Who's in your corner?
Connection is medicine and it's something we can practice. Welcome to our Connection Gym.
Our engaging and fun online Cinema Therapy Lab uses the iconic 1976 film Rocky to explore resilience, identity, and one of life's most important questions: Who's in your corner?
Through music, improvisation, guided discussion, writing prompts, and creative exercises, we'll practice the skills that help us build stronger connections with ourselves, others, and a greater sense of purpose.
Whether you're living with Parkinson's, caring for someone you love, navigating a major life transition, or simply looking for a stronger community, we know that nobody goes the distance alone.
Inspired by the grit, heart, and humanity of Rocky, it's time to step into the ring, find your corner, and begin practicing connection.
What You'll Practice
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How to Notice
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The Power of Reflection
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Staying Curious
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Welcoming Uncertainty
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Reframing Your Story
These simple practices become tools you will use
long after the course ends.
You'll Leave With
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New friends
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A deeper understanding of your own story
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Practical tools for building stronger connections
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A renewed sense of purpose
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A community that's in your corner
Everything you'll practice in this course has been tested with people navigating uncertainty, caregiving, illness, recovery, and life transitions.
Meet your Guide in the Corner
For more than twenty-five years, I've been asking a simple question: What helps people stay fully human when life becomes uncertain?
That question began when my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2001. It led me to produce four feature-length documentaries in the Boys of Summer series, conduct doctoral research on connection and support groups, collaborate with clinicians and researchers around the world, and spend thousands of hours listening to people navigating illness, caregiving, loss, purpose, resilience, and hope.
Robert & Dan at the Field of Dreams in 2004.
Over time I realized something unexpected: The most meaningful moments rarely came from information alone.
They came from conversation, stories, laughter and from people helping one another see their own lives differently.
That realization became Connection is Medicine, an approach that combines film, storytelling, improvisation, reflection, and community to help people practice stronger connection.
The Rocky Connection Gym isn't about analyzing a movie.
It's about discovering what Rocky can teach us about our own lives—and practicing those lessons together.
Robert Cochrane, PhD
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Documentary filmmaker and creator of the Boys of Summer series
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Researcher focused on connection, community, and Parkinson's
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Founder of Yes, And...X
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Developer of the Connection is Medicine framework
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Twenty-five years documenting the lived experience of chronic illness
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Presenter at the World Parkinson Congress and international movement-disorder conferences
Movies don't change our lives. The conversations they inspire can. Rocky isn't just about going the distance. It's about the people who make the distance possible.
You are invited to sign up to participate or donate to sponsor another participants. All donations for this program will be used to sponsor participants tuition.
On the power of storytelling
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
― Maya Angelou
“The stories we tell literally make the world. If you want to change the world, you need to change your story. This truth applies both to individuals and institutions.”
― Michael Margolis