socialtherapeutics

Dementia is seen as one of the most horrible things that can happen to a person – a “loss of self” or “living death.” Susan Massad and Mary Fridley are part of a coalition working to challenge that way of looking at dementia, known as “the tragedy narrative.” They created a workshop called The Joy of Dementia Workshop (You’ve Got To Be Kidding!). Using improvisation and social therapeutics, they teach how we can reframe what memories are and who we are as human beings, even if we can’t access them.

None of the problems our world is facing right now can be solved if we can’t find new ways to talk to each other. Right now, consensus seems like a far off dream and we find ourselves asking, are we doomed to fail? Or is it possible to create a new way to talk to each other so that we can reach consensus and move forward? Maybe we’re following a script that isn’t working? Maybe it’s time to improvise.

And that’s what we’re going to learn about today in our conversation with Marian Rich and Carrie Lobman from the East Side Institute, co-authors of “Playing Around with Changing the World,” a chapter about the East Side Institute’s International Class called The Applied Improvisation Mindset, to be published by Bloomsbury Press early 2021.