Humor and Healing

More psychologists are finding that discrete uses of humor promote healing in their patients

By Patrick A. McGuire

It's hard not to feel a laugh bubbling to the surface at the sight of a grown man--a psychotherapist, no less--standing before a group of his sober-minded peers, holding a teddy bear that tells knock-knock jokes when you press it's paw.

Hard not to snicker when he talks about building a concept of personal "mindfoolness." Hard to resist a smirk as he hands out bamboo finger traps, those venerable props from kidhood where you stick fingers in each end and can't pull them out no matter how hard you tug.

"Think about the message you can give your clients in counseling," he says to the 20 psychotherapists around the table--professionals used to dealing with weighty problems like depression and drug addiction. "Instead of pulling to get out of them, you let go and relax. And--ta da! You're free!"

Dunkleblau, a Des Plaines, Ill., corporate consultant and trainer often uses props such as stuffed bears and finger traps to elicit smiles during therapy. Sometimes he just uses amusing stories, or prescribes a funny movie. Not for all patients and not all the time. But enough that he, along with a growing number of psychologists, has come to view humor as a powerful therapeutic tool. And to say to this room full of colleagues, with a very straight face, "Not enough people take humor seriously."

Clearly, more clinical psychologists are experimenting these days with humor as an adjunct to therapy. Public attitudes are changing too--reflected in the positive reaction to the movie "Patch Adams," about a physician who uses humor.

Humor taps emotions

Medical experts have already demonstrated that laughter boosts the immune system, increasing natural disease-fighting killer cells and lowering blood pressure.

At Rutgers University, psychology professor Maurice Elias, PhD, who has led humor workshops for budding clinicians, thinks more of his colleagues are looking to mirth because the study of humor has "tapped into something old, something psychology has gotten away from in our efforts to be more cognitive and behavioral and more scientific. We've lost sight of the fact that we are emotional human beings."

Inviting humor

Dunn's style features the occasional anecdote "that communicates something significant psychologically about life, or contains some kernel of wisdom." A humorous quote or anecdote, he says, can powerfully illustrate a point that may be very serious. "Humor is woven into the fabric of life, as are tragedy and suffering," says Dunn. "So, helping people realize they have the freedom to laugh--not trying to make them laugh, but inviting it--can make a point and serve a therapeutic purpose." 

Like humorist Victor Borge, Dunkleblau believes a laugh is the shortest distance between two people. He cites the case of a patient, a young man confined to a wheelchair. In therapy they talked of the high expectations placed on the young man by his demanding and perfectionist father.

"At one point," Dunkleblau recalls, "the young man said 'my father wanted me to be president.' He suddenly started laughing. He said 'I just realized, my father got his wish.' I said 'What?' He says 'I'm like Franklin Roosevelt.' And he started laughing and then he started to cry."

By being able to laugh, says Dunkleblau, the young man tapped into his emotions. This allowed him to circumvent defenses he'd erected against the hurt and disappointment he felt about not meeting his father's expectations.

Michael Sherman is a funny guy!