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· Children laugh 400 times a day, adults laugh 15 times a day – learn how to regain your laughs at the AATH Annual Convention March 1-2, 2003
(Chicago, February 11, 2003)…It turns out that laughter's ability to make us feel better, truly better in body and mind, is no joke. The Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH) aims to highlight this fact at its annual convention in Chicago at the Hotel Monaco from March 1 to March 2, 2003. The convention is co-sponsored by Gilda’s Club Chicago, the non-profit meeting place for people living with cancer, which was founded in honor of comedienne Gilda Radner.
The AATH (www.aath.org), which started in Chicago over 20 years ago, has approximately 500 members nationwide including 30 members in the Chicago area. The majority are medical professionals and health-care providers who aim to educate clinical, educational and business professionals to use appropriate humor, laughter and play in their work. Therapeutic humor consultations offer the opportunity to guide people through a few easy steps to regain the ability to laugh as well as providing them with proof of just how much good laughter can bring to one’s sense of well-being.
The AATH convention will present the latest techniques and research findings in therapeutic humor practice, as well as a symposium, co-hosted by Gilda’s Club Chicago and open to the public on the importance of humor in medical treatment. In addition there will be Improv Training led by The Second City and two pre-conference programs: “Applied Humor in Healthcare: Perspectives from the Physician, Nurse, Social Worker and Caring Clown” and “Applying Humor in the Classroom”.
Dr. Ed Dunkelblau, a Chicago-based clinical psychologist and past president of the AATH, said, “Laughter is the best possible complementary medicine for those undergoing medical treatment. It’s also an underestimated psychological tool in the classroom or business environment. The AATH intends to raise awareness of therapeutic humor at our conference as well as to demonstrate its practical effects on reducing stress and raising morale. It’s easy to say that everyone knows how to laugh – so why do we need therapeutic humor? The answer is - adults just don’t laugh enough. It’s estimated that while children laugh up to 400 times a day, the average adult only laughs 15 times – that’s 385 laughs that are missing.”
LauraJane Hyde, Executive Director of Gilda’s Club Chicago, said “We believe that this conference will help raise awareness of our program for people living with cancer. We offer a free program that demonstrates that there is life beyond a cancer diagnosis. Humor plays a large part in our program and we are delighted to be working with the AATH to raise awareness of therapeutic humor and the benefits it offers all of us at any stage of wellness.”
Therapeutic humor practitioners acknowledge that there is little hard and fast research to demonstrate conclusively that we should all receive humor prescriptions from the pharmacy. However, preliminary findings in "psychoneuroimmunology mirthful laughter research," spearheaded by Dr. Lee Berk and Dr. Stanley Tan of the Medical Center of Loma Linda University in California, have shown that laughter, even as little as five minutes a day, can increase immune function and pain tolerance. It can also significantly help patients cope with discomfort and recover more quickly from the rigors of treatment.
To attend the conference, contact the AATH at (602) 995-1454 or visit their website: www.aath.org
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For further information: Dr Ed Dunkelblau, AATH (847) 803-6166
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