中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: This study explored counselors' intentions when using humor and clients' reactions to that humor, and the ways in which counselors adjusted to the clients' nonpredictive responses as a result of the humor. Methods: A process research design and two datasets were used in this study. One dataset consisted of materials from 7 sessions of individual counseling, and the other was collected through interviews with the counselor and the client by two trained interviewers. Content analysis through interview context was used as the method of data analysis. Results: Analysis revealed that the counselor's use of humor could have multiple intentions. It could be related to the topic of the counseling, a substitute for general counseling skills, intended to regulate the counseling atmosphere, or to adjust the client's emotions. Humor could have a multifaceted impact on the client and the counseling process, including on the cognition, emotion, and behavior of the client, or on the counseling atmosphere or process. Most of the counselor's intentions in using humor resulted in stirring up the client's predictive reactions. There were two categories of inconsistency between the counselor's intentions and the client's reactions. First, the client's reactions did not reflect the counselor's intention; second, the client's reactions were more than the counselor's intentions. After using humor, the counselor would use the type of humor and his or her own intention to assess the client's reaction as to whether the reaction was predictive or not. If the reaction was not predicted by the counselor, the counselor would compensate for the client according to the type and the intention of the humor, no matter whether the reaction would promote or harm the counseling process. Conclusions: The intention of counselor in using humor was highly related to the client's reaction. The counselor would repair situations damaged by his or her own miscalculation of the client according to the types of humor and the original intention in using humor.