How Online Improv Helps Gifted/2e People - Julie Skolnick interviews Gordon Smith

"Improv games cultivate openness and playfulness, relaxation and self-care."

Julie Skolnick, M.A., J.D. is Founder of With Understanding Comes Calm, with programs including the Let’s Talk 2e! Conference and The Haystack, a community for 2e Adults.

2E or twice exceptional people are gifted as well as experiencing learning differences or neurodivergent qualities such as dyslexia, ADHD, or autism.

Gordon Smith is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Coach, and Improv Instructor. His practice focuses on neurodivergent adolescents, adults, and families.

His site Gifted and Growing notes Improv can be defined “as the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers.”

Learn about Online Improv for Gifted Adults (also online improv classes for 2E+ Teens, and for Families). 

"The class offers a six-week experience in which we come together (on zoom) with 2e+ peers to explore, experiment, and play. 

"Through Improv games and exercises we cultivate openness & playfulness, relaxation & self-care, emotional intelligence & empathy, and creative storytelling & expression."

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Transcript

Julie Skolnick  0:00  
I'm so glad that you're here watching and listening to this video. Because this is a rare opportunity, I have to sit down with my good friend and colleague, Gordon Smith, who is from gifted and growing, which is a service where he really the center of his practice is to do counseling and therapy for gifted adolescents, adults and families. And you know, you can't just go to anybody, for your stuff, gifted and 2E people. So how great it is to know about Gordon that he specializes in our people. But the other cool thing and actually what I want to talk to Gordon about today is his really cool improv groups that he runs for adults gifted adults and teams. So again, how niche can you get?

Julie Skolnick  0:55  
By Oh, my goodness. So we've known each other a while and I've even had Gordon attend groups of mine and do stuff with parents and adults. I want to know, Gordon, why, why improv? Why is improv particularly? Why does it lend itself to the gifted folks? Why should gifted folks do improv? Talk to me. 

Gordon Smith  1:21  
So like you said, I've been doing counseling and therapy with folks for years, and people come to me with really big challenges that they're facing from day to day, and we do all that therapeutic work. And the best part of this whole improv complements a therapy. And what it does is it provides  an entirely different experience for people to kind of arrive at some of the same places, that when people come to improv in a group of other gifted and 2E adults, first of all, they're feeling mirrored, and met and can get that like felt sense of being in a group together. And that sense of safety that comes with that, though, that we just don't have a lot of practice with that in the world.

Gordon Smith  2:04  
And then the whole practice of improv is a reverend, really practicing spontaneity, and practicing trusting yourself and trusting other people to have your back. And to be able to do this in a in a in an environment, you know, is supportive. And that is really just about playing laughter. It kind of takes the other it doesn't have that same sort of therapy vibe that we're going to be talking about some big heavy things, what we're going to do is practice living in the non heavy places, and to be in those spaces where we get to practice trusting ourselves and other people. And we get to do so from that plays a play. And so especially for gifted folks who go through the world, feeling misunderstood and feeling not meant to be able to come together and have this space to practice this is so helpful, because then we get to carry it out into the world and begin to practice some of these improv ideas, ways of being out in the world, and you begin to see your relationships change, and anxiety levels drop and perfectionism gets shoved out the window. And a greater like, tolerance or even acceptance or even invitation to uncertainty. Knowing that this is going to be okay. 

Julie Skolnick  3:22  
I love safety, trust, play, laughter - I love all those words. And you know what? It's so funny because I'm always saying to people, like people, people, we are point oh, 1% of the population. But guess what? You're 100% of the people I see all day long. So how fun to have a place where you know, you're gonna be with your people. And like you said, that's just that in and of itself is unique and incredible. And I also think Gordon totally think about this.

Julie Skolnick  3:57  
The mission with understanding comms comm is to bring out the best and resell competence. My theory in life is self confidence man is where it's at. And it's what's etched away at bit by bit for our 2E youth starting very, very early, all the way up. We don't outgrow it, we might start to understand it. But once you can feel okay in your skin. You know, I think I posted today in response to somebody on Facebook, I wrote something like you know, guess what? When you leave the room, you're still with yourself. So you're the person you have to get along with.

Gordon Smith  4:34  
Yeah. And so often when we're working with people around gaining that self competence, the first step is around courage, right? It's like doing the thing that's scary. And when we come into these improv spaces, it doesn't require as much courage because it's just not as scary. The stakes are low. We're actually playing. There are no mistakes you can count on whatever someone whatever you say that someone's going to say yes to it, and then they're going to add to it

Gordon Smith  5:00  
So whatever you bring is going to be built upon. So you get that you get to train your brain to that place of like, stepping forward toward experience in people rather than being on your heels expecting this understanding. 

Julie Skolnick  5:13  
I love it. "Yes, and" not "Yes, but." 

Gordon Smith  5:16  
That's right. 

Julie Skolnick  5:22  
Okay, so, um, so many questions. Okay, so how did you get started in this? I mean, obviously, you know, you and I talked a little bit before we jumped on and, you know, the, the center of your practice is really therapy. But so like, what happened? 

Gordon Smith  5:37  
Yeah, so COVID, hit lockdown hit and move my whole practice online. And I was looking for ways to build online, build intimacy, and, and trust more effectively in online spaces. And I was just researching around this and ways to do this. And so I attended all these experimental groups who were doing all kinds of crazy things in March and April of 2020, and stumbled into Second City's online improv class, and took it and realize immediately that this this was it that somehow this group of people who had never met, were being so goofy and open with each other within five minutes of meeting, like goofier, and more open than they might be with their families or with their friends. And I realized that this culture that was being set up through improv, and the ability to facilitate way, really allowed for this instantaneous experience of Oh, this feels okay, I'm okay, we're all in this together.

Gordon Smith  6:42  
I did their improper therapists group. And then I joined the improv therapy group, and then I was on the board. And then I was an instructor. And so I've just been moving through this for for over two years now. And I guess this cash is coming up on free. And really just like learning how to facilitate that space. And for me, what it means is, I get to just like, show up and hang out and play with some of the most complex, interesting people in the world. 

Julie Skolnick  7:12  
So you have your PhD in improv, cool. Okay, well, I want to talk to you forever. And then I want to play with you. So here's what I want to ask you. Can you tell everybody how they can find out about you? What do you offer? What should they be looking for? Where do they go to learn about you and how they can play with you? 

Gordon Smith  7:35  
Yeah, we've got a couple groups running right now. And they'll wrap up... And the next cycle will begin. And I'll have an improv for twice exceptional teams group going as well. It's amazing this group we're running. Now we've got nine people in it, eight of whom identify as autistic and almost all of them identify with like characteristics of ADHD and dyslexia, dyscalculia, and there's all these other sort of flavors in the gumbo, you know what I mean, and, and to see, and to see these teens, and this one group ended up being ages 12 to 15. And to see them come together and talk about an awkward age, right? This is a tricky age, to feel accepted. And to have that fear of standing out in the wrong ways to see all these people show up and choose just to show up as they are and know that they're going to be accepted and what they're carrying back out into the world. It's just magic. And then my improv for gifted adults class will start up at the same time. And that is folks from all over the world right now. We got right the current group is from like California to Israel. And, yeah, so it's your info, either at my Facebook page, which is Gordon Smith LPC or at my website, which is gifted and growing.org.

Julie Skolnick  9:11  
Perfect. That is so, so great. And the self confidence I'm sure you're giving those teens - they bring it into their day. I mean, so much better than a social skills group.