Improv in Real Life Episode 6: Out of Your Head, Into the Scene with Caitlin Steitzer
Sep 17, 2025
Caitlin Steitzer, a licensed clinical social worker and improviser, dives into how improv techniques can alleviate social anxiety. She shares her personal journey from anxiety to confidence through improv, emphasizing the importance of group support and present-moment focus. Caitlin discusses designing workshops that ensure safety, using exercises like the 'Firing Squad' to quiet inner judgment. She also highlights how fun activities like the 'Hitchhiker Game' foster community and courage, proving that embracing failure in improv can rewire our responses to social situations.
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From Shy Child To Improv Confidence
- Caitlin describes being a socially anxious child who found confidence through high school improv training.
- That experience led her to use improv skills in her work with social anxiety groups.
Offer Improv As A Skill-Building Workshop
- Caitlin created a workshop explicitly called "Improv for Social Anxiety" and invites people to practice improv skills.
- She frames improv as teachable techniques to help people manage social anxiety.
Use Rapid-Fire Warmups To Silence The Editor
- Do the Firing Squad warm-up to lower internal judgment by answering quickly without editing.
- Practice rapid responses to reduce the voice that says you must get it right.