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Background: Theatre improvisation offers a unique mode of embodied inquiry, where creative practice becomes a site of knowledge about being, well-being, and healing. Drawing on 25 years of applied improvisation in arts training, leadership development, elite sport, and mental health, this work builds on the premise that authentic impulses – when expressed and explored – support self-esteem and psychological integration.

Objectives: This session aims to demonstrate how improvisation can function beyond performance as a therapeutic and developmental modality. It seeks to show how embodied, psycho-physical practices generate insight, strengthen personal leadership, and nurture mental health, aligning with the congress theme of Embodied Research and practice-based knowledge production.

Methods: An interactive workshop-lecture format integrates conceptual input with experiential exercises. Participants engage in improvisational methods drawn from Keith Johnstone, Michael Chekhov, Augusto Boal, and Dr. Heimann’s improvisation curriculum at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (which he led from 2005–2024) and his doctoral dissertation The Promise – Searching for the Creative Moment in Theatre, Business and Life.

Results: Observations across domains – organisational leadership, elite sport (FC Bayern Munich), clinical settings (Maudsley Hospital) and systemic therapy training (Tavistock Centre) suggest that improvisation fosters psychological flexibility, embodied presence, relational attunement, and resilience. Participants commonly report increased self-awareness, enhanced capacity to navigate uncertainty, and greater connection to authentic impulses.

Conclusion: Improvisation constitutes a powerful healing art and embodied research. By engaging creative spontaneity as a pathway to knowledge, participants gain practical tools to support well-being, personal growth, and therapeutic insight-demonstrating improvisation’s relevance within arts-medicine alliances.