Moving the Needle on Mental Health
Angela Nino, Improv Therapy Group’s founder and CEO, was interviewed for this article by Chicago Health Online.
“Sometimes, theater and therapy aren’t all that far apart.
“When I was doing my own therapy and doing my own work on myself, I realized that my improv teacher and my therapist were telling me the same things,” says Angela Nino, founder and CEO of Improv Therapy Group.
Nino found it easier to explore emotions in the safe environment of improv. So she texted her teacher about starting an improv comedy and therapy program. When her teacher responded with a thumbs up, Nino launched Improv Therapy Group to use improv to help people face mental health challenges in unexpected and dynamic ways.
The group works primarily with therapists, who then employ improv games with their clients. Improv Therapy Group also offers sessions for clergy and corrections officers, and it is developing a module for law enforcement. Participants come from the Chicago area and beyond, including some who have joined from New Zealand and the U.K. over Zoom.
Improv uses a “yes and” technique that is helpful in other areas of life, Nino says. Saying “yes and” instead of “no” requires people to build upon another’s words — and worlds — ultimately expanding their own.”
