Improv & Addiction Recovery

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP

I've spent over two decades in 12 step meetings: first getting sober, and then helping others work the steps. I’ve seen the magic that happens when people step into a room and get honest and vulnerable, sharing their stories.

But I’m also a professional actor, Then, one day, after a meeting, a phrase I’d said thousands of times — “Acting as If” — suddenly hit me in a new way. “Acting as If” requires acting. In this case unscripted or improvised acting. A workshop was born.

I now know the magic that happens when people in recovery step into a room and start playing together. Guards come down. Bodies that have been braced for impact start to soften. People who haven't made eye contact in years do it naturally — because the game requires it, not because a therapist told them to.

That's the premise behind "Acting As If" — a 3-hour workshop I developed over two years and pilot tested at Portland's Alano Club. Using exercises from theater, improvisation, and movement, I lead participants in exercises that use the connection between our emotional, physical, and psychological selves — the three "bodies" that addiction quietly disconnects from each other.

Free or low-cost. Open to anyone working any 12-step program. No performance experience needed. No judgment. Just play.

WHAT HAPPENS

Every exercise has a purpose rooted in recovery.

Physical exercises help you identify how your body holds and expresses emotion — and what it feels like when it's braced versus at ease.

Visual exercises build your ability to read emotion in others — essential for rebuilding the trust that addiction damages.

Verbal exercises practice communicating clearly and, when needed, "acting as if" you're coming from calm acceptance — even when you're not.

THE FIRING SQUAD

The workshop ends with an exercise we developed known as "The Firing Squad." Volunteers offer up real-world triggers — fear of confrontation, lack of self-worth, mistrust of authority, etc. Then, with everyone's permission and a facilitator’s deft hand, the remaining participants push on those triggers by role playing using improvisation.

We go through several rounds, some coached, some not. The goal: to learn to respond rather than react, drawing on mind, body, and spirit as a unified force.

Participants have called it "revealing," "transformative," and "surprisingly powerful."

WHAT THE DATA SHOW

"Acting As If" ran as a pilot at Portland's famed Alano Club, where participants completed before/during/after surveys across six dimensions central to recovery. Across 9 participants and two sessions, verbal participation improved for 7 out of 9 during the workshop itself. Body awareness scores rose nearly 2 full points on a 10-point scale. Participants rated the workshop's usefulness to their recovery at an average of 9.25 out of 10.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAY

"I can see how useful of a tool in recovery this can be." — Vanessa

"The workshop enabled me to feel safe in a small group, while being vulnerable." — Morgan

"Please come back. I would like to continue." — Annessa

WHO THIS IS FOR

Our workshop is ideal for ANYONE working the steps, so we welcome members of AA, NA, GA, Al-Anon, SAA, SLAA, DA, and others. No experience in improvising or acting is required or needed. The workshop is intentionally gentle, deliberately playful, and built around the understanding that humor and lightness are not the opposite of serious recovery work — they're part of it. If traditional recovery tools are doing the work but something still feels stuck in your body or in how you connect with others, this workshop was built for you.

Learn more about David Koff and Change Through Play's approach.

BRING OUR WORKSHOP TO YOU

If you run a treatment center, residential program, or recovery organization and want to bring "Acting As If" to your participants — in Portland or anywhere — let's talk.

PORTLAND WORKSHOPS

When "Acting As If" is active, sessions are free or low-cost, capped at 10 participants, and open to anyone working any 12-step program. To be notified when the next session is scheduled, get in touch.