Humor in Gestalt & Psychotherapy: Two Article Reviews

"Successively, Selekman explains that fostering therapist-client cooperation is purposive use of self-disclosure, the use of humor, normalizing, demonstrating cultural and gender sensitivity, and therapeutic compliments. Mark Twain once said, 'Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.' Humor can help generate a relaxed atmosphere, influence the client from his or her concerns, and heal those in pain. Madanes (1984) contend that what makes change possible is the therapist's ability to be confident and to see what is funny or desirable in a dire situation'. Laughter releases hormones from the

Norman Cousins said, “Laughter is a powerful way to tap positive emotions" (Moss 1). Humor is studied by many researchers in sociology, psychology, art, literature, and medicine. When people wonder whether humor aids in areas other than health, a treasure trove of possible benefits to the learning or educational community is opened up. Humor can be used as a tool to promote learning.Research speaks to the many benefits of humor in healing, to its benefits in the classroom or boardroom, from reducing stress of students or employees, to boosting self-esteem and feelings of camaraderie. Additionally, studies show that those who use humor to convey a message are often more favorably perceived. Humor helps deliver the presenter's message to

Central Idea/ Thesis statement: There are several benefits of laughter in terms of physical, mental and social.

“Humour is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement.” The term Humour has been derived from the Greek language, which teaches that humour is the balance of fluids in the human body. Humour is savoured by different taste-buds like: Anecdotal, Blue, Dark/Gallows/Morbid, Epigrammatic, Hyperbolic, Ironic, Satirical, Satirical, Situational and Slapstick. Franz Kafka, the author of the outright existential classic ‘The Metamorphosis’ uses depressing humour to deal with the bitter deathly truths of life.

     Laughter relates a lot to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It is a representation of the ability to decide for your self. Billy Bibbit was always being bossed around by the nurse and his mother. Once he knew he could laugh and stop listening to what everyone demanded of him he started to loosen up. . "It's natural to all human beings to laugh. It's society which restricts us and tells us that we must settle down.'' (Murphy) The society that Billy was in, was putting to much pressure on him to settle down when he was just trying to be himself. That was the part that was making him crazy. The pressure the ward and his mother put on him to be restricted led him to his suicide. When Billy started laughing he actually started to seem normal. He actually slept with a prostitute, knowing that if his mother found out she would never see him the same way. ."It affects our psychoneuro-immunology.'' (Murphy) “In other words, medical research has established a link between emotions, the nervous system and endocrine

Holocaust Writings: How Does The Spirit Triumph? As humans, we are very limited physically and mentally but our spirit has a vast room of possibilities. World War 2 has just given our world untreatable wounds. The mass-murdering of six million Jewish people was called The Holocaust.

Laughing in itself is therapeutic. People laugh for many different reasons. Some people even laugh when something horrible occurs, it is a method of escape from what horrors or mishaps are going on around you. "Many psychotherapists find humor a valuable tool in helping their patients to solve their social and emotional problems." (G. Samuel) Chief bromden was

This novel involves a mess of symbolism, thus the issue in showing why laughter could be a key theme is vast. Look how many of the patients "can't help it....they're tired(52 Kesey) when in reality they are sick of the life they are living. With the aim of laughter as a healing agent, take a moment to look towards alternative influential writers and thinkers to tie along happiness and healing. Meriden's dictionary says: laughter- n. a reason for merriment. With this basic understanding of this, laughter seen as merriment or feeling like success, hatred, liberation, and virtually the other feeling that can happen, it is straightforward to image in

Throughout the entire piece, Klein uses humor as a way to bring mindfulness to an area many would not want to go

People always say that laughter alleviates tension. If this is the case, then it makes sense that the use of humor when discussing uncomfortable topics can make the conversation easier and more light-hearted. One of Mark Twain’s most frequently used devices in works such as “Advice to Youth”, “To the Person Sitting in Darkness”, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is satire, which can provide society a method to bond over uncomfortable topics, and facilitate the ability to sustain that bond through an easier way to create discussion.

Humor is viewed by some people as an important part of life. Most people enjoy amusement, and some turn to humorists as a source for that amusement. Some further view humorists as holding an important position in society because society allows humorists to say things that others can and will not say. Due to their unique position in society, humorists serve a role that is certainly unique and can be important, but not vital. Furthermore, humor can very well have a dangerous side, whether intentional or unintentional, so humorists should try to be careful with their powerful position.

Humor is our way of expressing our opinions and thoughts, in a way that lets us see the gravity of the situation but in a less complex, serious tone. In the book Status Anxiety, Alain de Botton, believes that Humor is vital to Society, due to it allowing “humorist to say things that other people cannot or will not say”. Button is right in believing that Humor is vital to society. It allows for other people to feel more comfortable expressing their own opinions without it turning into a serious discussion. Humor as found itself in political cartoons, Stand-up comedy like comedian Gabriel Iglesias, and TV shows like Saturday Night Live.

The idea that the use of laughter can be used as a form of making one feel better, or as what is known to many today as, medicine, is not a new one--but one that is gaining much more popularity and interest with practitioners as one having some actual truth to it, today. The bible even makes reference to this

In Ken Kesy’s One Flew over the Cuckoo 's Nest, humor is present in a very powerful form. Normally, insane people don’t have the capacity to laugh or find the humor in something as would "normal" people do. They live tragic existences, wandering day by day in the bland, depressing world of an asylum. They have forgotten how to live because they are under the commanding rule of the head nurse, and under the behavioral influence of drug doses and bossy orderlies. The patients’ laughter is a therapeutic form. In the novel laughter represents freedom and an escape from nurse Ratched’s restrictions.

As humans, laughing and joking is something that comes natural. This is something that we have been doing even before we knew how to walk or talk. As we start to grow up, we all develop personality traits and our humor styles follow. Before taking this course, I have never consider identifying what my humor styles are until now. I took the Humor Style Questionnaire (Martin et al. 2003) and calculated that my top humor style is self-enhancing and closely following is affiliative. Throughout this paper I am going to reflect on my top humor styles with personal examples, and how it relates to my mental health, with several methods I can use to make myself healthier and happier. I will also be considering the other two styles and how then do not relate to my humor style and mental health.