We’ve all heard the saying, “Laughter is the best medicine.” Maybe that explains why more and more clinicians are recommending improvisational comedy (improv) as a therapeutic modality for people with mental health disorders such as social anxiety, and more recently, for developmental disabilities like autism. In response, some theater and comedy schools now offer courses in improv for children and adults with anxiety, autism and other special needs.
One of the first venues to offer such courses is The Second City. Founded in Chicago in 1959, The Second City, a sketch comedy club and school that launched the careers of comedy legends like Tina Fey, Chris Farley, Bill Murray and Keegan-Michael Key, now has additional locations in Hollywood and Toronto. In partnership with trained mental health therapists, The Second City began offering classes for people with anxiety in 2011 and ASD in 2013. The classes have proven both popular and successful.
“The early research in this area has shown that improvisation has a discernible positive effect in improving communication and prosocial behaviors in individuals with autism,” says Kelly Leonard, Executive Director of Insight on The Second City’s website.
Though clinicians, improv teachers and parents of children with autism vouch for the value of improv as a treatment modality, research studies such as an NIH-funded study at SENSE Theater Research Program of Vanderbilt University are currently underway to prove its efficacy.
So, how does participation in improv help individuals with anxiety and ASD? Believers say that improv can help to decrease anxiety in a variety of ways. The Mighty contributor Samuel Dunsiger says improv has taught him to remain present and improve his focus. “A constant struggle for people with anxiety is staying in the moment,” says Dunsiger. “I mean, it’s hard to keep your focus when you’re constantly worrying about something.”
Improv also helps participants become comfortable with the unexpected, something that’s challenging for anxious people to manage. “When you struggle with anxiety, this [the unexpected] might be your worst nightmare,” Dunsiger admits. “But trust me: it teaches you to tolerate and even welcome uncertainty. Uncertainty keeps things interesting and improv teaches you to have fun with it,” he says.
Finally, it’s impossible to fail improv, says Dunsiger, because it’s virtually impossible to make a mistake. That makes improv class a judgment-free zone, which builds confidence and reduces anxiety.
Since social anxiety is extremely common in people with autism, many of the same things that make improv therapeutic for people with social anxiety — becoming more comfortable with the unexpected, feeling accepted by a group, and staying present — makes it a great outlet for people with autism. Typically, individuals with ASD have difficulty with communication and social skills. Improv helps people improve these skills by teaching them to read social cues such as facial expressions and body language.
In a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, Blythe Corbett, a pediatric neuropsychologist who heads up the SENSE Theater, told reporter Kate Thayer, “Improv teaches one to think more broadly about different situations. …A lot of our children with autism have very rigid, concrete patterns of thinking. So, the idea of engaging in improvisational exercises allows a child to think more expansively.”
In addition, says Corbett, theater, including improv, helps children and teens who have difficulty empathizing with others develop “the ability to look at the world from another person’s perspective.”
As neuropsychologist Kristin Krueger told the Tribune, “Further study of improv is needed, but if the benefits she’s seen are shown through more research, access could expand for those who might not be receiving adequate mental health treatment.”
