Theater Programs for People with Disabilities
Hello SWFL by Antoniette Meyer
October 9, 2018
The Naples Players provides a wellness program that helps people with disabilities like anxiety, autism, and Parkinson’s. Theater Programs for people with Disabilities. The program teaches people improv skills that can translate into their day to day lives. “One of the beautiful things about improv is this rule of acceptance. We have to accept what our partners give us on stage. We have to be able to work together,” said Naples Players’ Education Director, Craig Price. In the Improv for Anxiety class, they have a rule that there are no mistakes. By creating a safe and welcoming atmosphere, it helps students enjoy the class without the fear of being judged. “Most of us with anxiety have the fear of ‘Did I say the wrong thing?’ ‘Will they accept me?’ ‘Did I do it right?’ There’s a lot of perfectionism with anxiety,” said Margot Escott the Theater Therapy Instructor.
Click here to read more.
Learn to ad-lib your way through anxiety
Florida Weekly
September 13, 2018
“Improv for Anxiety,” a six-week class in expressive therapy offered by licensed clinical social worker Margot Escott, starts Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Sugden Community Theatre in Naples.
Up to 20 percent of adults in America suffer from anxiety, making it one of the most common psychiatric complaints today. Using improvisational theater techniques to relieve anxiety is a relatively new option to talk therapy. It started several years ago at Second City in Chicago and is now blossoming in theaters around the country. Offered in a fun, supportive environment, this new approach to alleviating social anxiety, phobias and ordinary forms of shyness requires no prior improv or theater experience.
Click here to read more.
Improv Camp helps ADHD, autistic children
by Margot Escott for Naples Daily News
June, 2018
Summertime has many offerings for children’s camps. But the Naples Players Wellness Program offers a unique class for children who are on the autism spectrum (ASD), have ADHD and sensory processing issues.
Craig Price, Naples Players Education Director, is the instructor of the Acting & Improv summer camp and provides a unique experience for these children. The fundamentals of improv comedy help build self-confidence and improve communication skills, challenges for those with autism. Click here to read more.
Improv Comedy Helps People with Parkinson’s Disease
WGCU Public Radio
November, 2017
After several months of studying improvisational theatre and mindfulness, these wonderful folks with Parkinson’s disease and care partners were featured in a story on public radio’s WGCU.
Click to listen: http://news.wgcu.org/post/improv-comedy-helps-people-parkinsons
Parkinson’s improv therapy tickles Naples’ patients’ funny bone
By Harriet Howard Heithaus Naples Daily News – November, 2018
Read about how improvisational theatre can benefit those with Parkinson’s and their care partners.
This improvisational theater class won’t teach pratfalls or stage entrances. But the Parkinson’s disease patients who are learning elements of that art with therapist Margot Escott can count on broad smiles and hearty laughter. Click here to read more: The Naples Daily News – Improv for Parkinson’s
Caregiver Support through Therapy
Naples Daily News
Margot Escott was profiled in the Naples Daily News in Florida about the importance of offering a support system for people who take care of loved ones. The newspaper reported that Escott and her husband took care of her father when he was suffering from the effects of Parkinson’s disease and dementia.
“If I didn’t have the skills of a social worker, I couldn’t have done that, and I think the average person doesn’t have all those skills,” says Margot.
After her father’s death, Escott came to lead the free Naples-based Peer Counseling Program, which is offered by the Mental Health Association of Southwest Florida. “It offers a place for unpaid caregivers to pull themselves out of this role for an hour a week and touch base with a volunteer counselor in person or over the phone,” the article stated. “The counselors can’t provide respite, but they can help a caregiver find a local organization that does.”
Anti-Bullying Workshop at Mike Davis Elementary School, Naples, Florida
December 16, 2015
Margot Escott uses improv to teach anti-bullying coping skills at Mike Davis Elementary School. A great group of kids!
Improv Comedy – Play for the Health!
Margot Escott, LCSW, has been studying, performing and teaching Improv Comedy for the past several years for healthcare organizations and community groups. Escott has had a private psychotherapy practice in Naples for over 30 years and is known for her workshops on “The Healing Power of Humor & Play.”
The basic rules of Improv Comedy can also be applied to life and the therapeutic process. The most important rule of Improv is to accept what other players give you and to have fun. With the help of other professional Improv Players at this workshop, participants will experience how these concepts can apply to their lives as well. Audience participation not required but suggested.
The workshop will include live Improv Comedy performance and audience participation in “win/win” Improv Games.
Other News
The following are news items that are related to me, my practice, or my profession:
- “Social Work in the Public Eye,” National Association of Social Workers
- http://www.naswdc.org/pubs/news/2011/06/social-work-public-eye.asp
- http://cjonline.com/stories/030501/hea_laughing.shtml#.Veb_dc6O-fQ