An Alliance of Art and Science

Helping veterans, at risk youth, the mentally ill and senior citizens.

WHAT’S NEW:

VICTORIA STEVENS, PhD, FIPA new research report!!!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE REPORT

Christina Linhardt on KTLA promoting “Gumbo Magic”

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

NEW DIRECTIONS and IWs’ new film, “TRAIN TIME”

(Please note: all participants and artists had been vaccinated)

CLICK BUTTON BELOW TO VIEW VIDEOS

 

We are VERY excited to share our new project with you!!

This has been a difficult year, but it didn't stop our efforts to help support our treasured vets. When we were forced to cancel our live performances due to COVID 19, we decided to have our team perform in front of a camera instead.

We are proud to present, "TRAIN TIME", a short film written and acted by veterans at New Directions for Vets and our lovely IW artists:

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About Imagination Workshop

Imagination Workshop, located at the Jane & Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, is a world-renowned dramatic arts program in which veterans, psychiatric patients, at-risk youth and other disenfranchised individuals engage in a series of workshops culminating in writing, directing and acting in plays under the guidance of specially trained theatre artists with the result of experiencing positive, lasting behavioral changes.

Our Research

 
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Theatre

IW’s unique and effective use of theater and poetry to reach those long considered beyond the hope of traditional treatment has produced striking and encouraging results. Research conducted by the Semel Institute indicated that those patients who participated in IW (as opposed to traditional role-playing exercises) showed a “significantly greater” change. between pre- and post-test Global Assessments, with a higher improvement score.

 
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Writing

In a recent study, Dr. Lynn Fairbanks demonstrated that patients who participated in the Imagination Workshop treatment had an average improvement of 38% in their social, occupational and psychological functioning, while patients in the traditional role play groups had a 22% improvement. (see figure to the left)

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Therapeutic Benefits

Dr. Fairbanks concluded that Imagination Workshop is "a valuable program with demonstrated therapeutic benefits for patients with serious psychiatric disorders."

 
 
 

"TRAIN TIME"

A short film written and acted by veterans at New Directions for Veterans and our lovely IW artists.

(Please note: all participants and artists had been vaccinated)

 

Our Sponsors and Supporters

Metabollic Studio |Annenberg Foundation |Parsons Foundation |Wells Fargo Foundation |Drown Foundation |Buntzman Foundation |National Endowment for the Arts |Los Angeles County Performing Arts Commission |City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department |California Arts Council Parish | Shea & Boyle, LLP |Lewitt, Hackman, Shapiro, Marshall & Harlan , Daniel Balaban, Balaban & Spielberger, LLP

Contact

Feel free to contact us with any questions.

Email
imaginationws@gmail.com

Phone
310.206.8067