Rand Kannenberg Using Humor In Offender Counseling And Supervision

USING HUMOR in Offender Counseling and Supervision Rand L. Kannenberg

Using Humor in Offender Counseling and Supervision Course Description

This workshop will address the following:

using humor in offender supervision and counseling

helpful versus harmful humor

spontaneous versus planned humor

using humor for crisis and stress management

humor techniques and recommendations

humor research, resources and references

humor to increase offender satisfaction and compliance

humor to prevent staff/volunteer burnout

Using Humor in Offender Counseling and Supervision Target Audience

Addictions Professionals

Domestic Violence Professionals

Parole and Probation Officers

Community Corrections Staff and Volunteers

Prison and Jail Staff and Volunteers

Mental Health Professionals

Eric Noble, Ph.D. Santa Monica, CA 1998

“ I’m not afraid of heights. I’m afraid of widths.”

“ I got a dog and named him ‘Stay.’ (I would say,) ‘Come here, Stay.’ After awhile, the dog went insane and wouldn’t move at all.”

“ Right now I’m having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I’ve forgotten this before.”

Using Humor in Offender Counseling and Supervision GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Learn about how humor can be used to increase offender satisfaction and compliance.

Learn about how humor can be used to prevent corrections staff/volunteer burnout.

Be able to discuss the differences between helpful versus harmful humor.

Be able to discuss the differences between spontaneous versus planned humor.

Be able to discuss how humor can be used for crisis and stress management .

Humor Improves Client Communication in 3 ways:

it captures the attention of the client

it enhances the retention of the material or concepts being discussed

it helps release the tension that can interfere with therapy or education

Wooten

Jennifer Berman Marriage & Family Connection One Woman’s View

Why Dogs Are Better Than Men

“ You can train a dog.”

“ Dogs are good with kids.”

“ Dogs are already in touch with their inner puppies.”

“ Dogs don’t criticize your friends.”

“ Dogs feel guilt when they’ve done something wrong.”

Why Dogs And Men Are The Same

“Both take up too much space on the bed.”

“Both have irrational fears about vacuum cleaning.”

“Both are threatened by their own kind.”

“Both like to chew wood.”

“Both mark their territory.”

Why Men Are Better Than Dogs

“Men only have two feet that track in mud.”

“Men don’t have to play with every man they see when you take them around the block.”

“Men don’t eat cat turds on the sly.”

“Dogs have dog breath all of the time.”

“Holiday Inns accept men.”

Humor according to Freud

Humor is a sign of maturity.

Humor can be a denial of reality.

Humor is hostility masquerading as wit.

Harmful (or “Sick”) Humor

“ Is insensitive, malicious, exclusive and sarcastic;

it ridicules, slanders, belittles and puts people down;

includes racial or sexual subjects;

directed at others or their life situations;

All humor, used inappropriately, may be harmful. Above all else, do no harm.”

Klimes

Eric Noble, Ph.D. Santa Monica, CA 1998

How to Lose Weight Without Exercise

“ Jumping to conclusions…..100 calories per hour

Climbing the walls…..150 calories per hour

Swallowing your pride…..50 calories per hour

Pushing your luck…..250 calories per hour

Dragging your heels…..100 calories per hour”

Helpful (or “Therapeutic”) Humor

“ Gives us a feeling of control and power and can decrease anger, fear and frustration;

can foster a positive and hopeful attitude;

helps provide a sense of perspective on our problems;

gives an opportunity for release of uncomfortable emotions;

directed at ourselves or our life situations;

Helpful humor can serve as a ‘social lubricant,’ is shared with others and is fun and friendly.”

Wooten

Planned versus Spontaneous HUMOR

PLANNED

Things “tools” ready to use that at the very least make you smile or laugh.

cartoons or comic strips

puns, jokes, stories, or exaggerations

trivia, games, or activities

posters, signs, photographs, or toys

SPONTANEOUS

Moment to moment responses based on:

knowledge or understanding of the client, and

the right timing, and

the overall appropriateness of the intervention.

Sultanoff

Steven M. Sultanoff, Ph.D. Mirthologist & Clinical Psychologist Irvine, CA

“There is a story of the IV drug users in a New York drug ‘shooting gallery.’ A social worker discovers them sharing needles and is appalled. She turns to one and asks, ‘Do you know what you’re doing? Haven’t you heard about AIDS?’ He turns to her and casually replies, ‘Don’t worry about us. We are all wearing condoms.’”

Humor Counseling is “Planned Spontaneity”

“ The humor is planned in that it is a part of the counselor’s repertoire of skills and like all interventions is used spontaneously to be most effective with the client.”

Sultanoff

Humor for Managing Crises

Usually NOT appropriate for those directly involved in the crisis situation until time passes.

