63rd Annual Conference

Saturday, February 25

Early Bird Open Sessions

7:30-8:30 A.M.

Session 225 

A Laughing Stock: Group Processing Using “Laughing Club” Mind-Body Methods

Presenter: 

Siddharth Ashvin Shah, M.D., MPH, Program Director and Attending, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York

Laughter clubs are a ritualized method for eliciting good mental, spiritual, and physical health.  Typically done in groups of 5-50 people, the laughter is stimulated without depending on any specific sense of humor, jokes, or comedy.  This course is designed to have participants experience the ‘work’ of a laughing club.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Appraise the laughing club method for simplicity and universality.

2. Detect benefits in affect and physiology as a result of laughter.

3. Summarize the origins and present-day directions of laughing clubs.

4. Review the science and biology behind laughter as therapy.

5. Propose the appeal of self or peer-healing techniques.

Course References:

1. Gelkopf, M. & Kreitler, S. (1996). Is Humor Only Fun, An Alternative Cure or Magic? The cognitive therapeutic potential of humor. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, An International Quarterly, 10(4), 235-254.

2. Seligman, M. & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive Psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5-14.

3. Weisenberg, M., Tepper, I., & Schwarzwald, J. (1995). Humor as a Cognitive Technique for Increasing Pain Tolerance. Pain, 63 (2), 207-212.