Workshop Schedule

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS (scroll down for complete information and links to register)

New Choice: Applying Improv Techniques And Practice To The Healing, Growth and Change Process 
November 22, 2024 on Long Island

STORIFY: Unlock The Story In Real Life Experiences And Develop It From The Page To The Stage
Friday december 6, 2024 in NYC

Unexpected outcomes can flow from new choices, and even small steps in a new direction can lead to undiscovered insights. The creative process also unfolds beat by beat, moment to moment, which sometimes leads to a sense of flow that feels like an expansion of consciousness, but when dealing with grief, illness, life transitions or threats to psychological safety from the larger world, can fee like a major effort to simply put one foot in front of the other on uncertain ground. 

Whether healing through a traumatic loss or aiming for a new level in life, the struggle to let go of old thinking and engage with the unfolding reality can be advanced through new choices and support for the ways these choices impact internal beliefs and identity, and shift interpersonal and social dynamics. The healing, growth and change process is not linear. A shift in thinking can inspire behavior change that impacts relationships and our sense of belonging within social networks. There can be life situations that suddenly call for new communication and relationship skills, and challenge a person's capacity to navigate the unfamiliar and tolerate uncertainty.
We will both experience these techniques and discuss them in practice. Current research into applications of improv in practice will be discussed and shared. 

Our lives are like a book that is still being written. With that books are chapters. Within each chapter, are scenes and characters. These are the  stories of our lives. Stories are not only the best way to share about our lives and the impact of our experiences, they have a reach far beyond that to the people who hear them. Information-sharing and consciousness-raising is best achieved through integrating knowledge and facts with story, and knowing how to make the story shine in the telling is a powerful communication skill. This workshop is a hands-on learning experience for discovering the story in a real life experience and the fundamental skills involved with crafting it for a professional presentation, information-sharing or performance to a client group, colleagues or your community. 

Sometimes these stories are about significant events and heroic struggles, sometimes they are about unexpected awakenings in the course of an ordinary day. The power of the story is in the “before-and-after” picture we are able to paint for a listener. and taking them through an emotional arc step by step.

This workshop provides fun, engaging exercises that help discover the stories that lie in true, lived experiences by looking at ordinary and extraordinary life experiences through the storytelling lens. We will apply the tools of story development and discover different approaches to sharing it.

We will actively engage with specific techniques for shaping a story, choosing details, using imagery metaphor and humor, and deploy the 5 beats of narrative structure. Each participant will have an opportunity to identify at least 1 story to develop and discuss an approach to it. If time permits and the group is interested we can discuss a variety of approaches to the same story for use in different settings. 
INSTRUCTOR: Jude Treder-Wolff LCSW, CPAI

Jude Treder-Wolff was interviewed for Authority Magazine on ways to avoid hustle culture and create a new sustainable work paradigm. Improv comedy and joy are part of the equation. Here are her 5 tips in a 10-minute video. You can read the interview on this link

Watch this space for workshops coming up! To get updates in your email write to lifestageco@gmail.com and put SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.