Improv
Gifted Development Through Improv
The masks we adopt to protect our sensitive, intense, longing gifted selves can be so well practiced that we don’t even know we’re wearing them. When I stumbled into Improv, I found a path to gifted development that leads with laughter and play. Play requires safety and trust, and it has no goal other than itself. In Improv, we create a container that allows you to take your inner child out for ice cream.
Improv has proven, again and again, that playing in a room of other outliers changes lives. In addition to the rich ‘afterparty’ discussion, the pure trustbuilding of Improv is a unique and fun way to heal old wounds.
Read below to learn more about how Improv changes gifted lives.
IMPROV FOR 2E+ TEENS
Register Below! Once we get to ten people signed up, you’ll get an email from me to let you know. We will decide day/time once the group is filled. I am also available to meet with your students or other teen groups in-person or virtually. Please let me know what you’re looking for. I’ll help Yes, And it into existence.
Your teen walks through life with intensities – intellectual, sensual, physical, creative, emotional, existential. Some experience hyperfocus and can feel hyperscattered. They feel different from the neuromajority, and they’ve camouflaged to ‘fit in’. They want to feel connected to people, relax and laugh with them. They can be burdened with perfectionism and anxiety, and they love it when there is ease and flow. They’re complex, and they like complexity.
Improv for 2e+ Teens is a place where your teens can be themselves in all their facets. They’ll laugh and get to use all of their strengths. They’ll laugh some more and feel accepted no matter what happens. They’ll come to greater self-acceptance and self-trust. They will have the experience of shedding the masks they’ve worn.
Cost for the entire six week series is $275 per participant. For BIPOC participants who choose it, the Equity Rate is $220. Email me at gordon@gordonsmithasheville with the subject line “Equity Rate”, and I’ll send that link.
IMPROV FOR GIFTED ADULTS
The next cohort is beginning on Sunday, August 25, 2024! We’re almost full (9 so far, max is 12). We’ll run for six consecutive weeks from (Eastern Time) 5pm-6:15pm with an afterparty each week that runs until 7pm. Come Play!
$275 for the whole series. $220 Equity Rate for BIPOC participants who choose it.
You walk through life with intensities – intellectual, sensual, physical, creative, emotional, existential. You experience hyperfocus and can feel hyperscattered. You feel different from the neuromajority, and you’ve camouflaged to ‘fit in’. You want to feel connected to people, relax and laugh with them. You can be burdened with perfectionism and anxiety, and you love it when there is ease and flow. You’re complex, and you like complexity.
Improv for Gifted Adults is a place where you can be yourself in all your facets. You’ll laugh and get to use all of your strengths. You’ll laugh some more and feel accepted no matter what happens. You’ll come to greater self-acceptance and self-trust. You will have the experience of shedding the masks you’ve worn.
Cost for the entire six week series is $275 per participant. For BIPOC participants who choose it, the Equity Rate is $220. Email me at gordon@gordonsmithasheville with the subject line “Equity Rate”, and I’ll send that link.
IMPROV FOR FAMILIES
Imagine your family trusting each other more. Cooperating more. Accepting and supporting each other more. Laughing together. Playing instead of arguing. Exchanging ideas rather than withdrawing or competing. Doing something together that everyone can agree is just plain fun.
Back in 2021, a family reached out to me. They’d spent a year at the edge of disaster as a member of the family battled a severe illness. Being in and out of hospitals, struggling through sleepless nights, and constant worry wrung them all out. The person recovered, and they found themselves unsure of how to become a happy, functioning family again now that the crises had passed.
We engaged in four sessions of improv together. They put my Zoomface on a wall of the living room as they all gathered in their living room. We played and laughed our way through game after game. So. Much. Laughter. They found themselves learning to play again. They started Yes, and’ing each other outside of sessions and creating their own games to play. They integrated the magic of improv into their lives and into their family dynamic.
IMPROV FOR THERAPISTS
The next in-person, five-week group will run soon on Nov. 6, 13, 20; Dec. 4, 11 from 10-11:30am at Grace Episcopal Church on N. Merrimon Avenue in Asheville. Registration is open now! $235 for the series – 7.5 CEs available – All In-Person, $188 Equity Rate for BIPOC participants who choose it.
Upcoming virtual group for Therapists/Coaches for Gifted and 2e+ People! Please contact me if you’re interested. Once we have the numbers, we’ll schedule something that’ll work for everyone.
Let’s play! Personal and professional growth through laughter, play, and community is what Improv for Therapists is all about. This five week experience is a hilarious way to practice spontaneity, acceptance, collaboration, and trust. It makes us better therapists and happier people. When we carry our Improv brains out into the world and into our work, we experience more self-acceptance and self-trust, more acceptance and trust of others, more laughter, less perfectionism, more spontaneity, and more ease.
We therapists are called upon every day to be in a space of curiosity and acceptance. We support our clients through whatever they bring to us, and we endeavor to affirm their experience. We understand the boundaries of our roles. We work within those boundaries to create a safe container for others to feel accepted, respected, and invited to grow. We aspire to trust ourselves to be enough for each encounter. We improvise.
