About Laugh Therapy
Laugh Therapy is an organisation committed to researching and providing resources, services, classes, personal support, educational events and workplace workshops promoting the therapeutic health benefits of humour, laughter and play. Our lived experiences with laughter as a tool for improved health, wellbeing, learning and success is what has driven us to set up Laugh Therapy and promote its benefit to as many people as possible. We know it works and, when you have participated in our programme, you will realise its benefits too.
We design bespoke therapy sessions tailored to the client's condition and needs. We offer a full programme of support (whether it's for individuals or teams) from the initial introductory consultation and assessment, right through to the agreed conclusion. We aim to research and discover all conditions where laughter, humour and play has shown scientifically measured therapeutic benefit, and develop a range of services and resources to translate this. We work with businesses, health and social care, support groups, and all levels of education (both teachers and learners). Our strategies and exercises are extensive and can be adapted to suit all.
Barry Taylor (Founder)
B.A.(Hons), PG Cert Ed (Cambridge),
Dip. Laughter Therapy, MCMA
Barry is a First Class B.A. (Hons) graduate in Media and Performance, where he specialised in Humour and Comedy.
He has a Post-Graduate Certficate in Education (PGCE with QTS) from the University of Cambridge (Homerton).
He is an associate member of the International Society For Humor Studies (ISHS) and a member of The Complementary Medical Association (CMA) and the International Alliance of Holistic Therapists (IAHT)
Having worked in jobs as diverse as an inner city youth worker, faulty pork pie separator, touring actor, and sausage packer (ooh-er!), Barry spent nearly two decades working in secondary, sixth-form and adult education as a Lead Practitioner, an Advanced Skills Teacher and Initial Teacher Trainer.
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Barry founded Laugh Therapy in 2018, and is now a Gelotologist, qualified and accredited Laughter Therapist, professional trainer, public speaker and wellbeing practitioner. He devises curriculums, delivers workshops, creates courses, writes and delivers keynote talks on the applied and therapeutic benefits of humour, laughter and play.
His journey is fascinating, polemic, colourful and inspiring. Having left school with just two qualifications from the worst performing school in his county; Barry persuaded a college to take a chance on him - which he duly buggered up - and became the cautionary tale that college lecturers would then use to deter new students with. Barry spent 6 months homeless (on the streets and in homeless shelters) as he gained the necessary qualifications to secure a place at a Higher Education college.
Once accepted (and feeling he could go further), he negotiated a transfer to an established university at the end of his first year, before going on to achieve the highest scores in his cohort, and the only one on his course that year to achieve a straight First Class degree with Honours.
His journey from unqualified and homeless, to Cambridge post-graduate was just 7 years and (as he explains in his talks and interviews) attributes laughter and humour as the key to both his academic success and professional achievements, but also his battles with mental health, childhood abuse, trauma, social exclusion and burnout. His clarity on how humour, laughter and play can 'transform' is what makes both his message and his programmes so powerful.​
As a practitioner, Barry utilises a wide palette of influences and tools. He is keen to make Laugh Therapy an inclusive, anxiety-free practice that enhances health, happiness, social connection and success, both personally, educationally and professionally. His methodology is constantly evolving as he discovers new research and approaches to develop his ideas.
"Feigned laughter can have notable health benefits, but evidence shows that mirthful laughter - laughter that is genuine and hearty - has much wider physiological, psychological, and certainly sociological impact. I feel it is as important to create a safe environment that is conducive to this from the moment people arrive, as it is to provide strategies and exercises that will produce genuine laughter and extensive health benefits."
