title: Therapeutic use of humor in occupational therapy.
abstract: Interviews with five occupational therapists who use humor therapeutically in their practice were conducted and analyzed with a phenomenological method so that the lived experience of therapeutic humor use in occupational therapy could be examined. Sixteen themes were identified through data analysis: The Concept of Therapeutic Use of Humor; Spontaneous Versus Deliberate Humor; Humor, the Great Equalizer; Humor and Professionalism; Contraindications of Humor; Humor Among Co-Workers; Humor and Play; Humor and the Environment; Humor Providing Balance; The Intrinsic Quality of Humor; The Transformative Power of Humor; The Effects of Humor on the Subjects Themselves; Humor as an Evaluation and Treatment Tool; Humor as Therapeutic Use of Self; Humor as a Coping Mechanism; and Other Uses of Humor With Patients. This study revealed that the use of therapeutic humor in occupational therapy is a multifaceted phenomenon, much richer than had been previously presented in the literature.
authors.affiliation: VA Medical Center, Rehabilitation Medicine Service, San Francisco, California 94121.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vergeer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: MacRae
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic