Site Title
1 ON 1 SESSIONS
(These are limited due to confidentiality and professional guidelines & ethics.)
"You're really good, and I've worked with a lot of people. I've never been given these kind of tools before."
"Helped me make some major awareness changes."
"Brilliant. Relatable. Kind. Very good."
"To the point. Laser focused."
"Lisa provides a safe, caring and friendly space allowing for authenticity and openness. She listens and observes, picking up on insights that I have not come to on my own or with previous counsellors. She provides this insight as a suggestion and allows me to reflect on it and see if it is true to me and how I feel. My inquisitive self also finds it very helpful when she provides easy to understand science behind why I might be reacting the way I am and why it has been challenging for me to move through PTS. I have gone to therapy before and although it has helped me I have not been able to shift the physical responses I have due to PTS. That has now changed, working with Lisa has allowed me to get to the physical attached to the emotional, to take a look at the event and observe and support myself in a whole new way. Each time I walk out of a session I feel lighter and more open, this feeling is accumulative and gets stronger every session. I still moments but there are less of them and they are less reactive. I am believing now, which I did not for years, that I can actually change my body’s response to stress and I can let go of the stories that surround it, while honouring the loss that has happened. I have gained invaluable insight in the last few months and change that has not only lessened my PTS to a level I did not think possible, but has also opened so much space and exciting change in all aspects of my life. Doing the work is not easy but I look forward to every session as the outcome is so worth it!"
"Just thinking about the work we did together and how much more freedom I can offer myself (and hopefully others) now. In the past, I dealt with conflict by taking responsibility and blaming myself for other people's behaviour. The other day, all sorts of conflict was around me but the voice in my head just said "this is not mine." That was an amazing feeling & it changed everything in the moment."
ORGANIZATIONS
ENERGY TRUST OF OREGON
"Lisa presented a one day professional play workshop that was attended by 12 staff at the Energy Trust. A number of techniques were presented and practiced at the training. Lisa struck a good balance of professionalism and providing authoritative guidance with the light hearted playful nature of the subject. Elements are still being employed by staff and we found the workshop helpful for promoting our high performance and fun-loving culture."
Steve Lacey, Director of Operations
“I really enjoyed your informal, fun, and respectful style. You were able to help me connect a lot of different ideas in fun ways. I will be looking for opportunities for fun differently now.”
RED ACADEMY
"Lisa did a fantastic 2 day session with the team at RED, helping us to explore play, and how we can further create an environment that is safe, trusted and conducive to learning. Really great session, the instructors loved it - would highly recommend Lisa!"
Colin Mansell, CEO at RED Academy
"I thought it was great that you took time before the session to learn our vocabulary and culture to make a more unique experience for us."
"Lisa's ability to adapt and create memorable experiences is outstanding."
Julie
"The least stressful self-reflective session ever. Thinking about how others affect you and how you affect others can be fun."
"I walked away from this workshop with a better appreciation, understanding and love for myself. Lisa showed such generosity and care in creating a safe space for us to be who we are. The workshop was transformational and amazing!"
BIX BICKSON MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS
"Lisa is so skillful! The workshop was the perfect bled of practical, grounded development, mixed with theory and wonderful examples brought from her life and experience."
Joe Bickson
YOUNG PRESIDENT ORGANIZATIONS (YPO)
"As a moderator of a forum in YPO (the Young Presidents Organizations) I was responsible for organizing regular events for members. We had the pleasure of having Lisa lead us in a session around introducing play in our lives. Since then I have come to know Lisa more fully and continue to be very impressed with her dedication to her craft. You will find Lisa very creative and effective in working with your organization or group towards whatever goals that you have in mind."
