Learning to Laugh Together

“We don’t laugh because we’re happy, we are happy because we laugh.”    -William James

One of my mentors and teachers was the late Annette Goodheart, a psychotherapist, teacher, and laughter coach extraordinaire. I met Annette in 1979 when husband Don and I first settled in Santa Barbara. Annette had just begun her private practice at that time, and was a seasoned teacher of Re-evaluation Counseling (RC). Both Don and I had already benefitted enormously from RC, also known as co-counseling, and I met Annette and many other wonderful friends and colleagues through that community. Re-evaluation Counseling is both a theory and a set of practices, developed in the 1950’s by Harvey Jackins. It is a form of peer counseling that teaches two significant skills (and many other interesting ideas) -namely, how to listen and how to express your emotions, also called “discharging your feelings”.

Co-counseling theory asserts that everyone is born with tremendous intellectual potential, natural zest, and the ability to be loving, but these qualities get blocked over time due to the accumulation of painful experiences. With enough emotional discharge or catharsis, RC teaches that people can free themselves from rigid patterns of behavior and thinking, allowing the return of a more happy, loving, cooperative self. Explaining the process in a nutshell, two people (co-counselors) take turns counseling and being counseled, listening to each other and assisting each other to release painful emotions without interrupting or giving advice.

Having practiced and taught RC for many years, Annette became particularly fascinated by one form of discharge, namely the use of laughter for emotional healing. Her work is described in her book, written for the general public, called Laughter Therapy: How to Laugh About Everything in Your Life That Isn’t Really Funny. Since her book may quickly be out of print, take seven minutes to watch a video of Annette Goodheart talking about the use of laughter, including its history and its potential to facilitate healing. Another good reference on catharsis and physical healing is the 1991 classic best-seller, Anatomy of an Illness, by Norman Cousins. This was the first book written by a patient who facilitated and attributed his own healing to the use of laughter. It is credited for helping to start a revolution in self-directed healthcare and in the use of humor to boost the body’s capacity to heal.