Volume 36, Number 1, 41-49, DOI: 10.1007/s10615-007-0133-1

Laugh and the World Laughs with You: An Attachment Perspective on the Meaning of Laughter in Psychotherapy

Judith Kay Nelson

From the issue entitled "Special Issue: Attachment-Based Clinical Social Work with Adults: New Directions, New Populations; Guest Editors: C. Susanne Bennett and Judith Kay Nelson"

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Abstract

From infancy laughter is a right-brain-to-right-brain attachment behavior mutually aroused and regulated within the caregiver–infant partnership. Laughter continues to be attachment behavior throughout life with potential for enhancing attachment bonds or for defending against them. Laughter in psychotherapy has primarily been viewed as a discharge phenomena with typical interpretations focused on the humor that elicits the laughter rather than the meaning of the behavior itself. Viewing laughter as attachment behavior in psychotherapy provides the clinician with valuable insight about its meaning and management within the therapeutic relationship.

Keywords  Laughter - Attachment - Psychotherapy - Infants - Adults

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