Paul Cosulich, CEO Sil Inc
MINISTRY OF CHILDREN & FAMILY DEVELOPMENT, VANCOUVER, BC
Sincere thank you, Lisa, for the exceptional workshop and experiential delight you provided my provincial trainer team in September 2014. You brought to light many critical reminders of the importance of play, how to play, and most importantly how to ensure its presence not only in our personal lives, but also professionally. You lead and navigated throughout the interactive workshop with such genuine grace, humility, safety, and expertise - magically drawing in the participants to experiment with play on a whole different level. Thank you for contributing to our annual event, our professional development, and our team connectedness.
Kelly Angelius, Provincial Manager, FRIENDS Program
"Challenged my comfort zone without throwing me over the deep end."
"Thank you for pushing me to look inside myself today. It was very valuable and timely."
"Thanks for creating the safety to explore."
"A chance to laugh deeply."
"I've got lots of new ideas to put into use next week."
"As a new-comer this was a wonderful way for me to build connections with colleagues."
PUBLIC WORKS & GOVERNMENT SERVICES CANADA
"I had no idea what to expect coming in to the workshop, and when I saw how hands on it was, was a little nervous about how our reserved group would handle it. Lisa did a great job creating a safe space and encouraging folks to explore and breakthrough their comfort zones."
Jeanine Fynn
BC ASSOCIATION OF CLINICAL COUNSELLORS EVENT
"What a wonderful presence you bring to a learning event, and I thought your audience engagement was simply outstanding. I think the message that we have to get the material [...] to "go deep" and not just stay in our cerebral cortex is timely, necessary, compassionate and helpful."
Glen Grigg, Ph.D. City University of Seattle
VANCOUVER SCHOOL BOARD, VANCOUVER, BC
"This workshop was fantastic! Lisa Voth was an amazing facilitator and shared some great activities and philosophies with us. I'm already incorporating what she's taught into my teaching practice. Thank-you to the VSB for getting her in and please bring her back!"
Erin Bell, Teacher
WATARI COUNSELLING & SUPPORT SERVICES SOCIETY, VANCOUVER, BC
"This workshop provided me with an opportunity to explore my body, emotions and my relationship with playful movement. This provided me with new information and ideas that I can access when working with my clients in a counselling setting. What I find most useful is applying playful exercises to help others break away from “sticky thinking.” “Body as Frame of Mind” ideas will offer my clients an alternative tool they can access when feeling overwhelmed by the stress in their lives."
Sandra Taylor
OTHER TESTIMONIALS
"I highly recommend Lisa’s work. She is a truly phenomenal presenter & highly skilled & sensitive facilitator."
Teacher (Vancouver, BC)
“I just wanted to give you some positive feedback that the exercises related to connecting have really been helpful for me at work, particularly at very intense work meetings. I usually disconnect in body language when things are intense but I have found that I can contribute with eye contact and create spaces for myself to speak too that I think have helped the team overall. I have become more confident in my own body language and ability to connect.”
Health Care Worker (Vancouver, BC)
THEATRE & CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
"Lisa Voth is like every great teacher you've ever had - rolled into one. DO the work she teaches... or you may never know what a fun, engaging, alive person you really are... "
- Joe Bickson (Executive Consultation)
“As a performer and director, this class was so strange and delightful. I found new openness in my work and a new emotional range that I didn’t know I could access. I have new tools which I am already using in the rehearsal room as a director, and I am so excited by this work that I have been telling almost EVERYONE about it. I can’t wait to take another clown class with Lisa – she is one of the most excited, intuitive, and insightful instructors I have ever worked with. Everyone in the class improved so much because she worked with us at our level. It was a wonderful experience. I’m so glad I took this class and stretched myself into work that I had no experience in.”
~Director & Performer (Vancouver, BC)
“I can’t believe how many times I surprised myself in Lisa’s class. The space was set in a way that we were led on our own private journeys guided with a cushion of acceptance. I really didn’t think I was funny before coming to class and I approached the class being ok with that, I thought I am creative so I’ll create a way to be funny. But Lisa didn’t allow time for that preparation in class, at a point it was just me standing in front of people with no choreography or text and something I did led to genuine laughter in others, I couldn’t believe it! The way she coaxes you toward something you already are and strengthens your belief that what you are is enough is fantastic. Thanks so much Lisa, I’m so grateful to find another part of myself!”
