Improv in Real Life – Details, episodes & analysis

Many of us second guess what to do in social situations. In this episode, Jude speaks with Caitlin Steitzer - a fellow improviser, therapist, and social worker - who explains how improv’s focus on the group can help people overcome social anxiety, shifting attention away from self-criticism and into the present moment.

*Connect with Caitlin - website, Instagram, LinkedIn

To learn more about these concepts, check out:

• The Brilliant Genius: Using Improv Comedy In Social Work Groups  by Caitlin Steitzer 
• Comedic Improv Therapy For The Treatment Of Social Anxiety Disorder

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me. 

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Many of us resist change. In this episode, Jude speaks with Belina Raffy, who uses comedy and improv to help us reframe that mindset. She takes on daunting challenges like climate change and social justice, showing how even the toughest issues can feel approachable and manageable.

*Connect with Belina - Sustainable Stand Up, Giggling with Earth, Maffick, LinkedIn, Instagram, Courses: Clarity and Flow, Complexity, Compassion and Comedy, Sustainable Stand Up

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me. 

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Parenting doesn’t come with a script, which is why flexibility and a sense of play, the heart of improv, can be a game-changer. In this episode, Jude speaks with improvisers (and parents) Mary Theresa Archbold and Pat Shay who share how the principles of improv can transform family life. 

*Connect with Mary & Pat - Funny Parents Podcast,  Website: Home | True Play Improv and Blog | funnyparents,  Facebook, LinkedIn: Mary, Pat, Instagram

To learn more about these concepts, check out:

• Yes, and … Clean Your Room

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me. 

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Improv isn’t just for the stage. It’s showing up in hospitals, clinics, and memory care centers. In this episode, Jude speaks with medical improv trailblazer Beth Boynton, who shares how principles like “yes, and” are helping caregivers build connection, reduce stress, and bring more humanity to people with cognitive decline.

*Connect with Beth - website, Facebook, LinkedIn, free workshop, more about Medical Improv. Purchase her book The Medical Improv Toolkit.

To learn more about these concepts, check out:

• “Just Join Them”: Improv and Dementia Care
• Pilot of a Communication Program for Dementia Caregivers Using Improvisational Techniques
• Effects of Improv Training on Older Adults in a Long Term Care Facility

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me. 

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Emotional intelligence is learning how to be responsive, not reactive. In this episode, Jude speaks with Elana Fishbein, professional improviser and facilitator, about how improv can help us develop the self-awareness and flexibility we need to handle those tougher life moments. 

Connect with Elana - website, Instagram, LinkedIn

To learn more about these concepts, check out:

• Intelligent play: How improv can improve clinician's emotional intelligence
• Be real, open, and creative: How openness to experience and to change mediate the authenticity-creativity association

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me. 

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Positive emotions aren’t just pleasant, they’re powerful. In this episode, host Jude Treder-Wolff speaks with facilitator and improviser Gary Ware about how improv-based play can build resilience, ease stress, and strengthen our sense of self. 

*Connect with Gary - website, Instagram, LinkedIn. Purchase his book Playful Rebellion. 

To learn more about these concepts, check out:

• Progress in Brain Research
• Failure With A Side Of Funny: How Improv Helps Us Deal With The Messy Unknown

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me. 

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn.

Improv has a way of turning strangers into lifelong connections, often in the span of a single scene. In this episode, Jude speaks with Michelle Gilliam about how improv builds community, fosters belonging, and helps us move from anxiety to connection.

*Connect with Michelle - Improv MKE, Instagram, LinkedIn

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me. 

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn