— a therapist, coach, meditator,
and theater artist, who leads workshops, trains clinicians, and coaches performers and professionals throughout the world.
...the creator of Insight Improvisation.
Author of a chapter on Insight Improvisation in Adam Blatner and Daniel Wiener's book on interactive theater, Joel is currently writing his own full-length book on the subject. He has also written articles on Insight Improvisation that have appeared in A Moving Journal and Dramascope.
...works internationally at all levels.
With schoolteachers in India, ex-prisoners and children in Boston's inner city, mental health professionals in Thailand, and corporate execs on four continents, Joel has applied theater and drama therapy, offering workshops that promote personal and professional growth as well as emotional health and healing. Since 1994, Joel has also designed and facilitated leadership training for companies throughout the world, government agencies, NGO’s, and educational institutions such as Harvard, MIT, and Columbia University.
...uses the skills of an actor.
A graduate of the two-year intensive acting, directing, and play writing program at Trinity Rep Conservatory in Providence, Joel has acted in and directed a wide range of professional theater, from Shakespeare to improv comedy to experimental performance, and has garnered favorable reviews from the New York Times and others. He can often be seen onstage with True Story Theater, a Playback Theater ensemble working for social change.
...practices vipassana meditation.
Joel has studied Buddhist traditions in Thailand, India, and the US, and has taught meditation to diverse populations, from corporate leaders to prison inmates. Joel received a Master of Education degree in Drama Therapy Studies from Lesley University — with a special focus on Buddhist psychology and peace-building — as well as a BA in Literature and Writing from Columbia University.
...offers psychotherapy and coaching.
In his private practice, Joel blends life coaching and contemplative drama therapy, working with individuals and groups in the Boston area. He is an RDT (Registered Drama Therapist) registered with the National Association for Drama Therapy (NADT).
Work in
Developing Nations
Devoted to bringing effective mental health assistance to those in need worldwide, Joel trained more than 60 Thai Ministry of Health mental health workers in drama therapy techniques at Bangkok’s Rajanukul Institute following the December 2004 tsunami in southeast Asia, as well as assisted survivors of the disaster in Thailand’s worst-hit southern coastal areas.
In 2006 & 2007 Joel revisited the region, providing in-depth drama therapy trainings in Bangkok and Calcutta for psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, and NGO staff caring for developmentally disabled, sexually abused, and orphaned children and teens, as well as other vulnerable populations.
Acknowledgments
Over the years, each person who has attended a workshop or worked with me individually has taught me something about this work. I would like to extend special thanks to the following individuals for their help and inspiration in the development of Insight Improvisation:
Orapin Siriwilairak, Cate McQuaid, Tom Webb, Christopher Ellinger, Adam Blatner, Lorraine Grosslight, Billie Jo Joy, Scott Kelman, Kathy Lubar & Belle Halpern, Kat Mitchell, Jonathan Stein, Jean-Claude van Itallie, Nat Warren-White
— and my loving and supportive parents,
Nancy and David Gluck.