Improv is uniquely effective for learning a set of skills for communicating as clearly as possible in situations of uncertainty, to read others' cues, and respond with clarity and creativity in order to build something together. Improv exercises build these psychological and behavioral "muscles" through dynamic, highly-engaging interactive experiences that are also fascinating and fun.

The capacity to identify, manage and express emotions is part of the infrastructure of human connection. Some feelings flow more easily than others. Some feelings are more nuanced but are powerful "backseat drivers" of reactions, choices, and dynamics. Relationships can get stuck in patterns that feel safe but not necessarily satisfying, we can have a conflicting feelings about the same situations or people. This workshop will focus on the gift of creative distance for exploring emotional complexity, using improv games and exercises. It is an opportunity to experience playing with emotions in imaginative ways, and to examine the impact of the language of feelings that we use - or never use - on relationships.

Expanded awareness of emotional complexity, and the capacity to play with it in an authentic way, makes us more intuitive and connected as improvisers, and more fully present to ourselves and others in real life.

We will discuss applications of these techniques in therapy or coaching, or for personal self-development.

Instructor: Jude Treder-Wolff, LCSW, CGP CPAI is a creative arts therapist, improviser, applied improviser, storyteller and storytelling coach who offers improvisation and storytelling classes through Lifestage, Inc.  and host of the Improv In Real Life podcast. She completed the improvisation programs at The Peoples Improv Theater and The Magnet Theater in NYC, was on a Magnet Theater house team and is currently on the NYC-based independent team Submarine World. She is very active in applying improvisation skills, practices and philosophy to personal and professional development and works with groups and organizations and communities in New York and around the country.

Jude Treder-Wolff was interviewed for Authority Magazine on ways to avoid hustle culture and create a new sustainable work paradigm. Improv comedy and joy are part of the equation. Here are her 5 tips in a 10-minute video. You can read the interview on this link