Feeling anxious? Improv might help with that
Jenny Findling, a Wichita therapist and improv performer, is offering a six-week program for anxious adults.
Wichita therapist Jenny Findling is combining her background in both play therapy and improv performance in a program she calls Improv Therapy for Anxiety.
Sessions take place from 9:30-11 a.m. Thursdays from March 5 to April 9 at Flying Pig Improv, 2320 E. Douglas Ave. in Wichita.
Findling holds a doctorate in counseling with an emphasis in play therapy, a therapeutic approach to working with children. She practices at the Caring Center of Wichita.
“Play cuts to the heart of it all,” Findling said. ‘You go straight for that raw emotion, and there's no filter. You don't have to filter yourself in play. It's wonderful.”
Findling has been a regular performer at Flying Pig Improv for the past six years. She has also trained with the Chicago-based Improv Therapy Group, which teaches therapists how to incorporate improv techniques into their work with patients.
Each session will incorporate elements of both an improv class and group therapy:
- A five to 10-minute check-in
- “Warm-up” improv exercises “to get everyone’s creative juices flowing”
- “Meatier” improv games, including scene work that “can access emotions really quickly and easily for most people”
- Group discussion
- “Lighter” games to end the session
Tapping into emotion may provoke anxiety in some people, Findling said, but “We're there to support you, and we’ve got your back.
“If it's too much, you just stop, step back into the into the circle or the audience … and relax for a little while, and then we'll continue on.”
The six-week session costs $180, payable in advance. To learn more or register, call or text Findling: 316-253-5448.
— Emily Christensen is a co-founder and the editor of The SHOUT.
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