How Many Therapists Does it Take? The Wit and Wisdom of Psychotherapy by Kenneth Reid

A Note to the Reader
 

How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb? Answer – only one but it takes a long time – and the light bulb really has to want to change. All my professional life I have loved jokes about therapists and psychotherapy. For me they typically lighten the atmosphere, tickle the funny bone, help emphasize a point and ridicule the self-important. But, therapy jokes also do something extra – they echo back the uncertainty and incongruity of our day-to-day lives.

I began collecting jokes and funny anecdotes about therapists – many included in this book – in the 1960s while a graduate in social work. Funny stories, jokes, puns, quips, word play, and urban legends came from old joke books, cartoons, late night talk television, and more recently, the internet. Others came from my professors, fellow clinicians, and patients in the hospital where I trained. Interestingly, the jokes told by professionals were often the same ones told by the patients.

This genre of humor called psychiatrist jokes, with the stock caricature of the mad psychiatrist – a bald, bearded Viennese analyst, who himself needed a psychiatrist – was inadvertently set in motion by Sigmund Freud and his followers in the 1930s. Added to the mix were confusing stereotypes of the confusing mental hospital that made its patients crazy, and the laughable behavior of highly resourceful patients.

Over time, psychiatrist jokes gave way to therapist jokes reflecting the growing number of helping professionals – psychologists, clinical social workers, nurses and counselors – practicing psychotherapy. Characterized by folly and exaggeration, therapist jokes have come to provide a fractured mirror reflecting the human condition – and the light-hearted funny side of life.

The collection of humor in this book is about the psychotherapeutic industrial-complex so enmeshed in American culture. These are the stories and jokes therapists tell each other during team meetings or over a beer after a long day. They are about stereotypes of therapists in ludicrous situations; folks facing outrageous predicaments of daily living; and overwhelmed hospitals and clinics confusing staff and patients alike. In short this book is about irony, madness, and the outright comedy that undergirds the mental health establishment.

To laugh at ourselves and the world around us is truly a gift. It is in this spirit that this volume was compiled.

Dr. Ken Reid, a clinical social worker, coordinates the diocese's Pastoral Care and Counseling Program, which was established in 1970. Initially the program was created to address the needs of the clergy. Over the years it has evolved into an outreach ministry of the Diocese. Individual, group, premarital, marital, and family counseling are offered. In addition, pastoral care consultation is available to clergy. Ken has been with the Program since 1976. His book can be purchased by clicking here on Amazon. It is also available by clicking here on Barnes and Noble.