LaughBox

Roberta Gold

Humor DOES Rock!  This week I got to talk with longtime AATH member and humor advocate, Roberta Gold, RTC.    Roberta Gold is a Recreation Therapist and a Humor Therapist who founded Laughter for the Health of it in 1985 with one mission: To empower everyone to have a more positive outlook by seeing the humor instead of the horror in our world.   In this episode, she shares her new book and new venture, "Laughter Rocks!”, aimed at bringing positivity into the educational environment in order to help parents, teachers, and students live life more positively and with more humor.

Roberta  is a Recreation Therapist by trade and a Humor Therapist by choice. Her proprietary program, Laughter for the Health of it has helped countless businesses, healthcare facilities, medical organizations, schools, non-profit organizations, networking groups, elder/senior care facilities, churches, temples and many others to realize that laughter truly can be the best medicine for whatever ails you, your colleagues, your associates, your family, your staff and your friends.   

This week on Laughbox we talk to Dr. Ed Dunelblau, Past President of AATH and Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Ed shares very candidly about strategies he used to cope recently with his own bout with cancer. Listen in. You’ll laugh and learn some things to make a positive impact for yourself and others.

More on Ed...

Dr. Dunkelblau is a licensed clinical psychologist and nationally known speaker on the topics of social-emotional intelligence, humor, and health. Dr. Dunkelblau has two master's degrees from Columbia University: one in psychology and the other in vocational and rehabilitation counseling, and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Kansas, where he was recently recognized as a distinguished alum.

Even more on Ed...

He has been in clinical practice for 25 years, is past president of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH), is approved supervisor for the Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and director of the Institute for Emotionally Intelligent Learning. Ed was recently selected as a primary speaker by the US Department of Defense's Yellow Ribbon Program. This honor is conferred on a select group of speakers whose talents assist members of our armed forces and their families in dealing with the challenges of military service.

Want more on Ed? http://www.teacheq.com/welcome.html

In today's episode, I have a wonderful conversation with Women’s Health Advocate, Breast Cancer Survivor and author, Eileen Kaplan.

What’s a neurohumorist? You’ll find out in this episode of Laughbox as we talk to Karyn Buxman about what happens in our brain when we encounter humor and when we laugh.

Karyn is in the National Speakers Association’s Speaker Hall of Fame and is a Diplomat at the American Institute of Stress.  She is a proud recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. She serves on the advisory boards of the Invisible Disabilities Association and the American Happiness Association. She’s the co-founder of World Laughter Tour. That’s why Karyn Buxman is the best person to teach your team how they can lead with laughter!

More on Karyn can be found at www.karynbuxman.com.

In Episode 1, of Laughbox, we get to talk with Julie Ostrow on incorporating humor into everyday life as well as how all of life is Improv!

As the Humor, Laughter, and Improv Coach, American Laughing Champion and Second City-trained Julie Ostrow teaches organizations and corporate teams to use improv skills to improve Creativity, Communication, Team Building, Problem Solving, and Productivity with their clients and within their organizations. She teaches the benefits of using humor, laughter, and improv in all aspects of our lives, including in the workplace.

More on Julie can be found at www.julieostrow.com

In this pilot episode of LaughBox, I introduce the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH). AATH is a nonprofit, member-driven community of laughter and humor professionals and enthusiasts.

The organization was formed in 1987 by Allison Crain, R.N., and provides members with education, cutting edge resources and the supportive community they need to excel in the promotion of healthy humor.

I found my people when I came to my first conference over a decade ago. They get the joke and appreciate the humor. And it’s an eclectic group that includes doctors, lawyers, educators, anybody that has an appreciation and a use for humor in their life.

Humor can help us communicate better. It helps us cope. It helps us deal with anything that comes up if we can find the humor in the situation.

In future episodes of LaughBox, I’ll be talking with laughter and humor professionals that can help you make the rapid mental adjustment you need to just get over the hump sometimes and get down to business. When we need just that one thing to make us laugh or smile, even when the clouds are gray and it’s hard to find that silver lining, for me, humor is the one thing that has always helped me do it

Find more information at AATH.org.