Ensemble!: Using the Power of Improv and Play to Forge Connections in a Lonely World

"Drawing on a combined expertise in psychiatry and improvisational theatre, the authors show readers how improv can be the perfect antidote to loneliness and isolation"--
Drawing on a combined expertise in psychiatry and improvisational theatre, the authors show readers how improv can be the perfect antidote to loneliness and isolation.In Life Unscripted, psychiatrist Jeff Katzman and actor Dan O'Connor taught us how improv skills can boost confidence, foster growth, and transform one's life. In their new book, Ensemble!, the authors take the next step in exploring the benefits of improv. We are living more disconnected and isolated lives than ever before, with loneliness reaching epidemic proportions. Ensemble! is about becoming unlonely. It's about becoming present to our relationships, deepening them, and creating new ones. Drawing on a combination of narrative improvisational theatre and reflective functioning, mindfulness, mentalizing, and emotional regulation, the authors have created a system they call Ensembling, which uses improv skills as a tool for forging new connections with others. The skills explored in this book can help readers to build a vital life ensemble and come to experience a new connection to our larger community. Ensembling shows us a way to develop self-awareness, empathy, compassion, and attention to the dynamics present in all human interaction. Core concepts such as work, creativity, taking an active stance, embracing adventure and risk, and developing active focus can show us the way to connect with others more actively and more meaningfully. The perfect antidote to loneliness, this book is a roadmap to living an authentic, fulfilled, and interconnected life.