Pepperdine University Pepperdine Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations 2013 On humor and healing: a qualitative analysis of expressions of humor in therapy with clients who have experienced trauma Rebecca Rutchick Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd Recommended Citation Rutchick, Rebecca, "On humor and healing: a qualitative analysis of expressions of humor in therapy with clients who have experienced trauma" (2013). Theses and Dissertations. 365. https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/365 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology ON HUMOR AND HEALING: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF EXPRESSIONS OF HUMOR IN THERAPY WITH CLIENTS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED TRAUMA A clinical dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Psychology by Rebecca Rutchick, Ed.M. July, 2013 Susan Hall, J.D., Ph.D. — Dissertation Chairperson This clinical dissertation, written by Rebecca Rutchick under the guidance of a Faculty Committee and approved by its members, has been submitted to and accepted by the Graduate Faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PSYCHOLOGY Doctoral Committee: Susan R. Hall, J.D., Ph.D., Chairperson Shelly P. Harrell, Ph.D. John Briere, Ph.D. © Copyright by Rebecca Rutchick (2013) All Rights Reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES . .ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . .x VITA . xi ABSTRACT. xvi Chapter I. Literature Review . 1 Positive Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Trauma . .2 Positive psychology . .2 Positive psychology and humor . .3 Positive psychology and psychotherapy . 4 Critiques of positive psychology . .6 Positive psychology and trauma . 8 Definition of trauma . .8 Trajectories of trauma . 15 Negative responses to trauma . 16 Resilience . .20 Posttraumatic growth . .26 Implications for psychotherapy . 30 Psychotherapy and resilience . .30 Psychotherapy and PTG . .32 Sociocultural considerations . 33 Summary . 37 Coping . 38 Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model . 39 Coping categories, styles, and strategies . 41 Coping categories. .41 Problem-focused versus emotion-focused styles and strategies . 42 Engagement versus disengagement styles and strategies . 44 Contextual approaches to coping . 46 Coping assessment . 50 Humor as a coping tool . .53 Humor and Coping with Trauma . .54 Definitions of humor . 55 The trait-state debate . 57 Types, dimensions, and functions of humor . 59 Psychoanalytic theories of humor . 59 Page Developmental theories of humor . 63 Multidimensional model of humor and its functional dimension . 64 Content of humor . .69 Humor appreciation . .70 Reactive versus productive humor . .71 Summary of types, dimensions, and functions of humor . 72 Benefits of humor . 72 Negative effects of humor . 75 Assessment of humor . .77 Initial methods for assessing humor . 78 Self-report measures . 79 Humorous behavior Q-sort deck . 84 Behavioral observations . 85 Humor and Coping with Stressors or Trauma . .88 Research on humor, stress, and coping . 90 Theories of humor, stress, and coping with trauma . .94 Cognitive-perceptual components of humor . .94 Superiority theory and aggressive humor . 98 Liberation and social enhancement theories of humor. .101 Arousal and physiological theories of humor and Laughter . .105 Broaden-and-build theory and mirth . .108 Summary of humor and coping with stressors or trauma . 113 Humor and Psychotherapy with Diverse Populations . .114 Humor and Psychotherapy . .115 Therapeutic humor . .115 Client humor . 119 Clinical considerations and caveats . .121 Training for Humor Use in Coping and in the Context of Psychotherapy . 125 Humor training programs . 125 Therapist training programs . .127 Humor and Psychotherapy with Individuals who have Experienced Trauma . .129 Summary of Findings on Humor Use in Therapy . 134 Purpose of Study and Research Questions . 134 Chapter II. Method . .136 Research Design . 136 Participants . 139 Client-participants . 139 Client-participant 1 . 141 v Page Client-participant 2 . 142 Client-participant 3 . 143 Client-participant 4 . 144 Client-participant 5 . 146 Researcher-participants . 147 Instrumentation . 150 Verbal expressions of humor . .151 Reactive Humor . .151 Productive Humor . 152 Benign Humor . .152 Aggressive Humor . .152 Self-deprecatory . .153 Dark Humor . .153 Expression of Humor Not Otherwise Specified . 154 Laughter/Behavioral Expression of Humor . .155 Laughter in the Context of Serious or Difficult Topics . .155 Laughter in the Context of Benign or Positive Topics . 155 Laughter Accompanied by a Coded Verbal Expression of Humor . 156 Laughter Not Accompanied by a Coded Verbal Expression of Humor . ..