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“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek,” Joseph Campbell

Parkinson's disease (PD) is much more than a movement disorder. In order to get the funding we need, increase care and opportunities, we must explore, understand and share the unknown and misunderstood stories of PD. "We" means all of us - care partners, friends, family and wellness/medical providers.

 

These unique, engaging, and evidence-based writing programs were developed and tested in an Interdisciplinary Health Sciences doctoral program. We utilize the principles of Cinema Therapy, to understand why we keep going back to our favorite films, what they are saying to us and how we might use what we see, hear and feel in them to positively share our stories. While our nonprofit serves the PD community, these classes are open to all. Two examples from Cinema Therapy students:

 

 

 

Participants meet online, for 90 minutes once a week for 16 weeks to explore a film broken down against Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey. Recent research has shown the practical value of the hero's journey in living a more meaningful life. We then share our writing with each other, learning and discovering we are not alone. We develop strong ensembles and build communities of courage and action with our stories.

There are many versions of this program, with more coming soon, inspired by popular films that inform the Hero's Journey. Click below for more on each of the films and how we use them.

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Click here to learn how the award-winning play is in development to become a feature film through the
Cinema Therapy program. 

Click the video above to see how Terri turned her perspective on PD Inside Out with the help of the Cinema Therapy program.

Turning PD Inside Out

What I Didn't Say

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We also have our free monthly presentations. 
 

Feb. 2025 - Hero's Journey of Love

Mar. 2025 - Hero's Journey of Baseball 

Apr. 2025 - What I Didn't Say

"I'm a prisoner in my own body," Muhammad Ali

The stories we tell ourselves shape our reality whether we are conscious of them or not. This includes how we feel about Parkinson’s disease or any other trauma. The feelings of being trapped, stuck and isolated are commonly reported by people with Parkinson's - however they are understandable and relatable to everyone.

 See the schedule below for current and upcoming classes. 

We are seeking sponsors to allow writers in the PD community who don't have the funds to participate. Click on the above pdf for details.

Sponsorship

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Need help with your tuition?

Please don't let the cost of the program keep you from signing up. Click on the fundraising document (to the left) to learn how you can fundraise to earn your tuition.

Fundraising

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Day One: PD Superheroes is another part of the Yes, And...eXercise experience. The program is intended to help people with and affected by PD understand their personal narrative in regard to Parkinson's and how they, as the heroes, can do something about it. In today's dose, they discuss the seventh step on the journey, Approach to the Inmost Cave. (Vogler, Campbell) Susan's Magic Words (Gibberish) video: https://youtu.be/IY4HYHyBoII Robert and Susan form an interesting duo. Robert is a longtime care partner for his father with Parkinson's disease (PD). Susan is a woman who was diagnosed with PD in 2015. They've both made award-winning films about their experiences with PD and are now co-founders of the non-profit, YAX! - www.yesandexercise.com. The mission of YAX! is to provide a safe, fun and kind place for people with and affected by Parkinson’s disease to connect, empower and enhance their lives through improvisation. That's right: improvisation. We play - mostly online so we can get as many people as we can from as many places as we can. We do not charge. We do accept donations from those who wish to pay it forward. Robert is a third-year PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences program at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He is researching the effect of improvisation on PD and will soon be publishing the results of his clinical trials. Join us for fun, laughter and your daily dose of dope(-amine).
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The Hero's Journey

Joseph Campbell is the researcher and academic who adventured into our world's mythology, crossing cultures, geographies, religions, and historical periods, dating back to Neanderthals drawing on cave walls, to bring the Hero's Journey to light. This 12-step version is a modified interpretation with credit due to author, Christopher Vogler ("The Writer's Journey"). This model is the backbone of the

Cinema Therapy curriculum, providing structure to help guide students through their own heroic journey of what it means to have PD. Robert and Susan break down the steps of the hero's journey in the videos in the panel above.

 Further details on the origin of the program are in Dr. Robert Cochrane's book, Acceptance: A Hero's Journey Through Parkinson's and a PhD.

Hero's Journey

For more information, please contact Dr. Robert Cochrane, the program's creator and facilitator. 

Yes, And...eXercise provides novel, evidence-based improvisation and Cinema Therapy-style storytelling programs to improve quality of life for everyone. 

©2022 by Yes, And...eXercise!

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