Exploring the Acceptability of an Improv-Based Workshop Series for College Student Stress and Anxiety

Abstract

Today's college students are seeking campus counseling services more often than any other generation in the modern history of the United States, with anxiety and stress reported as the most common presenting concerns on intake during the last consecutive seven years (Center for Collegiate Mental Health, 2017, 2021; Kwai, 2016). Increased demand for therapy has placed major burdens on campus counseling centers’ abilities to serve the needs of a growing body of anxious and stressed college students (Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors, 2017). Due to this service disparity crisis, many counseling centers have begun to utilize low intensity (LI) modalities, such as the psychoeducation workshop series, to help college students manage and cope with stress and anxiety-based concerns. The practice of Improv is reported to be an appropriate, expressive, and interactive manner to help those struggling with clinical concerns such as anxiety and has also been linked to other psychological benefits in the arenas of interpersonal communication and self-growth (Goldstein & Winner, 2012; Krueger et al., 2017; Lemons, 2005; Medonca & Wallace, 2005; Sheesley et al., 2016; Webster, 1977). Given these reported abilities, the present study suggests a LI workshop series utilizing Improv-based interventions as a theoretical frame, has potential to help college students with their stress and anxiety related concerns. To determine whether the creation of this type of intervention is feasible, this study explores college student ratings of acceptability towards a proposed Improv-based LI workshop for college student stress and anxiety. This exploratory study yielded promising results in that the majority of participants endorsed positive treatment acceptability standards for the proposed IBI workshop and also believed it would provide clients with a great variety of therapeutic benefits to help them address concerns with stress and anxiety. These findings provide encouragement for the creation and implementation of an Improv-based workshop for college student stress and anxiety. The clinical implications of Improv-based interventions and suggestions for future research in this area are also discussed.