William F. Fry

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William Finley Fry, Jr. (born March 25, 1924 in Cincinnati , Ohio - † May 16, 2014 ) was an American psychiatrist , the founder of gelotology and a pioneer in the field of therapeutic humor .

Life

William F. Fry studied medicine at the University of Oregon , the University of Southern California at Los Angeles and the University of Cincinnati from 1942 to 1949 . He received his PhD in 1949. Until 1950, Fry was an intern in Honolulu, Hawaii. In the years 1951 to 1954 the further training as a psychiatrist took place at VA Hospital in Menlo Park, California. From 1954 Fry was an associate professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto and a member of the Mental Research Institute there, from which the world-famous Palo Alto group emerged . Fry worked here with researchers such as Gregory Bateson , Don D. Jackson , Virginia Satir , Jay Haley , John Weakland and Paul Watzlawick .

William F. Fry was responsible for the humor-related aspect of this research, the “hot spot” of the paradox (Fry 2006, 112). The main interest of the Palo Alto Group was initially the exploration of the nature of paradoxes in communication . This also included the analysis of lyrical works, dreams, the interaction of people in schizophrenic families ( double bond theory ), but also the vocalizations of dolphins. As a summary of his work, Fry published the book Sweet Madness in 1963, a year after he left the MRI , which primarily deals with the paradoxical dimension of humor.

In 1964 Fry founded his institute for humor research (gelotology) in Palo Alto. At this institute, the physical effects of the "humor reaction" (= cheerfulness, laughter ) are examined. Since the scientific community still doubted whether the humor and laughter research would meet the scientific standards, Fry financed the research at this institute from his own resources.

In 1975, Fry co-authored a study of professional comedians with Melanie Allen. In 1987, 1993 and 2001, Fry, together with Waleed A. Salameh, published three manuals on the subject of humor in psychotherapy . Viktor Frankl , who was the first to recognize the (“paradox”) importance of humor for the therapeutic process, then mediated the contact between Fry and Michael Titze , with whom he has been working since 1985.

In 1980 Fry was a founding member of the International Society for Humor Studies (ISHS) and was a member of the editorial board of HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research , an international journal.

Awards

In 1997, Fry became an honorary member of the Spanish Academia de Humor, in 1998 a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and an honorary member of HumorCare, and in 2000 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Therapeutic Humor. From 2003 he was honorary chairman of HumorCare Germany.

Fonts

As an author:

  • Sweet Madness. A Study of Humor. Pacific Books, Palo Alto 1963.
  • with Melanie Allen: Make 'em Laugh. Life Studies of Comedy Writers. Science and Behavior Books, Palo Alto 1975.
  • Humor and me . In: Studies in American Humor. New Series, No. 14, 2006, pp. 105-132.

As editor:

  • with Waleed A. Salameh: Handbook of Humor in Psychotherapy. Professional Resource Exchange, Sarasota 1987.
  • with Waleed A. Salameh: Advances in Humor and Psychotherapy. Professional Resource Exchange, Sarasota 1993.
  • with Waleed A. Salameh: Humor and Wellness in Clinical Intervention. Praeger, Westport 2001.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ News , HumorCare website, accessed July 25, 2014.
  2. ↑ Laughter - medicine for body and soul! ( Memento of April 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), MDR , February 7, 2002, accessed July 25, 2014.
  3. ↑ here editor / editor , HUMOR on the De Gruyter website , accessed on July 25, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Fry, William F.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fry, William Finley Junior (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American psychiatrist, founder of gelotology and pioneer in the field of therapeutic humor
DATE OF BIRTH March 25, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Cincinnati , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 2014