Banter in Psychotherapy: Relationship to Treatment Modality, Therapeu...

The use of humour in psychotherapy is widely considered to improve therapy outcomes and typically depends on context, patient sensitivity, and the therapist’s humour style. Different types of humour may impact treatment modality, therapeutic alliance, and therapy outcome; however, evidence from psychotherapy sessions on the role of banter has been sparse to date. We present evidence drawn from a secondary data analysis of the Munich Psychotherapy Study that supports the use of banter in psychotherapy and suggests that a stable bond between therapist and client confines its effect on therapy outcome. Furthermore, based on these results, the Klagenfurt Bantering Instrument is introduced. The potential for perceived negativity and the implications of such bantering for different treatment modalities regarding semantic and structural differences are discussed.