Improvisation Therapy is a Mindfulness training session developed by Brendan and based on his varied skill set. The group-session includes a discussion about the practical benefits of mindfulness, story-telling, poetry, simple role-play improvisations and finishes with a long, guided meditation to help you integrate it all.
Improvisation Therapy was developed at a mental health retreat on the Sunshine Coast, and is designed to help develop mindfulness. It’s a safe but unpredictable space where we can practice being present in the moment instead of getting lost in our old habits. It is excellent practice for being mindful in everyday life.
The session includes some improvised role-play which is beginner level and there is no ‘acting’ required. It’s more about doing some simple excercises in a light-hearted way.
Be warned, sometimes it even becomes fun!
One of the big challenges of developing mindfulness in daily life is staying focused. In these sessions guests are encouraged to stay focused and aware throughout the session, thereby gaining some experience of responding to a challenging situation in a new, positive way.
Brendan O’Shea has facilitated weekly group sessions at our retreat for over a year and has been a reliable and valued member of our team. Brendan always engages with our guests professionally and brings a diverse set of skills and experiences that are both educational and entertaining.
Our guests often comment on the value they have received from his sessions and how his unique, lived experience approach to mental health creates a safe space to share and explore ideas playfully and without judgement.
I would have no concerns recommending Brendan and believe that he provides fresh approach experiential therapy.
Kalyani Gardener, Palladium Private General Manager
There are four unique Improvisation Therapy sessions.
Each has the same format: a welcome; a grounding meditation; a short talk; some simple role-playing; finish with a guided integration-meditation.
Each of the four different sessions has a different themed short talk on ways of developing our mindfulness. The four talks are:
- Session 1 – Creating Confidence
I explain neuroplasticity, the brain’s capacity to reshape its neural pathways to adapt and change how we behave. Once we understand how our nervous system operates we can be confident we can make the changes we want. - Session 2 – Getting Grounded
Developing mindfulness includes becoming more mindful of our own body. Busy, modern people often end up stuck in our own thoughts and no longer present in our own life. In this session I talk about some different ways to ‘get grounded’ ande avoid ‘living on auto-pilot’. - Session 3 – Breaking Bad Habits
Let’s look at how our habits become so strong. It’s all because of brain-body chemical-loops that keep us stuck in habitual thoughts and feeling habitual emotions. Breaking these loops means changing our persistent, unhealthy thoughts using mindfulness and our imagination. - Session 4 – Reconnecting to Life
When we are hurt we naturally close up. If we’ve been hurt a lot we may be closed up most of the time and that is a very unhappy place to live our lives from. The challenge is to open up again. By opening up we can start to reconnect with powerful and inspiring feelings like joy, creativity and confidence. It starts with listening to our own body and accepting what we hear.
These sessions were developed at a mental health retreat on the Sunshine Coast and are suitable for anyone interested in developing mindfulness. I’ve run sessions with people who have never meditated or done any role-play and they easily participated and found it beneficial.
Interested in hosting an Improvisation Therapy session? You can have one of the four listed above or I can tailor you a session for a one-off event. We could run a series of sessions for your group. Use the form below to get in touch or visit the Contact Page.