This article briefly annotates the development of research and theorizing on the use of humor in psychotherapy. Beginning in 1970 and continuing through 1990, the main literature was cursorily scanned. A total of 67 sources are offered for bibliographic use. Sadly, tangential forms of humor such as fun, mirth, frivolity, songs, jokes, puns, witticisms, and other forms of humor are not as readily addressed or investigated.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BanmenJ. (1982) The use of humour in psychotherapy. International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling, 5(2), 81–86.
2.
BlochS.BrowningS.McGrathG. (1983) Humour in group psychotherapy. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 56(1), 89–97.
3.
BloomfieldI. (1980) Humour in psychotherapy and analysis. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 26, 135–141.
4.
BurbridgeR. T. (1978) The nature and potential of therapeutic humor. Dissertation Abstracts International, 39(6-B), 2974.
5.
CadeB. (1986) The uses of humour in therapy. Family Therapy Collections, 19, 64–76.
6.
CarozzaP. (1986) Humor in psychotherapy: a phenomenological study of the experience of humor in therapy for the therapist. Dissertation Abstracts International, 47(5-B), 2152.
7.
CassellJ. L. (1974) The function of humor in the counseling process. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 17, 240–245.
8.
CrabbsM. A.CrabbsS. K.GoodmanJ. (1986) Giving the gift of humor (ho, ho, ho): an interview with Joel Goodman. Elementary School Guidance and Counseling, 21, 105–113.
9.
DavidsonI. F.BrownW. I. (1989) Using humour in counseling mentally retarded clients: a preliminary study. International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling, 12, 93–104.
10.
DimmerS. A.CarrollJ. L.WyattG. K. (1990) Uses of humor in psychotherapy. Psychological Reports, 66, 795–801.
11.
DowdE. T.MilneC. R. (1986) Paradoxical interventions in counseling psychology. The Counseling Psychologist, 14, 237–282.
12.
EllisA. (1977) Fun as psychotherapy. In EllisA.GreigerR. (Eds.), Handbook of Rational Emotive Therapy. New York: Springer. Pp. 262–270.
13.
FosterJ. A.ReidJ. (1983) Humor and its relationship to student's assessments of the counselor. Canadian Counselor, 17, 124–129.
14.
FryW. F.SalamehW. A. (1987) (Eds.) Handbook of humor and psychotherapy: advances in the clinical use of humorSarasota, FL: Professional Resource Exchange, Inc.
15.
GolubR. R. (1979) An investigation of the effect of use of humor in counseling. Dissertation Abstracts International, 40(6-B), 2837.
16.
GreenwaldH. (1975) Humor in psychotherapy. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 7, 113–116.
17.
GrotjahnM. (1971) Laughter in psychotherapy. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 21, 234–238.
18.
HeuscherJ. E. (1980) The role of humor and folklore themes in psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 1546–1549.
19.
HicksonJ. (1977a) Differential responses of male and female counselor trainees to humor stimuli. Southern Journal of Educational Research, 11(1), 1–8.
20.
HicksonJ. (1977b) Humor as an element in the counseling relationship. Psychology, 14, 60–68.
21.
HicksonJ. H. (1976) Humor appreciation as an indicator of the counselor's facilitative ability. Dissertation Abstracts International, 37(3-A), 1306.
22.
HintonW. L. (1981) Buffoni, buffoneria e senso del ridicolo [Fools, fooling and the sense of the ridiculous]. Rivista di Psicologia Analitica, 12, 129–141.
23.
HuberA. T. (1980) The effect of humor on client discomfort in the counseling interview. Dissertation Abstracts International, 34(4-A).
24.
JablonskiB.RangeB. (1984) O humor e so-riso? Algumas consideracoes sobre os esrudos em humor. [On humor and laughter: various considerations of studies of humor.]Brazilian Archives of Psychology, 36, 133–140.
25.
KerriganJ. F. (1983) The perceived effect of humor on six facilitative therapeutic conditions. Dissertation Abstracts International, 44(6-A), 1694.
26.
KleinJ. P. (1974) On the use of humour in counseling. Canadian Counselor, 8, 233–237.
27.
KleinJ. P. (1976) Rationality and humour in counseling. Canadian Counselor, 11, 28–32.
28.
KramerL. R. (1986) Career awareness and personal development: a naturalistic study of gifted adolescent girls' concerns. Adolescence, 21, 123–131.
29.
KropiuniggU. (1985) Warum wirkt Psychotherapie? [Why does psychotherapy work?]Zeitschrift für Individual Psychologie, 10, 57–71.
30.
KubieL. S. (1970) The destructive potential of humor in psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 127, 861–866.
31.
LabrentzH. L. (1974) The effects of humor on the initial client-counselor relationship. Dissertation Abstracts International, 37(7-A), 3875.
32.
LacroixM. T. (1974) Humorous drawings and directed reverie therapy of children. Etudes Psychotherapiques, 15, 17–27.
