“The work Laughology is doing is great, its really is important to laugh and keep you sense of humour through life’s ups and downs. It was something that kept me going after my surgery recently and why I am using humour and laughter to help raise money for the wonderful team of people that helped look after me.”
Ricky Tomlinson
Laughology techniques used to support recovery from substance misuse
March 2011
You may think that addiction is no laughing matter. But being able to laugh and have a sense of humour is a life-skill that is essential to a healthy balance between mind and body. Laughology’s techniques are now being employed to benefit people in recovery. Substance misuse, be it with alcohol or other drugs, is a major social concern and one of the key issues in the recently published Drug Strategy (2010) is to, “increase the numbers recovering from their dependence”. To promote this, Laughology is at the forefront of the development of research into how humour and laughter can have a positive impact in substance misuse treatment on both staff and service user’s health and wellbeing.
The Laughology model encourages greater emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is ‘a person’s ability to perceive, assess and manage the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups.’ Understanding the concept can have a profound impact on the way interventions are delivered, the way relationships are formed with service users and, ultimately, the results they achieve.
Laughology’s unique CBT-based techniques are now being taught in substance misuse treatment as an effective aid to help deal with pressures and challenges without resorting to alcohol or drugs. Using these techniques increases the individual’s confidence and resilience when needing to think through challenges they face by themselves. Laughology uses humour and laughter to create different emotional responses linked to individual’s cognitive processes and, thereby, has a positive effect on behaviours.
