Developing Emotional Intelligence Through Applied Improvisation: An Essential Mind and Skill Set for Social Workers workshop handout
Emotional intelligence grows through increasing the connections between emotions and higher cognitive functions - experiencing emotions consciously, labeling them cognitively Workshop design and facilitation by Jude Treder-Wolff, LCSW, CGP, MT and acting on them choicefully. It is the use of brain and mind to engage with the tensions of a complex situation rather than react to them, and this capacity is essential to the effective practice of social work in any professional setting. Applied Improvisation trains the brain and mind to engage with the tensions of a complex situation through the use of games and exercises that produce a temporary and low-stakes sense of uncertainty and disruption while at the same time producing a sense of fun and aliveness. Learning to manage emotions that emerge during the controlled sense of crisis that occurs when playing a game with others in a safe space is an ideal method for training ourselves to manage real-life situations of intensity and