Improv Group Therapy

For counseling students, school counselors, and experienced clinicians looking to incorporate creative, effective interventions in their work,  embracing openness and playfulness is extremely helpful in a variety of therapeutic settings to engage left and right brain, stay present, take bold risks, and fail spectacularly (and live to laugh about it). Using improvisational techniques in counseling to reduce anxiety and depression is effective because there is a significant connection between the skills necessary to self-regulate and the basic principles of improvisation: acceptance, commitment, curiosity, and discovery. Incorporating these objectives in therapy groups provide supportive ways to practice letting go, relinquish control, and share your generosity with others. Applying these techniques in therapy groups with clients who struggle with social anxiety and fears of rejection can reduce negative self-talk, promote creativity and joy, find meaningful connections with others, develop skills in team building, and strengthen non-verbal communication. By adopting interventions that stress the importance of focusing on others, reframing conflict and negotiation as collaboration, and demonstrating leadership by sharing and affirming, counselors can help clients identify coping skills with cost-effective, brief interventions suited for a variety of populations and organizations.  The line between wellness and improvisation isn’t hard to imagine if you think of it that way. Here are 8 things to remember:
* Say Yes. Most people are familiar with improv’s #1 “rule”. Yes, and. That’s because it’s so easy to understand and practice. Agree with the premise your scene partner offers. Saying yes is important because you both start from a place of mutual agreement. If you start here you are very quickly moving forward together to explore and discover.

* Listen. I mean actively listen. The best way to practice this is to use exercises which require participants to repeat the last thing their scene partner just said to them. They don’t need to deliver it with the same tone or attitude, but it aligns both people in a stated goal, belief, or plan to move the scene forward, explore and discover together.