Articles

What is Clown Therapy?

The Clown/Fool/Jester is a recognizable figure in every culture in recorded history. The clown is an archetype, a human characteristic that’s biologically embedded in the mind, universally…

Using clown therapy to deliver mental health care

From Clinical Psychiatry News, October 2014

The clown/fool/jester is a recognizable figure in every culture. The clown is an archetype, a universal image that’s embedded in the brain. These images dwell in the unconscious mind. They…

Clown therapy in Peru: Maria returns

For the last 7 years, I have been traveling with Dr. Patch Adams, the world’s most recognized humanitarian clown, and 100 other clowns from around the world, to participate in the Belén…

Clown therapy helps people find answers within

The inaugural Clown Town Healing Fest, a visionary health care festival, proved to be a practical demonstration of the future of health care. One of its many innovative aspects is the…

Clown therapy is community psychiatry in disguise

Ever had a patient who not only got better but used the insights she gained from talking with you to help others in distress? I have just such a patient in the Peruvian Amazon.

Clown therapy is community psychiatry in disguise

Frontline Medical News, October 14, 2016, by Carl A. Hammerschlag, MD

To provide a brief overview … we go to a neighborhood, set up our space, and walk the streets with a bull horn. We announce our presence – “we are mental health professionals, and we’re…

The Art of Self-Disclosure

Portrait of a Psychiatrist — Series Editor, H. Steven Moffic, MD

The question of whether to self-disclose in my work as a community psychiatrist is a non-issue—it must be done. No matter how well-intentioned and well-trained you are, the community wants…

Hammerschlag teaches Emergency Medicine how to heal

The word for health in the Navajo language is “hozho.” Hozho is also the word for truth, beauty, harmony, balance, and the great spirit.

Humor is Life

In addition to being a psychiatrist, I’m also a humanitarian clown. For the last 30 years, I have traveled the world with my friend and holy brother, Patch Adams MD, perhaps the world’s…