Humor and play can make therapy more engaging and accessible. Therapists can add interactive elements, playful prompts and even humorous responses, which may help clients feel at ease with difficult topics, lower anxiety and build positive coping. Humor has to be used with care and ethics, so that it fits the client’s needs and never minimizes their experience. This course looks at humor and play as tools for lasting change, and participants learn how to bring humor and playful interventions into sessions to build rapport, reduce anxiety and open the way to emotional breakthroughs.
Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to
- Recognize the benefits of humor and play in therapy.
- Explain how humor and play can be used to reduce client resistance.
- Demonstrate the use of playful interventions to build rapport with clients.
- Evaluate the impact of humor and play on client outcomes.
Syllabus:
Objective 1: Recognize the Clinical Benefits of Humor and Play
- Identify how humor and play strengthen therapeutic connection and trust.
- Describe the physiological and emotional benefits of laughter, including stress reduction and improved regulation.
- Discuss the role of humor in co-regulation, resilience, and client well-being.
Objective 2: Explore How Humor Reduces Resistance and Builds Rapport
- Examine how playfulness can lower defenses and restore perspective.
- Analyze client resistance through the lens of humor-based interventions.
- Demonstrate how lightness in sessions can create psychological safety and support deeper therapeutic work.
Objective 3: Apply Playful Interventions in Clinical Practice
- Practice introducing experiential and play-based techniques with adults and children.
- Integrate humor and mindfulness to enhance presence and connection.
- Develop personalized strategies to incorporate humor into supervision, individual, and group sessions.
Objective 4: Evaluate and Reflect on Outcomes of Humor and Play
- Review evidence-based research on the effects of humor and play in therapy.
- Assess how laughter and play influence treatment outcomes and clinician well-being.
- Create a personal plan to integrate playfulness into your professional practice while maintaining ethical boundaries.
Social workers completing this course receive 2 Clinical asynchronous continuing education credits.
For other board approvals, this course qualifies for 2 Clinical continuing education training.
Instructor: Kristin Whiting-Davis, LCSW-C
Recording Date: July 2, 2025
CEUS On-Demand, LLC, provider #2274, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 08/7/2026 - 08/6/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 2hrs Clinical continuing education credits.
CEUs On-Demand, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7091. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CEUs On-Demand, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
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Request for Special Accommodations: Learners can request special accommodations by contacting the administrative team at admin@ceus-ondemand.com