ABSTRACT
Freud described humor as man’s “highest psychical achievement.” An appreciation for laughter and play is crucial in analysis. At the beginning of analysis, most patients, just like small children, want to play alone, telling their sad stories with very little awareness of the fact that there is another potential playmate in the room. As the patient becomes more object-oriented, a play space is developed in the analysis, where analyst and patient can use projections, introjections, dreams, and fantasies like toys to be shared. Thus, humor and play can facilitate the movement from narcissism to object-relatedness in a therapeutic way. Clinical examples are given of analysts and patients playing with dreams, metaphors, and fantasies that express primitive feelings.