33.
LeoneR. E. (1986) Life after laughter: one perspective. Elementary School Guidance and Counseling, 21, 139–142.
34.
LoewaldE. (1976) The development and uses of humour in a four-year-old's treatment. International Review of Psycho-Analysis, 3, 209–221.
35.
MarcusN. N. (1990) Treating those who fail to take themselves seriously: pathological aspects of humor. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 44, 423–432.
36.
MegdellJ. I. (1982) Relationship between counselor-initiated humor and client's self-perceived attraction in the counseling interview. Dissertation Abstracts International, 42 (11-B), 4584.
37.
MegdellJ. I. (1984) Relationship between counselor-initiated humor and client's self-perceived attraction in the counseling interview. Psychotherapy, 21, 517–523.
38.
MurgatroydS. J. (1987) Humour as a tool in counseling and psychotherapy: a reversal-theory perspective. British Journal of Guidance and Counseling, 15, 225–236.
39.
NagarajaJ. (1985) Humour in psychotherapy. Child Psychiatry Quarterly, 18, 30–34.
40.
NessM. E. (1989) The use of humorous journal articles in counselor training. Counselor Education and Supervision, 29, 35–43.
41.
NetoD. A. (1984) O uso do comico na defesa contra a angustia em psycioterapia analitica de grupo. [The use of humor as a defense against anxiety in group analytic psychotherapy.]Alter Journal de Estudos Psicondinamicos, 14, 37–44.
42.
NevoO. (1986) Uses of humor in career counseling. Vocational Guidance Quarterly, 34, 188–196.
43.
NewtonG. R.DowdE. T. (1990) Effect of client sense of humor and paradoxical interventions on test anxiety. Journal of Counseling and Development, 68, 668–672.
44.
O'ConnellW. E. (1987) Natural high psychospirituality: stalking shadows with “childlike foolishness.” Special issue: pastoral counseling and the Adlerian perspective. Individual Psychology: Journal of Adlerian Theory, Research and Practice, 43, 502–509.
45.
OlsonH. A. (1976) The use of humor in psychotherapy. Individual Psychologist, 13, 34–37.
46.
PetersonJ. P.PollioH. R. (1982) Therapeutic effectiveness of differentially targeted humorous remarks in group psychotherapy. Group, 6, 39–50.
47.
PinegarP. W. (1984) Client self-exploration and humor in psychotherapy. Dissertation Abstracts International, 44(10-A), 3018.
48.
PolandW. S. (1971) The place of humor in psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 635–637.
49.
PrerostF. J. (1983) Promoting student adjustment to college: a counseling technique utilizing humor. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 62, 222–226.
50.
PrerostF. J. (1984) Evaluating the systematic use of humor in psychotherapy with adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 7, 267–276.
51.
PrerostF. J. (1985) A procedure using imagery and humor in psychotherapy: case application with longitudinal assessment. Journal of Mental Imagery, 9, 67–76.
52.
PrerostF. J. (1988) Use of humor and guided imagery in therapy to alleviate stress. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 10, 16–22.
53.
PrerostF. J. (1989) Intervening during crises of life transitions: promoting a sense of humor as a stress moderator. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 2, 475–480.
54.
ReynesR. L.AllenA. (1987) Humor in psychotherapy: a view. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 41, 260–270.
55.
RosenheimE. (1974) Humor in psychotherapy: an interactive experience. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 28, 584–591.
56.
SalisburyW. D. (1990) A study of humor in counseling among Adlerian therapists: a statistical research project. Dissertation Abstracts International, 50(11-B), 5301.
57.
SandsS. (1984) The use of humor in psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic Review, 71, 441–460.
58.
SchnarchD. M. (1990) Therapeutic uses of humor in psychotherapy. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 1, 75–86.
59.
SchwarzB. E. (1974) Telepathic humoresque. Psychoanalytic Review, 61, 591–606.
60.
ShaughnessyM. F. (1984) Humor in logotherapy. International Forum for Logotherapy, 7, 106–111.
61.
SluderA. W. (1986) Children and laughter: the elementary school counselor's role. Elementary School Guidance and Counseling, 21, 120–127.
62.
SontagN. (1985) Cartooning as a counseling approach to a socially isolated child. School Counselor, 32, 307–312.
63.
SzafranA. W. (1981) Humour creativitie et psychotherapie. [Humor, creativity and psychotherapy.]Annales Medico-Psychologiques, 139, 11–19.
64.
Von WormerK. (1986) Aspects of humor in alcoholism counseling. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 3(4), 25–32.
65.
WeissH. (1984) Humor and imagination. Hakomi Forum, 25–28.
66.
WellsM. (1983) Implicit frame crashing: a comprehensive psychological theory of humor and its application to a psychotherapy model. Dissertation Abstracts International, 44, 932.
67.
ZivA. (1984) Personality and sense of humor. New York: Springer.