Stressed About Work? Try Scream Therapy

Next time you need a good scream, shout your heart out, suggests Tristan Gribbin, founder of the meditation app Flow. “Screaming is an amazing way to release tension from your mind and body,” she says. “Even if you’re not experiencing negative feelings, screaming is a great way to access more energy flow.”

According to Gribbin, who has integrated shouting into her own meditation practice for more than two decades, vocal release can open pathways into mindfulness and Zen that many didn’t realize were available to them. “Often, when we go to meditate, we want to achieve that deep, calm place, but there’s something in the way, some type of inner obstacle,” she says. “Scream therapy helps you move past that.” Screaming, Gribbin said in a TEDx talk, is a way of letting go of the negative—and its power is so compelling that Iceland introduced a campaign inviting anyone in the world to record and send a scream to be released into the countryside via speakers.

“We need an outlet for all that internal pressure that builds up,” Gribbin says, noting that the world’s many stressors have increasingly brought scream meditation, and all sorts of emotional-release therapies, to the forefront. In fact, following the pandemic, wellness resorts and spas worldwide introduced offerings to help travelers work through pent-up stress. Greece’s Euphoria Retreat, for example, now offers programs that help guests physically release trapped emotions. Sometimes that involves a scream, other times it centers on massage.

The concept of emotional release, particularly screaming, isn’t new. The idea soared to popularity in the early 1970s when psychotherapist Arthur Janov introduced primal therapy (also known as primal scream therapy), with celebrity patients such as John Lennon and Yoko Ono touting its benefits. Unlike scream meditation, which blends vocal releases with mindfulness practices to let out stress and balance energy, Janov’s approach largely dealt with recovering from suppressed and serious childhood traumas.

Modern science finds little, if any, evidence to support the notion that screaming can foster recovery from long-term trauma. That said, experts suggest a variation of the practice could help with short-term stress relief and energy regulation. In traditional Chinese medicine, practitioners recommend shouting through a movement known as the tree shake to gain inner balance and recover energy. The exercise involves standing tall with your hands overhead, then shaking like a tree in the wind while shouting.

Gribbin’s approach, shared via in-person workshops or through the Flow mobile and virtual-reality-enabled app, takes a quieter tone—thanks to the use of DIY “mufflers.” Students start with deep breath work, then scream into a small hand towel to mute the sound. “We start with breathing, moving and letting go, then we scream, we sit down again, and the music goes soft,” she says, noting the outward shouting creates a sense of internal stillness. “We get into this deep, quiet place, and people are amazed they’re able to meditate.”

In recent years, the wellness industry has seen another fresh take on scream therapy: rage retreats. These experiences, which are especially popular among women, lead participants deep into nature for stress-relieving rituals that involve screaming, meditation, sharing and even smashing sticks. They take place around the world, from Canada and California to North Carolina and Scotland.

For the past decade, screaming for wellness has also captivated fitness enthusiasts, particularly fans of exercise leader and former fashion executive Taryn Toomey. Her fitness program, The Class, integrates cardio, strength and yoga poses with cues for vocal release—be it shouting, loud exhales or even sobbing. The buzzed-about practice has welcomed celebrity fans like Alicia Keys, Jennifer Aniston and Emma Stone.

While The Class’ main studios are in Los Angeles and New York City, travelers can experience these vocal fitness experiences around the world. Toomey has collaborated with properties such as Six Senses Ibiza on custom experiences, and her team is running fall 2024 retreats at the Playa Grande Beach Club in the Dominican Republic and the Lumeria Maui in Hawaii.