The subtle art of humour in therapy: seriously funny
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€190.00
Sessions
Session on 30 March 2026
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100% online training – Humour and systemics
The subtle art of humour in therapy: seriously funny
A lively, experiential training to learn how to mobilise humour as a genuine systemic intervention tool, in the service of the bond, of movement and of change.
Humour is a universal and powerful relational language: it relaxes, surprises, shifts perspective, creates movement. Yet it remains largely neglected in therapeutic training, even though it can become a remarkable strategic lever when used with precision.
This training explores humour as a tool for intervention, understanding and change. It lets you experiment with concrete techniques that can be transferred into sessions, and question your stance, your creativity and your relationship to humour within a safe frame.
The systemic approach, complex in its foundations, becomes more accessible when experienced through concrete, lively, sometimes playful situations.
100% online
Replay available
1 live day
Caline Fattal
Training delivered in French
Videoconference training • Replay available • Improvisations, role-playing and simulations
A powerful relational lever
Humour defuses, reframes, shifts perspective and reveals the interactional logics at play.
A stance to work on
Allowing yourself to play with the frame without losing sight of respect, safety and the limits of the context.
Transferable techniques
Absurd tasks, humorous reframings, paradoxical prescriptions, playful metaphors.
A safe frame
Progressive experimentation, self-observation and work in supportive small groups.
Because humour, used with discernment, opens doors that explanation alone cannot open
Faced with stuck situations, resistance or deadlocks, displacement and surprise make it possible to step back and restart the relational dynamic.
Well-measured humour opens new perspectives on a problem. The training teaches you to distinguish tool, technique and strategy, so you can mobilise humour in a targeted, adapted way.
Every humorous intervention carries risks: denial, humiliation, misunderstandings. You learn to assess the potential effects and preserve the therapeutic alliance.
What you will develop
Knowledge and skills
- Revisit the basic principles of the systemic approach: circularity, communication, reframing, change.
- Understand the foundations of humour in intervention: functions, forms, impacts and expected effects.
- Identify the key interactions in a problematic situation.
- Create simple, strategic interventions: absurd tasks, humorous reframings, paradoxical prescriptions.
- Assess the risks and potential effects of a humorous intervention: ethical positioning, therapeutic alliance.
Abilities in professional practice
- Step back from complex or stuck situations by mobilising displacement and surprise.
- Create movement in interactions, particularly when facing resistance or deadlocks.
- Adapt your therapeutic stance to foster change.
- Mobilise forms of humour congruent with your intervention style, your personality and your clients' needs.
- Adjust your stance with atypical profiles (ASD, ADHD, giftedness, language disorders, hypersensitivity) for an inclusive practice.
Exploring, experimenting with and integrating humour into systemic practice
Block 1
Theoretical foundations and frames of use
- Introduction, objectives and methodology
- Round of participants' expectations
- Systemic refreshers useful for the rest of the day
Block 2
Defining humour and its forms
- Spontaneous, provocative, absurd, narrative humour
- Functions of humour in communication
- What humour reveals about relational logics
Block 3
Humour as a strategic lever
- Defusing, reframing, shifting perspective
- Tool, technique or strategy: choosing the right level
- Adapting humour to the relational dynamic
Block 4
The practitioner's stance and neurodiversity
- Playing with the frame without losing safety or respect
- Position, authority, legitimacy
- Adjustments for atypical cognitive or relational profiles
Block 5
Practice and integration
- Personal mapping of your relationship to humour
- Improvisations and therapeutic games
- Humorous reframings of typical situations: anxiety, family conflicts, resistance
- Building a humorous intervention in pairs
Block 6
Ethics, synthesis and anchoring
- Caution, ethics and the limits of humour
- Personal toolbox: when, why, how
- Integration plan for your own practice and reflective closing round
Teaching methods
- PPT and PDF materials, interactive presentations
- Clinical case studies
- Practical exercises, work in pairs and in groups
Organisation and practicalities
- 1 day of videoconference training
- Schedule: communicated upon registration
- Access details communicated at least 3 weeks before the start of the training
Assessment
- Before: positioning questionnaire
- During: practical exercises
- After: assessment of learning, satisfaction and self-evaluation
For which professionals
This training is aimed at helping professionals and anyone working in family, school or institutional settings who wishes to enrich their practice with a thoughtful use of humour.
Psychologists
Psychotherapists
Psychiatrists
Psychiatric nurses
Social workers
Speech therapists
Psychomotor therapists
Mediators
Coaches
Practitioners in family, school or institutional settings
Your trainer
Caline Fattal
Caline Fattal is a speech therapist and systemic therapist, expert in supporting individuals, couples and families. Trained in Lebanon and France, she has been integrating the principles of systemic therapy into her clinical practice for more than 20 years.
A member of the European Family Therapy Association (EFTA), she founded a multidisciplinary polyclinic and works both in institutions and in private practice. Trilingual (French, English, Arabic), she works with diverse audiences in an integrative approach that respects cultural and relational contexts.
Training framework
Prerequisites, accessibility and contact
- Prerequisites: clinical or support experience (including while still in training), interest in relational practices and creativity in therapy, openness to experimentation.
- Language: the training is delivered in French.
- Accessibility: wherever possible, the training can be adapted to individual needs; please mention your needs in the positioning questionnaire.
- Contact: Jalila Larhbali, administrative manager and accessibility contact — contact@complexe-systemique.com
- Reference: LS-HUM-SYST-2507-02.
Online training – Humour and systemics
Making humour a therapeutic ally, seriously
This training is designed for professionals who want to enrich their practice with a powerful relational lever, learning to handle displacement, surprise and play with rigour, ethics and creativity.
100% online via Zoom • Replay available • Training delivered in French
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