Often helps people with indirect exposure to the emergency (the majority of the people) if they have some form of distance from the problem:

proximal distance-

not harmed or greatly inconvenienced, physically on the outer edges of the crisis instead of immersed in it

emotional distance-

those who see the loss as temporary and as an opportunity for change and growth

temporal distance-

individuals who have already been separated from the problem by time (“time heals all wounds”)

Sultanoff

Fred & Jane Meulemeester

“Why does the (bar association) prohibit sex between lawyers and their clients?”

“To prevent clients from being billed twice for essentially the same service.”

“If you see a lawyer on a bicycle, why should you swerve to avoid hitting him?”

“(Because) it might be your bicycle.”

Burn Out in Corrections and Addictions

“ difficult/demanding clients”

“ clients who don’t get better”

“ unrealistic workloads”

“ lack of support from administration”

“ low salaries/benefits”

“ risk of danger to self”

“ public misconception”

“ frustration with the system”

“ sadness and seriousness”

Humor and Caregiver Stress Management

“ Gallows Humor” (Freud)

Police, Social Workers, Mental Health Professionals

Style of humor that pokes fun at

tragedy, suffering or death and dying.

According to Freud, this form of humor is

a self care technique to convert unpleasant or depressed feelings into positive ones so that the healthcare worker or

other human service professional can be sympathetic with his/her clients

and their families.

May not be appropriate for clients

to hear or see.

Often seen as disrespectful or uncaring.

Wooten

1. Helpful or Hurtful? 2. Spontaneous or Planned? 3. For Staff or For Clients?

“ Welcome to Dr. Bob’s Psychiatric Hotline.

If you are obsessive-compulsive, please press “1” repeatedly.

If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press “2.”

If you have a multiple personality disorder, please press

“ 3,” “4,” “5,” and “6.”

If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press.

If you are paranoid-delusional, we know who you are and what you want. Just stay on the line and we will trace the call.”

Counseling Center Humor (Marcella Stark, 1995)

1. Helpful or Hurtful? 2. Spontaneous or Planned? 3. For Staff or For Clients?

Did you know there’s a new 12-step therapy group for computer addicts?

You start by acknowledging Bill Gates as your higher power.

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Q. How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb?

A. Only one, but the light bulb has to really want to change.

Grin Therapy (The Counseling Connection, 1998)

Using Humor Effectively with Clients

1. Have planned humor (the “tools”) in repertoire.

2. Be willing to risk alienating some clients by being perceived as not taking problems seriously or even as incompetent by other clients. Know that there is the potential for harming the client with hurtful or sick humor or humor used inappropriately.

3. Assess the client for sense of humor and ability to accept humorous interventions by asking the client what he or she enjoys, look and listen for laughter and smiling and test or try some very basic humor first.

4. Be prepared to respond to positive or negative reactions to the humor, talk about the reactions, clarify and apologize as needed if the client is insulted or offended or if the humor was simply misunderstood, but then move on.

5. Be capable of taking “yourself lightly and your work seriously” (don’t get defensive, allow mistakes, your “performance” doesn’t have to be perfect, show that it is okay not to be hard on yourself).

6. Use humor which is genuine and congruent with who you are as a person and a professional (be sincere, honest and open).

7. Always ask yourself, “How will this humor help my client?”

8. Avoid gratifying your own need to be humorous and focus on how the humor can be helpful for the client.

Sultanoff

Humor and Health Research

laughter increases heart rate and blood flow (like exercise)

laughter increases activity of various muscle groups (facial, abdominal, respiratory and others) (like exercise)

laughter increases natural killer cells that fight against tumors

laughter increases antibodies and antitoxins (body cells that attack invading bacteria or viruses)

during the anticipation of laughter (when in the relaxed state), stress hormones that otherwise suppress the immune system, are decreased

Warning :

Laughter may cause breathing problems for people with asthma, bronchitis, chronic coughing or hiccups.

Resources and References

Humor Matters

The Land of Mirth and Funny

(714) 654-4500

http://www.humormatters.com

American Association for

Therapeutic Humor

(314) 863-6232

http://www.aath.org

Laughing Matters

The Humor Project

(518) 587-8770

http://www.humorproject.com

Laffirmations: 1,001 Ways to Add Humor to Your Life and Work

by Joel Goodman

Laughter Therapy: How to Laugh About Everything in Your Life That Isn’t Really Funny

by Annette Goodheart, Ph.D.

Making Sense of Humor

by Lila Green

Wellness Productions, Inc.

Practice Small Group Exercises

1. Write a joke or a silly story, draw a funny picture or cartoon, or come up with another planned tool to keep in your office or group room to be used for crisis management with an addicted offender population (you decide on appropriate age range).

2. Write a joke or a silly story, draw a funny picture or cartoon, or come up with another planned tool to use at a corrections and/or substance abuse team meeting or to hang up on the bulletin board in the staff lounge to help with stress management and prevent burnout.

Using Humor in Offender Counseling and Supervision Bibliography