The role of humour in therapy for aphasia

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Background & Aims: A diverse literature exists touting the positive effects of humour on mental and physical health. While speech-language pathologists frequently use humour in therapeutic interactions, the role of humour in therapy for individuals with communication disorders is not clear. Therefore, this study was undertaken to describe humour in therapy for aphasia and to analyse the functions of humour in therapy. Such information will contribute to developing effective and efficient therapy and to training student clinicians. Methods & Procedures: Qualitative methods employed by ethnographers of communication were used to study humour in aphasia therapy. Descriptive data were drawn from videotapes of eight individual aphasia therapy sessions and from interviews with therapy participants. Instances of humour on videotapes were identified, and patterns of humour occurrence were analysed using methodology adapted from Hymes (1966) and Spradley (1980). Findings of the analysis were verified via ethnographic interviews with therapists and re-cycling through videotapes to confirm or refute findings. The result was a detailed description of the modalities, content, occurrence pattern, and functions of humour within the analysed sessions. Outcomes & Results: Humour was used in the sessions in order to manage the interpersonal interaction between therapist and client and to lubricate the therapy process. Overall, humour was a “helpful” tool that served to build solidarity, to mitigate embarrassment, and to solicit cooperation with tasks. However, there was an asymmetry to humour occurrence, with therapists doing most of the “joking”. Conclusions: The results suggest that humour is not a frivolous endeavour, but a tool to aid in managing therapy interactions; thus, natural humour within sessions is not only acceptable, but also important. In addition, the possibility of encouraging greater “humour equality” between therapists and clients should be considered. For example, clinicians might consider encouraging clients to feel comfortable initiating humour in sessions as a method of expanding social communication and building communicative confidence.