The medicine of laughter

By Jeff Becraft

One of the things that we do at Our Place of Hope is… we laugh.

It is a very important dynamic.

Now, Our Place of Hope is a paradigm shift for people living with mental illness. We are not a medical clinic and we are not a treatment center.

We are a place where people living with mental illness can regain meaning, purpose and hope for their lives.

The model is basically built on three dynamics: meaningful work, meaningful relationships, and restoring to people the sacred dignity that they have something to contribute to other people’s lives.

But another very important dynamic that is not in any of our talking points or literature is that we laugh. Imagine how freeing that is for any of us… but it is especially true for someone who has simply been living in isolation, feeling unwanted and unneeded, and maybe just sitting around watching TV all day long; someone who has basically been discarded by society and just told they are a disability and they really don’t have anything to offer. As one person named Luke sadly put it, “By 17 I was accepting of the fact that ‘people like me’ live in pain and shame in the gutter until they don’t live anymore.”

But as people come to Our Place of Hope and engage in work (and there is a special dynamic in relationships when you are working side by side with somebody), and as you are working and as you are growing in confidence, and understanding who you really are… you laugh.

There have been times when I have been helping with the reach out work unit and DW (one of our members) and some others have got me laughing so hard I can’t even talk on the phone when we call somebody to check in on them and see how they are doing.

It is said that laughter is like medicine for our souls. This is great medicine for any of us.

Even though we are not a medical clinic or treatment center (and these serve their purpose), we have something even better than medicine… we laugh.

Jeff Becraft is the Director of Our Place of Hope located in Columbia, South Carolina, where people find encouragement to regain meaning, purpose, and hope for their lives. Jeff has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. If you would like Jeff to speak to your group or event, you can connect with him at  [email protected].