Counselling myth #6 – counselling is joyless; laughter is not allowed

Not in my therapy room! Naturally, there’s a right time for genuine laughter and times when it might actually be covering up another, less comfortable feeling  which it’s important to acknowledge and explore (as with the phrase, “If you don’t laugh, you cry”). The best we can do together in therapy is to be deeply honest about how we feel and sometimes that means acknowledging joy and having a laugh.  For me, it’s important to celebrate when, for example, someone I work with has a breakthrough, does something different and notices a change for the better – why wouldn’t you celebrate that?  It’s amazing and I feel the joy of it.  Laughter has other uses, as well, like releasing the tension after a particularly hard working session and that’s fine, too as long as we both know what’s going on.  If it’s part of your life, it’s welcome in the counselling room and, if you want to, laugh!