A widely used form of teenager mental health therapy is improvisation therapy, as many of its participants were quick to make progress toward the recovery stage. Several studies show that many troubled teenagers who joined improv therapy groups were able to cast away their fears and anxieties in no time,
They professed that going through the improv therapy exercises had helped them develop a stronger sense of self confidence. Mainly attributing it to the realization that there’s always a strong core of people who have their back; ready to help them deal with the challenges and problems the world hands over to them.
What Exactly is Improvisation Therapy
Improvisation therapy or improv therapy is all about placing people on a theatrical stage to perform either drama or comedy without a script. What they are asked to do instead is to carry on with acting by following the suggestions and directions given in real time by members of the audience.
Improv therapy as it’s more popularly called, advances the recovery stage to a process where teens participate in group theater activities aimed at building trust founded on mutual support. Taking an active involvement in the group activities helped in making members more confident to speak in front of groups of people, and more willing to take risks because they feel safer and less anxious of the unknown.
Studies Show that Improv Therapy Creates Positive Effects
Studies about this type of art therapy described the acting exercises as entertaining for both the participants and the audience. Results of severak research studies show that teens who participated in improv therapy, manifested a quick transition to psychological well-being. The improvements in their mental health condition had subsequently led to their recovery from the anxiety and mental angst that beleaguered them.
Many of the teens who achieved recovery through this exercise claimed that in minimizing their social anxiety, they became more capable of making informed decisions. They soon found themselves more skilled in deciding on sensible actions to take.
Actually, studies about intolerance toward uncertainty combined with social anxiety and feelings of depression suggest that taking part in the role playing activities of improv therapy can help people of all ages, improve their emotional, social and psychological conditions.
Known Psychological Benefits of Improvisation Therapy
Aside from releasing teens from a constant state of anxiety and depression, researchers from different departments of the Northern Michigan University and University of Michigan, found other psychological benefits of improv therapy, namely:
Increased feeling of hope,
Increased openness to developing social connections after improving their ability to navigate and execute proper behaviors called for by social interactions
Improvisation therapy provides a setting that recognizes making mistakes as common and ordinary. At the same time, the support provided by the audience encourages individuals to believe in their capacity to execute tasks accordingly.
