Improv For Self-care – Virtual

Join us for fun and wellness.

Are you feeling anxious or out of control these days?

Do you wish there was a healthy way to practice letting go of perfection, of stress and more?

“I are more confident and happier after an hour of playing improv games.”

Improv makes us better partners, team members, and citizens because we have each other’s back.

The current state of the world is uncertain, leaving many with feelings of anxiety and few options for an outlet to practice managing these emotions.

There is no script in improv.

Improv principles include: following fears, managing the unknown, supporting one another, allowing ourselves to receive support, learning to manage stress at the moment, embracing imperfection, and letting go of control.

Improv is...

  • Games and exercises that help teach us to function in uncertainty. The same techniques that help us get out of our comfort zone in improv can help us manage our anxiety about the world around us.
  • Play that is vital for happiness and often the first thing sacrificed in the name of anything else. Creating a time and space for play and creativity is an investment in our mental health.
  • A safe space that provides a low stakes environment to explore new ways of responding and letting go of old defense mechanisms
  • A fun way to practice skills such as mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.
  •  Participants learn to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with their inner emotions and, instead, accept that these deeper feelings are appropriate responses to certain situations that should not prevent them from moving forward in their lives.

Applying improvisation to real-life situations is a quick way to improve our tolerance of accepting life on life’s terms. The exercises improve our confidence to interact in a world that has always been uncertain.

Instructors

Brian Reed

Improv Instructor

Brian is an improv instructor with Improv Therapy Group. His focus is on the addiction, recovery, and wellness aspects of applied improvisation. On a weekly and monthly basis, he works with groups at recovery treatment centers. Brian is in recovery himself and an active member of the community. He believes in helping others the same way in which he has been helped. He is a Chicago-based improviser, stand-up comedian, and public speaker. Brian is a graduate of The Second City Training Center’s Improv and Conservatory programs. As a performer, Brian works with The Comedy Clubhouse (One Group Mind), ComedySportz Chicago, and others.

Megan Sweet, M.A.

Improv Instructor

Megan joins us as an Improv Instructor. Her focus is utilizing applied improvisation in crisis intervention work to expand creative thinking, gain confidence, social support, and to increase emotional wellbeing and self-care. Megan has experience utilizing crisis intervention with children and families in their homes, and with the Seattle Police Departments’ Victim Support Team. In addition, Megan is the founder of IMPROVed Mind, dedicated to bringing applied improvisation, mindfulness, and social and emotional learning in the schools and the community. Megan performs stand-up, improv, and sketch comedy in the NJ/NYC area. In her spare time, Megan enjoys subjecting her family (especially her two young sons) to her various comedy ideas, reviewing bad movies, and trying her best at being a human.