Today I'm chatting with Anthony Goodwin, one half of the duo who taught me Improv 100 through Grindstone Theatre and someone whose work sits at the intersection of therapy and improv. Anthony is an Australian-born clinical counsellor and improv instructor. He's the founder of Still Listening, his private therapy practice.

We talk about the full-circle way improv and therapy ended up holding hands in Anthony's life. Anthony shares how the same tools he uses in the therapy room, presence, co-regulation, meeting the world as it is, are the same ones that come alive on the improv stage, and how that overlap led him to develop experimental improv therapy workshops where players give voice to someone else's stuckness. We get into the concept of aiming to be average and we touch on the broader truth that adults need spaces to play together, and how rare and necessary that has become.

Reference

The Grindstone Comedy

Improvise Freely by Patti Stiles

Improvisation and the Theatre by Keith Johnstone

Connect with Anthony:

Relational Therapy with Anthony Goodwin

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul

Website: ogsoul.ca

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Anthony Goodwin

02:55 Journey from Australia to Edmonton

06:09 The Intersection of Therapy and Improv

09:03 The Philosophy of Improv

11:56 The Role of Discomfort in Improv

15:02 Aiming for Average in Performance

18:05 Challenging Societal Norms

20:54 The Nature of Improv and Authenticity

24:07 Improv as Therapy

26:30 Creating Safe Spaces for Healing

28:08 Exploring Improv Therapy Frameworks

29:47 Navigating Vulnerability in Therapy

33:01 The Impact of Improv on Therapeutic Practices

35:57 Emerging Models of Therapy

39:54 The Need for Alternative Therapeutic Approaches

43:03 Integrating Body and Mind in Healing

50:02 The Joy of Play in Adult Life

Today I'm chatting with Carey Abma, a co-author in Reclaiming Mental Health. Carey opens up about a chapter of her life she never expected to write, both literally and figuratively, and what it took to start choosing love over fear.

We get into the breakdown that became her breaking open at the start of 2020, the years of self-abandonment that led there, and what it actually looked like to sit alone in her condo and meet herself for the first time. Carey shares the journey to becoming a mom, including the unimaginable gift of her sister offering to carry her daughter Coen, and the unexpected plot twist of meeting her partner Jason four days after a positive pregnancy test on Christmas morning.

We talk about parenting from a more rooted place, the values work that changed how she makes decisions, and her launch into entrepreneurship with Estate Solutions with Care, a business shaped by personal loss and the literal meaning of her name.

Connect with Carey:
Instagram: @thecareyabma
Publication: Reclaiming Mental Health

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul

Website: ogsoul.ca

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and First Impressions

03:04 The Journey of Writing and Publishing

05:50 Exploring Self-Love and Personal Growth

11:58 The Breakdown of 2020: A Turning Point

21:02 Life After the Breakdown: Transformation and New Beginnings

29:44 Navigating New Beginnings

31:05 Personal Growth Through Parenthood

34:00 The Importance of Values

36:24 Embracing Change and Challenges

39:03 The Journey of Motherhood

41:11 Writing for Future Generations

46:06 Claiming Strength and Identity

49:46 Building a Business with Heart

Today I'm sharing a conversation I had with Richard Okwii and Adacet John Peter, the executive director and managing director of Murphy Charitable Foundation Uganda, a nonprofit working to support vulnerable children and communities in the northeastern region of Uganda through education, mentorship, and empowerment.

I first came across Murphy Charitable Foundation through their Pen Pal program, where I've been corresponding with two pen pals in Uganda. That experience changed me in ways I'm still processing. So getting to sit down with Richard and John Peter and hear the story behind the foundation firsthand felt very special.

Richard lost his father at one month old and was raised by his grandparents in poverty. It was their voices, their mentorship, and their insistence that education was the key that planted the seed for everything Murphy Charitable Foundation has become. That seed became a dream at age seven, and in 2018 it became an organization. What they've built since then is extraordinary.

We talk about the Pen Pal program, which now connects over 3,000 children in Uganda with international friends, and the philosophy behind it: hope restoration and mindset first, before anything else. We get into the Learning Lab launching in Bukedia district this summer, the Motivational Movie Project bringing film screenings to communities without electricity, the Kind Loans program offering zero percent interest loans to women entrepreneurs, and the Cancer Awareness program reaching communities with little to no access to health information.

One of the most powerful aspects of this conversation is what John Peter shares about how they run their programs with or without a grant, because the work of changing a mindset doesn't require funding. It requires belief. And these two have that in extraordinary supply.

Learn about Murphy Charitable Organization Uganda and see how you can get involved: Murphy Charitable Foundation Uganda - Home

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul

Website: ogsoul.ca