Peter Felsman Publishes Article on Using Improvisational Theater to Reduce Social Anxiety in Adolescents

University of Michigan Doctoral candidate and TIDL member, Peter Felsman, has published The use of improvisational theater training to reduce anxiety in adolescents. Peter Felsman, Principal Investigator, along with faculty mentors: Dr. Joseph Himle (School of Social Work) and Dr. Colleen Seifert (Department of Psychology), partnered with the Detroit Creativity Project to evaluate a ten-week school based improvisational theater program, The Improv Project. A sample of 268 participating middle and high school students completed surveys to measure social anxiety, depression, generalized anxiety, hope and creativity. Using a single pre/posttest design, results indicated that participating in the program predicted reductions in social anxiety. “43% of students that screened positive for social phobia in week one no longer screened positive in the final week of the program.”

University of Michigan News Service featured the project stating that “this is the first study to examine whether improvisational training can be linked to reduced social anxiety in a school setting.”   The published findings are trending on Reddit.