Most Trauma Therapists Aren’t Funny. Here’s How To Heal With Humour

Most trauma therapists aren't funny. “It's simply not in the training manual. ‘Use humour to propel your clients into wholeness”.

It’s scary to talk about the hard stuff that happened. Shining a light on the skeletons we’ve put on the top back shelf in our closets is something that needs to be done with immense care, precision and respect.

First things first.
I’m not a therapist. My expertise and training is in trauma healing and nervous system health. Unlike what most people think, trauma is not in the event itself. Its how our nervous system responds and rewires due to an overwhelming experience(s). The results of that overwhelming experience creates nervous system dysregulation.

This dysregulation creates illness when left unaddressed. So now that we have those facts out of the way.

Where does a good laugh come in?

Trauma in nature is activating. We start telling a story and we’re in it, things start moving FAST. We’re activated. Our bodies get triggered. It brings stuff up. We feel like we’re the only one in the world who has these feelings.

Humour is the perfect speed bump.

The perfect medicine to slow down.
To feel your breath, to get into your body.
To normalize an intense experience.
It’s de-activating in nature.
It’s universal.

Bringing our bodies back into homeostasis, harmony. Laughing literally sends endorphins throughout the body informing us that we’re alive, safe and life IS in fact sweet.

ESSENTIAL when healing deep seeded nervous system patterns. Because it’s hard to go there and clean up the back of the closet.

Years ago when I first started seeing clients I thought I failed when the person I was working with would burst out laughing in a session. There was this little voice in the back of my head that said ‘Luana, you’re supposed to be serious right now, we’re deep in THE WORK. You messed up, they’re laughing at that truth bomb you just dropped.’

Listen, in case you’re wondering, I don’t write out jokes before I go to work. In my opinion the most potent stuff is straight truth telling and sometimes silly and spontaneous. When you can get that real with another human. When you ride that speed bump together. Feeling the joy in the moment, the breath in the body, healing happens. It’s worth doing and its worth doing together.


3 Ways To Use Humour To Amplify Your Healing:

1. Self-Awareness. Know that humour can be used as a coping or defence mechanism. Ask yourself, do I default to humour so I don’t need to go deeper to the real truth? Get to know yourself, how you use humour to navigate tough conversations. Be gentle with what you discover and make adjustments as needed. Awareness is power here.

2. Informed Action. As Trevor Noah says ‘Comedy is a great tool. We are trying to find ways to use humour to enlighten people without preaching to them.’ Use it as a tool to bring light to tough conversations. Honestly capturing the moment through self-expression is what the world needs right now. I know you’ve got it!

3. Embody Your Smile. Next time you find yourself smiling, sense where you feel that smile in your body. Bring your attention to your smile, mouth, muscles in your face. Then scan the rest of your body. Does this smile travel and resonate somewhere else?
Heart. Shoulders. Toes. There’s no right answer, simply what’s right for you. So have fun with it!