~Dancer (Vancouver, BC)
“What a transformational weekend!! The first minute I met you I felt such spaciousness and openness about you which immediately allowed a whole lot of “stuff” in me to fall away. Then you bring in playfulness into that and WOW!! Lisa, it really is who YOU ARE that makes your workshop so accessible to all of us. It didn’t matter where we were coming from, as we all came into this from many different places. You clearly articulated what a play workshop is without it feeling limited. You gave us the SPACE to engage and step in with such softness and Grace.
SO much shifted, moved, transformed within my sense of who I am and honoring the Presence. But it was the collaboration and fluidity to be with what IS in each of us. THAT to me is the expression and living example of the TRUE AUTHENTIC CLOWN!! THANK YOU LISA for BEING YOU and giving me the space to be ME!!”
~Nurse (Vancouver, BC)
“I have done a lot of workshops on everything you can imagine. […] For the sheer joy that it brought me and the opening up of something I’m not sure I even understand yet, that was the best workshop I have ever been to. As far as the workshop and suggestions…you were perfect. There was a perfect blend of getting us out of our heads…getting us to feel; explore the “masks;” explore performance and connection. The whole weekend, […] for me, was magic. Let me just say that one of the things that happened for me that was very measurable is that I have been sitting and writing new material almost daily. There is something about the approach that you took that unlocked a block that I have had for 20+ years. […] Thanks for everything. It is life-changing work, and that is said from the perspective of weeks after the workshop! When I think of it visually, it is as though you cranked up the wick in a lamp to let the light burn brighter.”
~Software Engineer (North Carolina)
“In many ways this workshop has given me an enormous confidence boost – before we started, this felt like something that could have been nightmarishly outside of my confidence zone, but that evaporated/became irrelevant real quick. Now I am feeling that I can attack all sorts of things, and, although some may still be a stretch for “comfort,” they at least are not the kind of things that have to necessarily be completely ego-implodingly mortifying. On top of that I gained a bunch of surprising insights. […] I came with the hope that this would help me access what’s in me and let that out, and, also to let others in and to more readily see what there is to let in. You (and everyone there) have certainly helped me along that path. Each activity on its own is just that, but I think the spectrum of different things and different personalities is what made this work for me and I thank you for that. I didn’t really know what would come of this when I signed up, but I am very glad I did. Essentially, now I know that what my daughter says about her stomachs also applies here – she has an infinite capacity for tasting more and different foods. Is your stomach full? Just open up another one – there’s an infinite supply! Is there no more room in your heart for laughter? Just open up some more – there is no limit to the space one has for happiness.”
~ Computer Guy & Dad (Bowen Island, BC)
“In Lisa’s workshop I discovered a new way of interacting with people: through play. Play is that uninhibited, free-flowing, unselfconscious state, during which I was able to minimize the voice inside my head and fully engage with others in being open to the moment. As someone with a scientific background, I appreciated the clarity and precision with which Lisa explained new terms, but there’s still no substitute for doing it–when you’re truly playing, you’ll know it!”
~ Geophysicist (Vancouver, BC)
“This has really started a chain reaction in me. I don’t know if anyone else is experiencing this, but I feel that small but essential parts of my ‘joy reflex’ are being restored. Small things are delighting me again, I have zest for things that had ceased to matter, but once did greatly. This was such a gift – from Lisa to us, and from us to each other. Seriously good fun!”
