"All that i m after is a life full of laughter"
Our Services
We provide a range of services for individuals, businesses, hospitals, schools (staff and pupils), hospices, care homes and charitable support groups.
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Take a look at our clubs, events, home visit appointments, video link sessions, workplace workshops, and more.
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Book our services today - A day without laughter is a day wasted.
"Laughter is good medicine"
Laughter Events
"I attended a half-day stress management corporate training event last week.
This was a fraction of the price and I learnt far more - AND IT WAS FUN!"
Laugh Therapy Events are taking place throughout the Midlands over the coming months. Look out for half day events in:
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Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, Warwickshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Oxfordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire.
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Click the link to find a event near you. If your county isn't listed, bookmark our website and revisit us, we arrange new events regularly.
"The laughter event was great. I learnt so much.
I never knew that laughter could be so beneficial. Funny and really informative."
Do you suffer from one of the many ailments which laughter can have a beneficial effect on?
Learn about the numerous health benefits that mirthful laughter can have on mind and body.
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Discover methods for bringing more laughter and happiness into your life.
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Uncover strategies for introducing more laughter into your workplace and social environment.
Attend one of our seminar events throughout the Midlands and discover the theory and practice of Laugh Therapy.
1 to 1 Online Video Call
Appointments
Personal Laugh Therapy programmes can also be booked and delivered via live video conferencing in 30 minute or 60 minute sessions.
After an initial consultation with our qualified Laugh Therapist, a programme of live, one to one online therapy sessions will be prepared to fit your own individual needs.
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It's the most convenient method available. Delivered direct to you through your PC, laptop, tablet or phone.**
Appointments can be booked at a time to suit you. You don't even have to answer the door.
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Click the link to book an initial online consultation appointment and get your first session free.
**Contact us for guidance if you are unsure whether you have the correct equipment
Personal Laugh Therapy Sessions
Personal Laugh Therapy Sessions are appointment based home visits tailored to your needs in an environment that is comfortable for you.
After an initial consultation, a bespoke programme of 60 min, 90 min or 2 hour long one to one Laugh Therapy sessions will be created to suit your needs. This service is ideal for those who are unable to attend our group sessions or are more comfortable participating from their home environment. If you'd prefer that your session was not at your home, please contact us and we can organise a therapy space close to you that suits your requirements.*
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Click the link below to find out more about individual session prices.
Alternatively, visit our Multi-Session Packages booking page and get your initial consultation FREE when booking a series of appointments.
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*The use of therapy space (or home visits outside of our catchment) will incur an additional hire charge. This can often be overcome by booking a multi-session package, where the discount can often absorb the additional costs.
Note: Laugh Therapy always works better when practiced with others - after all, laughter is contagious. Contact us for a quote if you would like to share your session with a friend or family member for a discounted combined price.
Laughter For Learning
For learners, Laugh Therapy can help reduce anxiety related to the classroom or exams and develop resilience and calmness under pressure by creating emotional distance. Laughter For Learning workshops can improve teamwork, build trust and strengthen relationships with others. Aside from being an emotional release, laughter can improve physical health, energy and alertness and foster wellbeing and mindfulness.
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There is now evidence to show that laughter can enhance mental function, improve memory, comprehension, attention, retention and performance in tests and exams.
It can enhance creative, divergent thinking and problem solving skills.
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Booking a Laughter For Learning workshop for your students can help create a more positive attitude to learning by tackling disaffection, increase engagement with school and learning, reduce stress and develop strategies for dealing with tension and conflict. Using humour and laughter as a preventative function for addressing mental health issues, providing strategies to inhibiting stress and anxiety at an early stage.
Laughter For Learning workshops are designed to support mental health provisions in schools, colleges and universities.
Workshops can be booked for whole classes or specifically identified groups of students - e.g., disaffected, exam groups, vulnerable, SEN, high absence, those identified with high stress and anxiety, etc.
For a cost effective impact on pupil's grades and wellbeing, click the link and book our engaging Laughter for Learning workshop for your students today.
**Reduced prices are available for educational institutes compared with our private sector workshops. **
Laughter For Teaching
Evidence from a wide variety of studies show that the effective use of humour in the classroom can:
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Engage students and stimulate interest
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Create 'educational immediacy' to enhance student/teacher relationships
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Increase comprehension, retention and performance
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Be a successful tool for dealing with tense or unpleasant situations or (when used appropriately) sensitive content
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Improve the perception of the classroom environment, impacting on disaffection and poor attendance
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Reduce students' stress, tension and anxiety, particularly when preparing for exams.
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Make learning fun
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"Studies have demonstrated that instructional humour facilitates learning and retention.
(e.g. Davies and Apter, 1980; Kaplan & Pascoe, 1977; Kelley & Gotham, 1988; Wanzer & Frymier, 1999; Ziv, 1988; et al).
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In Davies & Apter's study those in the 'humorous' trial group performed significantly better at retaining information both immediately after and retained more information in a 1 month follow-up test.
