The Healing Power of Humour in Psychotherapy

Humour might not be the first thing people imagine when they think about psychotherapy. Many expect therapy to be a serious space, focused on processing pain, exploring long-standing patterns, and navigating difficult life transitions. While this is true, it’s also true that laughter, lightness, and moments of shared humanity can be profoundly therapeutic. Used thoughtfully, humour can become a bridge, helping clients feel safer, more connected, and more able to explore their inner world.

In this blog, I’d like to explore how humour can support the therapeutic process, when it’s helpful, and why it needs to be used with sensitivity and intention.

Why Humour Can Be Therapeutic

1. It Builds Connection

Laughter can be a powerful social glue. A small moment of shared amusement helps clients feel at ease, reducing the sense of being “on the spot” or under scrutiny. It communicates warmth and humanity, showing that therapy doesn’t have to be intimidating to be effective.

2. It Helps Regulate the Nervous System

A well-timed, gentle piece of humour can interrupt cycles of stress or self-criticism. When a client is overwhelmed, a subtle moment of light-heartedness can create just enough space for the nervous system to settle, allowing difficult topics to be explored without feeling unbearable.

3. It Offers Perspective

Humour sometimes helps clients see their challenges in a new light. This isn’t about making light of suffering but rather, at times, loosening rigid thinking or offering a different angle on a situation.

4. It Models Self-Compassion

Clients who struggle with perfectionism or harsh self-judgement often feel relief when they witness a therapist bringing gentle humour to human imperfection. It can demonstrate that it’s possible to be kind to oneself while still engaging in meaningful work and growth.

Humour Must Always Be Client-Centred

Using humour well requires sensitivity, timing, and an attunement to each client’s unique needs. What feels playful and connecting to one person may feel invalidating or distancing to another.

Some guiding principles:

1. Humour should never dismiss or minimise pain.

It must be used to support the client’s process, not to bypass discomfort or to protect the therapist from emotional intensity.

2. Follow the client’s lead.

If a client introduces humour, they may be using it as a coping strategy, a communication tool, or a way to test the safety of the space. Meeting them gently in that place can strengthen the therapeutic alliance.

3. Consider cultural, neurodiversity, and personal factors.

Humour is influenced by culture, upbringing, and personality. It is never “one size fits all.”

4. Stay aware of power dynamics.

Because of the inherent power imbalance in therapy, humour should never be used in a way that could be misinterpreted as teasing, sarcasm, or judgement.

Humour as a Window Into Emotional Processes

Sometimes humour shows up defensively. A client might joke to avoid emotional vulnerability or shift attention away from pain. In those moments, humour can become a doorway into deeper exploration:

• “I notice that we both laughed just now. What did that moment feel like for you?”

• “Sometimes humour helps us cope, does that feel true here?”

Approached with curiosity, these moments can reveal patterns around intimacy, shame, or emotional expression.

Therapeutic Humour Doesn’t Mean Being a Comedian

Therapists don’t need to be witty or performative. Therapeutic humour is often subtle, an appreciative smile, a gentle comment, or shared recognition of life’s absurdities. It’s less about jokes and more about presence: the ability to hold seriousness and lightness at the same time.

In Closing

Therapy can be both a place of profound depth and a place of warmth and humanity. When used intentionally, humour helps clients feel seen, safe, and connected. It can reduce stress and anxiety. It reminds us that even in the midst of struggle, moments of levity can coexist with healing. In this way, humour becomes another tool, one that supports resilience, strengthens the therapeutic relationship, and honours the complexity of being human.