-Baker, Mother, Co-housing Community Member (Yarrow, BC)
“I am a facilitator and so I have high standards. Lisa’s teaching style is fluid, attentive and engaging, and her workshop is both whimsical and profound. She eloquently articulates the experience of risk, learning, identity, and play through personal anecdote, quote, question, and example in ways that indicate her depth of commitment to the world of clown/play. All punctuated with raucus laughter and ridiculousness. I felt held close and pushed off the cliff at the same time in her workshop, as she is a master at drawing the novice into the grand and subtle worlds of play. I made a fool of myself repeatedly, and this had serious significance in my ability to let go and enjoy life more. “
ESL Teacher, Facilitator, Community Developer (Vancouver, BC)
“Necessary Shenanigans provided me with an opportunity to explore my body, emotions and my relationship with playful movement. This provided me with new information and ideas that I can access when working with my clients in a counselling setting. What I find most useful is applying playful exercises to help others break away from “sticky thinking.” “Body as Frame of Mind” ideas will offer my clients an alternative tool they can access when feeling overwhelmed by the stress in their lives.”
~ Substance Misuse Counsellor (Vancouver, BC)
“Amazing workshop today Lisa. “Intro to the Practice of Play” – outstanding! Arrived at the workshop all stiff and sore and tense. Left the workshop 2 hrs later all loose, happy and tired. But a good played-out kind of tired….Thank you.”
~ Former Teacher (Vancouver, BC)
“So first of all, thank you so much for the clown workshop back in April. Those two days of play were so healing and constructive, and have really stayed with me and served as a moment that I’ve revisited and drawn from in countless contexts. I feel more empowered socially and also like I’ve been able to confront things and make progress in a lot of relationships that were in some way stuck. Laughter has been coming easy to me these days, which feels pretty good.”
~Artist (Vancouver, BC)
“Lisa’s work helps me reconnect to inner movement in a way that feels safe and supportive. My clown fire feels revitalized and I am reminded that emotional process can be playful and somehow fun. I find her approach unique in its combination of clown with other methods of body-based rediscovery. This shows up in her sensitivity to trauma, her awareness of individual needs, as well as in her ability to successfully articulate the ideas, goals and practices of clown, which are typically slippery and difficult to convey in words. I enjoy Lisa’s emphasis on ‘dynamic relaxation,’ on the breath as a vehicle for uncovering masks, as well as on grounding the work in an open heart. I am deeply thankful for her work.”
~Musician, Artist, & Writer (Victoria, BC)
“I feel like a little bubble of laughter is floating in my belly right now. I am aware of such a deep, rich well of aliveness always there, always ready to be dipped into and tasted….I am so grateful for you and your work. I had been feeling quite uptight for the last month or so […] So coming to the workshop this weekend restored me to my liberty, reminded me that it is ALL PLAY, and that it all can be delightful if I choose. I think you did an excellent job of facilitating. You made us feel safe. The pacing was wonderful. We had enough time to debrief and share, but never got bogged down in too much talking. You allowed space for us to contribute to the conversation, but did not pressure us to share. I know that many of us suffer from performance anxiety (who doesn’t in our highly competitive, judgmental culture?). You managed to bring us to the stage in such a gentle way, we were all ready and willing to go up there when the time came.”
~ Musician & Writer (Mayne Island, BC)
“One of Lisa’s greatest strengths as an instructor is her ability to guide and gently direct while remaining sensitive to individual process. In her workshop, I felt safe and supported to do my own work, knowing that she was available to guide as necessary. Her compassion for her students and herself is truly evident in her work.”
~ Graphic Designer, Nutritionist & Writer (Vancouver, BC)
“I took part in a clowning workshop which she animated, and found it stretching and enlivening. It brought all of us to a keener sense of our own embodiment, and a higher awareness both of other people’s reactions and our own.”
~ Retired University Professor and Minister (Vancouver, BC)
“MORE!”
~ Circus Performer and Language Teacher (Vancouver, BC)
“Lisa, “my cup overflows” thank you… I am full with the richness of delight. I like the variety of practices…coupled with theory/content…action, reflection (and teaching) and action, good swing…rhythm. Your being creates such a hospitable and fun space.”
~Spiritual Director and Group Facilitator (Vancouver, BC)