to accept their thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations as they show up in the present moment, identify their values, and take action toward what is important in their life.
DBT: A constructed form of therapy that encompasses an educational aspect of helping clients learn skills to help cope with overwhelming emotions, and to help increase their ability to build and maintain healthy relationships.
Improv: A form of theater in which most of what is performed is unplanned, not scripted, and created in the spur of the moment. Some core principles that are reflected in improv are tolerance, compassion, and modesty. There are no errors or miscalculations in improv, but rather gifts, origination, and opportunities.
As improv opens a vessel to observe the mind’s ability to respond to a scene, or opportunities that arise throughout an activity, a byproduct that is often produced is comedy and laughter. Furthermore, from a clinical perspective, laughter itself has been studied and it has shown to offer physiological and mental health benefits such as lowering levels of the stress hormone cortisol and can help improve depressed mood, anxiety, and stress.
So how do they all interrelate?
By using improv exercises/games, within a group therapy setting, clients are able to actively utilize ACT/DBT mindfulness skills (being in the present moment with thoughts, feelings, and sensations without judgment) to help clients improve their listening and communication abilities, learn to let go of unhelpful traits of perfectionism, and to help strengthen imagination and creativity. Additionally, by utilizing ACT/DBT through the practice of improv, clients can learn how to implement skills to help cope with anxiety, including social anxiety, and depressed mood.
OTHER COUNSELING SERVICES OFFERED AT WELLMINDED COUNSELING
Therapy for depression isn’t the only service we offer. WellMinded Counseling offers the following counseling services: