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Gary Carr, Rising Moon Marketing & Public Relations
(925) 672-8717, carrpool@pacbell.net
National Humor Association Wins Grant to Help Military Families Reduce Stress through Laughter
Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor and World Laughter Tour Unite to Launch “Laughter Therapy for Military Families Program”
Grant provided by National Speakers Association
San Francisco. September 14, 2006. Laughter is a great stress-reducer – and no one needs laughter more than the families of military personnel shipping out, serving in Iraq, or returning home with permanent injuries. So says the Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH) who recently won a grant from the National Speakers Association to provide training in stress-busting, morale-boosting, laughter-filled therapeutic programs to the families of military personnel.
The idea was hatched in 2002, when retired Colonel James “Scotty” Scott took Certified Laughter Leader (CLL) training with Steve Wilson, founder of the World Laughter Tour (WLT). Scotty shared his ideas for bringing these same skills to military families.
Since 2002, more than 30 military associated Certified Laughter Leaders have been trained in five states, with participating families from all branches of the US Military (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, National Guard and Reserves). CLLs volunteer through Family Support and Family Readiness Groups (FRG) that are part of their family readiness programs.
“The NSA grant will help enhance the effectiveness of military-related Certified Laughter Leaders in delivering therapeutic laughter activities among military families,” says Allen Klein, president of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor.
The grant underwrites the costs of teleconference communications among the military-associated CLLs.
According to psychologist and World Laughter Tour founder Steve Wilson, “the social psychology of laughter and humor is that groups that laugh together work together better. Moreover, the scientific evidence shows that laughter discharges emotional tension, reduces stress, and improves health.”
Wilson is also a member of the AATH Board of Directors
The positive effects of laughter work especially well for military family support groups, who find laughter an antidote to the stress of being separated from loved ones who are often in harm’s way.
“In some cases, the humor may seem ‘dark’ to an outsider,” Wilson explains, “because it is helping to cope with grim realities – but it is healthy for these families, just as it is for doctors, nurses, and all kinds of first responders.”
Wilson offers a recent quote from a military wife. The anecdote has been shared extensively because it illustrates the use of humor in coping with unpleasant realities.
“My step-dad is an amputee. You should hear the amputee jokes that fly around my family. My step-dad is freakishly tall, and married to my mom who is closer to 5 feet, which is hilarious in itself. He contracted an infection in the hospital and they had to amputate one leg below the knee, so now he tells people he went to the hospital one day and came back a foot shorter! We email amputee jokes back and forth every time we hear a new one.”
Over the years, the World Laughter Tour has successfully introduced its programs to healthcare support communities for cancer, cardiac rehab, brain injuries, and other afflictions. The WLT finds laughter to be social glue that bonds people, making it a perfect tool for rallying support in these groups. In this regard, the project for military families is designed to promote laughter and positive attitudes, and to do it systematically in a simple, low-cost, and repeatable program. In addition, the program is designed to maintain the motivation of the laughter leaders and continuously improve their skills and confidence
The laughter training project is a collaborative effort among three partners, according to Allen Klein, president of AATH, which serves as the lead agency. The World Laughter Tour provides the training for military CLLs and ensures that the training and follow-up support is made available to all families within each military branch of service, including the National Guard and Reserves and those on active duty, as well as providing a CLL trained mentor. The National Speakers Association is providing the funds through a 2006 Art Berg Grant.
AATH holds its annual conference February 15-18, 2007 in Panama City Beach, Florida. The theme of the conference is “Making Waves- Integrating Compassionate Humor into Caring Communities.” Active military of members and military families are being invited to attend at a discounted rate. For more information, click on http://www.aath.org/conference_schedule.htm
Background of AATH
The Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor was founded in 1988 by a group of healthcare professionals. AATH is a non-profit professional organization that advances the understanding and application of humor and laughter for their positive benefits. AATH provides and disseminates information about applied and therapeutic humor through conferences, publications, a website, and networking to a community from a wide variety of clinical, corporate, and classroom settings. An international organization with members throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, and Europe, AATH includes scholars, psychologists, counselors, allied healthcare practitioners, nurses, social workers, physicians, business executives, human resource managers, educators, clergy, hospital clowns, speakers, trainers, and others who incorporate humor in their work. Further information can be found at www.aath.org.
What is therapeutic humor?
Therapeutic humor is any intervention that promotes health and wellness by stimulating a playful discovery, expression, or appreciation of the absurdity or incongruity of life’s situations.
This intervention may enhance work performance, support learning, improve health, or be used as a complementary treatment of illness to facilitate healing or coping, whether physical, emotional, cognitive, social, or spiritual.
Background of the World Laughter Tour
The World Laughter Tour was founded in 1998 by psychologist Steve Wilson, who has worked in the field of mental health since 1964. The WLT mission is to serve as a clearinghouse of information, ideas and news about healing with laughter and the role of attitudes in health and happiness; helping people achieve their fullest potential by enjoyable, systematic, life-affirming self-care strategies. In the last six years, nearly 3,000 people have completed training to qualify for the designation Certified Laughter Leader. For more information, go to www.worldlaughtertour.com.
Gary Carr, Rising Moon Marketing & Public Relations, (925) 672-8717, carrpool@pacbell.ne