Ziv conducted a far more extensive study of students (and teacher trainees on a psychology course) over the duration of a whole semester. Those in the 'humour' group performed significantly better in both trials. They attained significantly higher course grades and (for both students and teacher trainees) 10% better in their final exam than those in the 'non-humour' group, suggesting that the impact of humour on learning and retention is no different in children and adults."
R. Martin & T. E. Ford 'The Psychology of Humor'
(London Academic Press 2018)
INSET workshops are available for educational establishments looking to introduce more laughter into the classroom environment without compromising on behaviour or attainment.
This workshop will explore the effective forms of humour which complement and enhance learning which, evidence shows, can have a dramatic impact on grades. It will also explore the (surprisingly common) forms of humour used in the classroom which unknowingly have a negative impact on learning and performance.
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This particular session is a CPD workshop for staff rather than students and is perfect for departmental workshops, INSET days, or to support initial teacher training and induction year NQT's.
**If preferred, this CPD workshop can also be booked in combination with either our 'Laughter For Teaching' or 'Laughter For Learners' INSET workshop - contact us with your requirements and we will provide you with a bespoke package and quote..
Laughter For Teachers
42,073 full-time equivalent qualified teachers left the state-funded sector in the 12 months to November 2018, a ‘wastage rate’ of 9.8%. This is the lowest rate since 2013."
Teacher recruitment and retention in England by David Foster - 16th December 2019:
researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk › documents › CBP-7222
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According to government figures - there is now a shortfall of 30,000 classroom teachers, particularly at secondary level, where 20% of teacher training vacancies are unfilled."
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"The latest findings from a survey by Leeds Beckett University show that of 775 teachers surveyed, 54 per cent reported poor mental health, with 52 per cent of this number saying their illness had been identified by a GP."
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"Eight in 10 respondents (81 per cent) said poor mental health had a negative impact on the quality of their relationships with their pupils. The same percentage said it affected their behaviour management skills, with teachers citing “lower levels of tolerance” and being “quick to anger.”
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"Most worryingly, the Office for National Statistics reported that the risk of suicide for primary and nursery schoolteachers in England between 2011 and 2015 was 42% higher than the national average."
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As a former AST / Lead Practitioner, Head of Department and Teacher Training Lecturer with 13 years of classroom experience, I am aware of the pressures faced by teachers and school leadership. I have designed an INSET workshop which focuses on staff mental / physical health and social / emotional wellbeing. I provide activities, exercises and strategies for building resilience, developing psychological distance from the stressor, calmness under pressure and raising morale. Laughter has far-reaching benefits to our health and is something we find difficult when faced with stress and pressure. Laughter can...
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lift morale and bolster team spirit
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release tension (reducing stress hormones - cortisol and adrenaline)
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boost energy levels through improved levels of blood oxygen
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increase concentration and alertness through the release of gamma waves
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stimulate creativity, divergent thinking and improved problem solving skills
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create a positive mindset - attacking negativity
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result in better teamwork - uniting staff, breaking down barriers, enhancing co-operation, communication and creating interactions between departments that wouldn't previously have existed.
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tackle job dissatisfaction and help recruit and retain outstanding employees
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release endorphins, dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin.
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reduce stress, burnout, anxiety and depression
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make work more enjoyable
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increase productivity and performance - creating an environment where staff take even more pride in their work and are more prepared to go the extra mile for the school and their colleagues
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relax the body and improve sleep - decreasing muscle tension, aches and pains
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strengthen relationships, signal social interest and foster emotional connections with others
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build trust and understanding with others
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resolves disagreements, defuses conflicts and heal resentments
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Provide a positive emotional release (in a challenging profession where emotions and personal feelings often have to be held in)
It can also make it easier for snuggling staff to feel more comfortable approaching colleagues to disclose issues, before things become unmanageable.
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"I don't think I'd ever seen the leadership team laugh before today.
Such a leveller and brilliant for morale. I really hope they run this again next year."
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With school funds, staff stress, workload, recruitment, retention and morale at crisis point and staff absence at an all time high, booking our Teachers INSET Workshop is a low-cost intervention for tackling the many issues listed above and will pay for itself (many times over) in reduced staff absences.
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Click the link and book a Laughter For Teachers INSET workshop today - it's just the lift you and your hard working team needs.
Laughter Care
Laughter distances people from the problems they're facing. It can provide a way to master the situation they find themselves in and provide some sense of control. Laughter builds perspective and resilience whilst reducing anxiety and stress, helping whether it is in a battle with illness, as emotional respite for carers, or those coping with grief or separation.
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Aside from the emotional benefits, laughter has dramatic effects on mind and body which can also help when battling ill health, be it mental or physical.
Did you know... Blood vessels can widen by 50% when laughing and studies show that it oxygenates the body by increasing blood flow to the brain by 22%?
This is in stark contrast to stress, which decreases blood flow by 35% and causes a raft of serious illnesses, weakening the immune system.
