Laughter Therapy

Today we had a laughter therapy group led by a certified laughter leader. Eleven clients participated (4 females; 7 males) of mixed ages and psychiatric diagnoses. The leader informed clients at the beginning that research shows fake laughter can turn into real laughter via exercises. As the hour unfolded, this was precisely the case.

The leader asked clients to think about why laughter could be good for them. Several clients stated that they thought it would help with “endorphins, increased eye contact, improves your insides, and reduces stress.”

A series of exercises progressed from small moments of joy to raucous and boisterous full-bellied laughter. The first exercise involved a “ho-ho, ha-ha” warm-up exercise, which clients slowly warmed to and which became the refrain throughout the whole class. The warm-up involved repeating the phrase ho-ho, ha-ha and following this up with a round of clapping.

The second exercise involved hand shakes and laughter. Clients were asked to move about the room, introducing themselves to one another and laughing while they shook hands. It was great to see some clients who are really plagued by anger and negative symptoms participate in the exercise. After this exercise the leader asked why clients believed children laugh much more than adults throughout the day. One astute client replied, “Because it’s not appropriate to laugh during the business work setting.”

The third exercise involved laughing while patting one’s legs and then raising one’s arms in the air. During this exercise, clients were asked how they felt so far. Three clients said that they felt “stronger; a lot better; and happy.”

The fourth and final exercise involved passing around balls of small, medium and large sizes. Clients were asked to laugh in a small, medium and hearty way depending on the size of the ball that was tossed to them. This exercise quickly turned into infectious laughter amongst group members. When an imaginary ball was tossed to a particular client who had previously been reticent to participate, she appeared to become more engaged. For some reason this exercise was more enticing to this participant. Perhaps it was somewhat less threatening to her. Another possible explanation is that she warmed up to the exercises over time.

The leader gave clients a laughter practice handout which offered suggestions for ways of integrating laughter into their daily lives and practices. One client began to immediately highlight sections of the practice handout that called to him.

All clients appeared to have a great time during the laughter therapy session. What is clear is that there was a natural progression from reserved and small laughs to a larger, communal and boisterous laughter for all.