Humor and laughter in mental
health & psychotherapy
Dr. Xiao Dong YUE
Dept. of Applied Social Studies
City Univ. of Hong Kong
Hong Kong China
What We Will Cover Today
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What is humor?
What are the benefits of humor?
What are good humor and bad humor?
What is laughter?
What are benefits of laughter?
What are laughter yoga and exercises
What are historical records of therapeutic
humor in Chinese history?
Welcomes you to attend the
22nd International Society for Humor
Studies
June 24-27, 2010
Local Host:
Dr. Xiaodong Yue
Department of Applied Social Studies
"What is Humor?"
• Humor is the tendency of particular
cognitive experiences to provoke laughter
and provide amusement .
• Humor refers to a playful frame of mind
that gives individual a feeling of wellbeing,
better thinking skills, and relieve of pain
feeling (Henmen, 2001).
What is good for humour?
James Thurber: Humor is a serious thing. I like
to think of it as one of our greatest earliest
natural resources, which must be preserved
at all cost.
Joel Goodman: Humor is a universal language.
Mark Twain: The secret source of humor itself
is not joy, but sorrow. There is no humor in
heaven.
The Major Benefits of Humor & laughter
A good hearty laugh can help:
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reduce stress
lower blood pressure
elevate mood
boost immune system
improve brain functioning
protect the heart
connect you to others
foster instant relaxation
Make you feel good.
A good hearty laugh
A good hearty laugh
• Magic poker
• Silly suicide
• Super piano play
Benefit of Humor
A “healthy” sense of humor would
involve a generally cheerful
temperament characterized by
happiness, joy, optimism, and a playful
approach to life.
---- W. Ruch
Ruch, W. (1993) . Exhilaration and humor. In Lewis, Michael, and Jeanette M.
Haviland (eds). Handbook of Emotions. New York: Guilford Press, 41-51.
Humor Styles
• Affiliative humor : use of humor to amuse others
and facilitate relationships;
• Self-enhancing humor: use of humor to cope with
stress and maintain a humorous outlook during times of
difficulty;
• Aggressive humor: use of sarcastic, manipulative,
put-down, or disparaging humor;
• Self-defeating humor: use of humor for excessive
self-disparagement, ingratiation, or defensive denial.
(Martin, et al., 2003)
Humor Styles
Positive
Self enhancing humor
Affiliative humor
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To self
To others
Self defeating humor
Aggressive humor
Negative
幽默的分类
• 加拿大幽默研究学者Martin根据个
人使用幽默的不同方式将幽默划分
为:
• 自强性幽默（self enhancing humor）
• 亲和性幽默（affiliative humor）
• 敌对性幽默（hostile humor）
• 自贬性幽默（self-defeating humor）
自强性幽默
美国发明大王爱廸生多年
致力于白炽灯泡的发明不
果。一天，有人取笑他说
︰”先生，您已经失败
1200次了！”
“不！”爱廸生坚定地回
答：“我现在已经发现了
1200种材料不适合做灯丝
。”
女友问男友：“你喜欢我的温
柔可爱呢，还是我的聪明美丽？
亲
”
和
男友回答：“我就是喜欢你的
性 这种幽默感！”
幽
默
女友说：“刚认识时，你总是给我叫出
租车，而现在却叫我乘公共汽车。”
男友回答说：“因为我现在感到自豪，
在出租汽车里只有司机一个人能看见你，
而在公共汽车里却有成百的人可以看到你
。”
嘲讽性幽默
• 马克．吐温一次在酒席说：“美国国会中
的某些议员是狗娘养的。”这番话被公诸
于报后，有些议员大为愤慨，要求他道歉
，否则要诉诸法律。马克．吐温数天后在
《纽约时报》登载了他的“道歉启事”：
• “日前鄙人在酒席上说有些国会议员是‘
狗娘养的’，我再三考虑，觉得此言不妥
，故特登报声明，把我的话修改如下，“
美国国会中的某些议员不是狗婊子养的。
”
敌对性幽默
• At the opening of a new play, George
Bernard Shaw sent two tickets to Winston
Churchill. Shaw wrote on the letter, “Here
is a ticket for you and your friend—if you
have one.”
• Churchill sent back the tickets with a
message for Shaw. “I can’t attend on the
opening night, but I would love to go to the
second performance—if you have one.”
