[MRT6211]

I was on a thread elsewhere and it talked about things people said that made their T laugh, and so I thought I’d bring it here! Have you ever said anything that made your T burst out laughing?

I have several...but one I remember well was when I was in group with exT and we were filling out this worksheet about cognitive distortions or something, and checking off the ones we do. I had checked off nearly all of them, and my friend next to me turned to me and was like “wow! You’ve almost got them all!” I replied in my typical smart@$$ way “well, I’ve always been a perfectionist!” exT was right next to me and she just lost it with laughing. I mean, I thought it was funny, but I didn’t think it was THAT funny lol. We had a very playful relationship and frequently had each other laughing.

[ScarletPimpernel]

I don't remember anything specific, but T and I laugh all the time. She can get me to laugh even if I'm crying. Humor is important to me in a relationship. I was terrified of ex-Pdoc untill one day I cracked a joke about depression and she laughed! She apologized, but I told her everything was okay. That I laughed too. From that point on I knew I could trust her and we always laughed.

[LabRat27]

The other day I was telling him about a huge fight with my brother that's the reason I'm no longer welcome at my mom's house. My brother explodes at the littlest things and I was always blamed for his verbal and physical abuse because I "antagonized him."
I was saying how I was visiting for Christmas a few years ago and my twin brother had left a grill on and forgotten about it and was about to go to bed. I was frustrated that he totally blew me off when I pointed it out. He said "this was the only time I've done that" and I said "great, the house will only burn down once then."
T accidentally burst out laughing at that even though it was in the middle of a really serious topic. He got a lot more serious when I told the second half of that story...
In a way him laughing was kind of a relief though. I know I was being a smart*** but at the time everyone acted like that had warranted my brother's explosion. It meant my T didn't think what I'd said was too serious or awful.

I can't specifically remember any of the other times right now because it's been a while. Our sessions have been pretty serious lately, so there hasn't been much teasing or joking.

It helped establish some rapport early on because it showed his more human side. I don't remember exactly what I said, but the first time he laughed he was laughing so hard that he apologized for not being able to stop laughing and he tried to get serious again and then started laughing again.
It might have been the same session when I said I was worried that no one would care once I didn't need help anymore and he said "don't worry, I think you'll need help for a long time" which added some levity and made me laugh.

Edit (SH TW)

Possible trigger:

There was a point when I was ending up in the ER on a semi weekly basis and pretty much knew all the docs and most of the nurses. It was worst in the month after he terminated before I started the DBT IOP and started seeing him again.
So fast forward to a couple months ago when it had been several months since I'd ended up in the ER and wasn't SHing to nearly the same extent.
I got my motorcycle license and had just bought my first bike. T had previously expressed concern about how dangerous they are.
We were discussing the fact that I hadn't ended up in the ER in a while and I gestured towards my helmet and said "yeah, that's why I got a motorcycle, I figured they'd miss me in the ER"
He laughed and told me I had "a twisted sense of humor"

Laughter is a big part of my therapy.

[Echos Myron redux]

We joke around a fair amount here-and-there but not to the point we rofl really. I don't remember laughing hysterically with him ever. I don't mind though, I guess its not something I need from him.

She laughs AT me fairly frequently. We don't share a sense of humour, yet another example of one of her character flaws.

[stopdog]

Both of the women said they found me funny and they would laugh more at my syntax than content. I did not play with them or laugh with them. They did not get to have that part of me. It is not why I hired them.

[Anne2.0]

I don't think that T tries to be funny, but sometimes I laugh at the way he expresses himself-- not a mocking, but because he says things straight but with a kind of unique flair. He's a well read person and pretty good at articulating ideas and where they lead him. But he seems to get when I am leading with humor and will laugh along. Every once in awhile, bursts of laughter on both our parts (I'm one of those people who laughs along with myself). I benefit from feeling that humor can be a part of the storyline and making fun of myself in a kind way helps me dig into something while keeping the emotion at a manageable level.

