The Ha-Ha Handbook [Paperback]

Bernard Trenkle (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Zeig Tucker & Theisen Inc (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891944479
• ISBN-13: 978-1891944475
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,909,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ha-Ha Handbook is primarily a joke book  but it is more, April 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ha-Ha Handbook (Paperback)

The Ha-Ha Handbook is primarily a joke book - but it is also a lot more. The Meg-A-Phon, newsletter of the Milton Erickson Gesellschaft (MEG) of Germany has long included jokes with a jokes with a psychological bent in each issue. This is a collection of these jokes and each joke is titled with the particular psychological element it illustrates. Topics include amnesia, circular questioning, dissociation, double bind, dental hypnosis, seeding and triangulation.

How does one review a joke book? All I can say is that several of us in a gathering of both professionals and nonprofessionals each had a copy and competed for the opportunity to read various jokes to the group. If laughing aloud is a measure, this book is a rousing success. Some of the jokes are a twist on real psychotherapy; some are a twist on old jokes; and many were new to everyone in the room.

A few of the jokes suffer from difficulties in translation or culture, but most transcend those minor problems. In keeping with Trenkle's humorous approach, each page is perforated. In that way, Trenkle explains, pages can be censored or even given directly to a particular person.

Trenkle is a well-known international speaker and therapist who customarily opens his talks with a carefully selected joke. This collection is representative, of many of his jokes and of the thoughtful way in which he matches his humor with his topic.
Reasonably priced, it is the perfect gift for a too-serious student of psychotherapy. The Ha-Ha Handbook is also a treat for anyone who just likes to laugh.

Betty Alice Erickson, M.S.