自贬性幽默
我天生就是一
个很焦点的女
孩，长了一张
妖媚的脸和一
副性感万分的
身材，穿着大
胆张扬，个性
叛逆嚣张，在
各种场合都出
尽风头……
Cautions about using humor
• Beware of sarcasm and abusive humor
• Avoid racist and sexist humor
• Be aware of your own feelings and your
reactions to clients, patients and colleagues
• Note your own uneasiness about material
• Be cautious about the person feeling that
she or he is not being taken seriously
• Humor must always be used to facilitate,
not interrupt the purpose of the interaction
What Creates Humor
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Ambiguity
含糊性
Exaggeration
夸张性
Understatement
缩小性
Incongruity or Irony 不协调性
Situation-Insight
情景化的领悟
Sudden Insight
突发的领悟
Superiority
优越性
Surprise or Shock 惊奇性
A Trick or Twist
曲折性
Word Play
文字游戏
Incongruity and Surprise
• A good man dies and goes to heaven. When St. Peter
asks him if there’s anything he can do for him, the man
explains that he would love to talk to Mary, the mother
of Jesus. St. Peter is happy to set up such a meeting.
After a few polite formalities, the man tells Mary the
purpose of his request. He has always wanted to ask
her something.
• When she encourages him to go ahead, he says, “I’ve
wondered why in all your pictures you look so sad.
Please tell me what it is.” Mary sighs and then with a
little wistful smile confesses, “I always wanted a
daughter.”
Situation & Surprise
• During the 1960s, some people wanted to
nominate Senator Margaret Chase Smith for
President of the United States. One reporter
stuck a microphone in her face and asked,
“Mrs. Smith, what would you do if you
should wake up some morning and find
yourself in the White House?”
• she responded, “I would go to the
president’s wife, apologize, and leave
immediately.”
Word Play & Surprise
• A four-year-old was brought to the
emergency room of a hospital with a bad
cough. The child kept up a non-stop
conversation while the nurse was trying to
assess her lung sounds.
• Finally, the nurse said, “Shhh, I have to see
if Barney is in there.” The child looked at
her and calmly stated, “I have Jesus in my
heart. Barney is on my underwear. ”
Dogs look depressed.
Cats look serious.
Pigs look smart.
Foxes look stupid.
And many more
What Is
Therapeutic Humor
What Is Therapeutic Humor?
• Therapeutic humor includes the intentional
and spontaneous use of humor techniques
by therapists and other health care
professionals, which can lead to
improvements in the self-understanding and
behavior of clients or patients.
---- Franzini
岳晓东制作
Humor for Healing
• Humor and laughter are currently being
employed by psychotherapists and other care
givers as tools to promote and maintain health.
• Laughter has many clinical benefits, promoting
beneficial physiological changes and even has
long-term effects that strengthen the effectiveness
of the immune system.
• In healthcare, humor therapy can help relieve
stress associated with disease and illness. It serves
as a tool for disorders such as depression, and a
coping mechanism.
• Humor and laughter are currently being
employed as tools to promote and maintain health
everywhere, from the classroom to the boardroom.
HUMOR AS A COPING MECHANISM
• Humor can help them express negative
emotions in a positive light.
• Humor therapy in this context is generated
by the patient, not the therapist. It is
important to distinguish between laughing
with a patient and laughing at a patient.
• Humor can provide ammunition to deal with
stress and the emotions surrounding it: anger
and fear.
• Almost every major hospital in the
United States now uses clowns, pets,
clergy, and humor intervention as a
regular part of their care systems.
• Sometimes the tone gets too heavy in
meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, so
humor is often used to transcend the
moment and attain a broader
perspective.
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Norman Cousins Making Miracle!
• Over 25 years ago, Dr. Norman Cousins in his
book “Anatomy of an Illness” described how
watching Marx Brother movies helped him recover
from a life-threatening tissue disease.
• "Is it possible," he wondered, "that love, hope,
faith, laughter, confidence, and the will to live have
therapeutic value?" Cousins made it a point to
enjoy a hearty belly laugh several times a day. A
few minutes of laughter gave him an hour
or more of pain-free sleep.
What Humor and Laughter can do
for one’s health and longevity!
NORMAN COUSINS
• Cousins had developed a serious collagen disease that
affected the connective tissue of his spine and joints.
• The disease was life-threatening, his pain was intense,
and the doctors gave him little hope for a full recovery.
• Cousins was frustrated by the hospital routines and his
slow progress, so he checked himself out of the hospital
and into a nearby hotel.
• Here he used “humor-intervention therapy.” He read
humorous books, watched funny movies, and watched
tapes of “Candid Camera.”
• He found that the more he laughed, the
longer his body was without pain.
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PATTY WOOTEN
• Patty Wooten has been
president of the American
Association for Therapeutic
Humor.
• Dressed as a clown named
Nancy Nurse, Wooten makes
fun of doctors, nurses, hospital
administrators and even
patients.
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