There is already evidence of laughter’s effects on pain. Laughter releases serotonin and endorphins in the brain which improve mood but are also 10 times more effective at eliminating pain than morphine. By raising pain tolerance, studies showed that people who laugh often required significantly less pain medication during their recovery after surgery.
Among many other benefits, laughter stimulates the brain, strengthens the immune system and releases natural, infection fighting 'killer cells'. Laughter also raises disease-fighting immunoglobulins by 14% and releases neuropeptides which lower blood pressure.
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As well as being a tonic for the soul, Laughter Care Workshops can be a fantastic complementary therapy for patients and those in care, providing benefits in their battle with illness and recovery.
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**Laughter Care Workshops are for hospitals, hospices, care homes and registered charitable support groups and are available at reduced rates compared with workplace workshops.**
Laughter is important for those in care - it can help them to feel human when those around them are scared to have fun in their presence for fear of being in some way insensitive. Laughter can help to normalise their condition, put others at ease, allowing them the permission to laugh, making the sufferer feel less uncomfortable and isolated.
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"A study in hospice settings showed that humor was more often initiated by the patient than by the nurse. Humor helped patients explore new coping skills, ways of looking at their situation, and gaining some element of control."
Schwartz, Enid A., RN, MA, MC. Infusing Humor into Healthcare.
p 78-79. CE Express.
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We offer workshops for long-stay patients, children's wards, hospices, charities for those coping with serious illness or support groups for those in recovery. We also offer workshops and training for health and social care staff.
Laughter Care workshops can add joy, relief, optimism, resilience and positivity which can be particularly helpful through difficult experiences and loss. Even if it can't change the stressful situation, laughter, as an emotional release, can be one of the strongest weapons for coping.
Click the link to find out more and book your Laughter Care workshop today.
"12.8 million working days lost (in the UK) due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2018/19"
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"602,000 workers suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (new or long-standing) in 2016/17"
*https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress
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Even for those not absent, extensive psychological and educational research has consistently shown that stress and anxiety hurts performance, as it interferes with the cognitive processes in working memory that are required to complete cognitive-intellectual tasks. Studies into the clinical psychology of humour and mental health showed that laughter facilitates coping with stressful events by significantly reducing state anxiety and negative effect.
Since participating in laughter reduces anxiety, and lower anxiety has shown to improve performance; so it should follow that humour and/or laughter stimuli improves performance.
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Click the link below and book your Workplace Laughter Workshop today.
Workplace Laughter Workshops
Some of the world's most successful companies are fuelled by the ethos that 'work should be fun'. When we enjoy what we do it feels more like play. We care about it and want to do it more. By taking the work seriously but taking themselves lightly, laughter can encourage employees to show pride in their work and inspire a commitment to quality. Research shows that, through laughter's ability to bond groups, people will go the extra mile for the team in order to get the job done well.
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Laughter creates interactions and co-operation between staff that you wouldn't previously have had. It tackles job dissatisfaction and increases positivity and performance.
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Workplace Laughter Workshops are great for team building and team identity. Laughter bolsters team spirit, energises workers and is a great leveller, as it helps to bridge the perceived gap between management and workforce.
Laughter is excellent for managing conflict and healing resentment, building positive working relationships. It also helps to reduces number of staff absence by fostering resilience resulting in less work-related burn-out, stress, anxiety, depression, etc.
Booking our Workplace Laughter Workshop will provide you with a variety of activities for managing work related stress, strategies for building resilience and exercises to improve physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. Our workshops are great for those who are not necessarily comfortable with silliness as it is group based, inclusive and non-threatening.
Laughter Clubs
Laughter Clubs are great for:
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Reducing anxiety, tension and stress
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Boosting physical health - strengthening immunity, regulating blood sugar and blood pressure
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Emotional wellbeing and positive mindfulness (attacks negative thinking)
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Resilience - providing psychological distance from problems allowing you to laugh in the face of your stress
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Pain relief, relaxation, reduced muscle tension and better quality sleep
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A medication free release of endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and gamma waves and a reduction in cortisol, adrenaline and negative growth hormones**
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Improving social confidence and meeting new people
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Building relationships and emotional connections with others
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Providing a positive emotional release in an inclusive and supportive environment
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Adding a little joy, happiness and positivity during difficult situations, experiences, disappointment and loss - even if it can't change the situation.
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**Laughter Clubs are not intended to be a replacement for prescribed medication. Medical advice should be sought (and followed) before participating.
Get your weekly fix of laughter at one of our local midweek Laughter Yoga inspired Laughter Clubs.
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Based at a community space in residential areas, Laughter Clubs are a regular, low-cost meet-up for those hankering for laughter to get them over the mid-week hump.
The friendly and informal sessions combine laughter therapy and laughter yoga exercises, mindfulness, verbal humour, discussions, games, practical activities and much more, designed to give your chuckle muscles a weekly workout.
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They are the ideal way to unwind after a stressful day at work, as respite in the middle of a challenging week, and the perfect way to meet others and share in some regular, friendly, inclusive, giggling.
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Click the link to find the session closest to you and book your place online now.
