Parkour Therapy promotes change: challenge-philic, not challenge-phobic.

When clients practice Parkour therapy they are presenting their brain with a truly novel situation! These powerful moments invite change, because when you decide to challenge yourself in a personally-relevant way through controlled movement, you build resilience and problem-solving skills. Of course succeeding in a challenge is always rewarding, and there is plenty of that in Parkour therapy; however, learning to “fail well” and cope with frustration, disappointment and adversity is also an important lesson to learn.  In parkour we practice failing, so that we are resilient when it happens. Parkour therapy brings these kinds of experiences to life! Traceurs see challenge differently: they are not challenge-phobic, but rather challenge-philic, meaning they develop a fondness, an affinity or an inclination towards experiencing difficulty and adapting to new situations. Is this not the ultimate goal of exposure therapy? To face difficulty, to change the way you respond to it, and utlimately to create new learning.

 In the practice of cognitive and behavioral therapy (CBT) changing the way you respond to difficulty can be a game-changer; in CBT we very much want our clients to tackle and overcome their problematic behavior cycles, in order to cope with mental or emotional barriers. The lesson that both Parkour and CBT teaches us, is that your sense of “I-can-do-it-ness”, otherwise known as self-efficacy, is a powerful agent of change. And as all traceurs and CBT enthusiasts know, behavior change is the measure of progress. Parkour is active, its behavioral; but Parkour is also mental, and is sure to help you generalize your coping skills to other areas of life.