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

I think we laugh pretty often, though not constantly. I have a weird quirk that makes me laugh when I'm nervous and he often joins me.

I remember one time early on, I told him about having cleaned my place last week and how that was exhausting. He answered that cleaning could also give you a good feeling. I answered 'yeah, I have lots of issues but that's not one of them'. He found that funny.

Another time when talking about the state of our world, he said 'the world seems to not be as nice of a place as people think'. And I answered 'as YOU think, I'm fully aware it's crap'.

I also often use his way of wording to talk to him. For example he often says how people have different opinions and how that's okay and normal. So one time he told me something about opinions and I said 'there's lots of different opinions on everything' like he tells me sometimes. He usually finds things like that pretty funny.

[nottrustin]

When I started working with Emdr T she occasionally made a joke but I took them personally and as a slam. She could tell I didnt get her humor and would apologize. She told me she often uses humor but if it is ever an issue or I dont find something funny to tell her to cut it out. Over the last few months I have come to appreciate her humor. At our last appointment we were discussing things like how much I hate doing laundry. I wash and dry but rarely fold and put away. We started joking about household chores and really started laughing. Also we discussed our children and some of their antics that drives us crazy. We started making jokes about my oldest son and laughing. She made a comment about not evening knowing the poor kid and here she was maki g jokes and laughing about him. I explained with my family we laugh at and tease each other lovingly but never in anger so what we were doing fit with my family's way of doing things. She said that was how things worked in her family as well.

T and I joked occasionally but only after working together for a few years.

[velcro003]

my T tries to make me laugh, but iÂ’m usually not in the mood.

[piggy momma]

We laugh quite a bit from week to week. One of us always makes a smart *** comment that makes the other laugh.

Last year around this time I was telling him I wanted to have a breast reduction surgery. He asked me to wait two years and if I still wanted it he would give his blessing.

I sent him a text last week and reminded him of this conversation, and the fact that we're half way to the two year mark.

He wrote me back and said "Great. You can get one breast done." I laughed so hard. And I'm pretty sure he thought he was a funny guy writing it.

[SlumberKitty]

My former t would laugh on the occasions when I would tell a joke, usually as an opener or towards the end of therapy. I like puns and stuff like that and so they weren't ROFL kind of laughs, but they were chuckles. Most of the time I was pretty serious so I think my T liked it when I brought some humor in. She never told me jokes back though. Kit

[stopdog]

The woman thought she was funny.
She was not.

[Waterloo12345]

We've shared a few wry chuckles but I'm not much one for lol humour and she either takes her cue from me (I reckon) or is similar.

I also think it's a function of my intense reserve with her due to the time it takes me to thaw. Who knows in a year we might both be rofling

[LonesomeTonight]

Both T and I do a fair amount of laughing in sessions. Humor is one of my defense mechanisms, and I can make jokes about some seemingly inappropriate subjects. T seems to have a dark (and dry) sense of humor and will laugh at them and make jokes of his own.

This isn't an example of a particularly dark one, but a recent one. We were on a topic of me being concerned that things I say or do would bother him. And one thing I said was, "Use too many of your tissues" which made him laugh. Also in that session, I was mentioning going out to eat a lot, and he said our dining bills must be really high. I said yeah, that and beer, which is another reason to cut back on that. Then I added, "But I did manage to give up my Starbucks habit!" Which made him crack up.

Maybe more examples later. I should add that he didn't start joking around too much until I'd been seeing him for a bit and he learned how I reacted to things. And if I'm in a really bad place, he generally doesn't make some inappropriate joke (with one or two exceptions that I've called him on). But I find that joking around together a bit can help build the relationship and also make difficult topics a bit easier to talk about.

We joked a lot with ex-MC, too, though his sense of humor is more goofy and using puns and stuff--I guess sort of "dad humor."

We make each other laugh a lot. It is a good break from the intensity of therapy.