Facilitation Technique Category: Therapeutic use of Humor

Activity Title: Laugh at yourself

Source: Dattilo, J. (2000). Facilitation techniques in therapeutic recreation (3rd ed.). State
College, PA: Venture
Equipment: Pen and paper
Activity Description: Humor helps people cope with stress and reduce depression. It is seen that
sense of humor is related to quality of life. This activity can initiate self confidence and increased
self esteem. There can be anywhere from 3-15 people. To start off the participants will use the
pen and paper and write down one physical feature and one characteristic of their personality that
they do not like. After that, they will write a sentence making fun of their characteristics that they
wrote down. The response should be light hearted and witty and not mean in any way (Datillo
2000).
Leadership Consideration: The CTRS would function as a facilitator. They would go through
the instructions before the activity begins and provide the necessary material. The facilitator is
also responsible for noticing any maladaptive humor, that would not serve the purpose of the
activity and addressing it to the participant.
Adaptations for a person who has Parkinsons Disease: Parkinsons disease is a degenerative
neurological disorder (Porter 2015). With Parkinsons, tremors are one very common in upper
and lower extremities. If the participant is unable to write do tremors in their hands, then the
facilitator could assist in writing for them. Another adaptation, would be instead of full
sentences, they could write down short phrase/words on a white board, to describe each feature.
Slow mental processing is also a symptom of Parkinsons disease, so the facilitator should play
close attention to the participants to ensure that the activity is being carried out correctly to

achieve the goal of Humor! Depression is also a primary symptom, so if the participant starts
expressing mean humor towards themselves, refocusing the group might help by explaining the
purpose and goals we want to achieve doing this activity.
Adaptations for a person with Limb Loss- For a person with an above elbow amputation,
might need a prosthetic to write, if that the arm is there dominant hand. The prosthetic that would
adapt well to this activity would be the lateral grip or the precision grip (Porter 2015). If the
amputation has just occurred, the facilitator should be checking the site, to make sure that
nothing is bothering the participant. Some people with limb loss, might have an impaired sense
of self (Porter 2015). With that being said another modification could be to limit the group size,
so that the participants are more comfortable with sharing. This is an activity were they are
poking light fun at the things about themselves. A large group might make them self-conscious
and not want to participate in the activity.
Adaptions References:
Dattilo, J. (2000). Facilitation techniques in therapeutic recreation (3rd ed.). State College, PA:
Venture
Porter, H. R. (2015). Recreational therapy for specific diagnoses and conditions. Enumclaw,
WA:
Idyll Arbor.