Lisa Wessan brings Team Building with Laughter to Rhode Island

March 10, 2013 - PRLog -- CHELMSFORD, MA - Lisa Wessan, LICSW, author, speaker, consultant, and President of Mirth Maven Productions, will facilitate “Team Building with Laughter”  for the VSNRI on April 10, 2013. This program is part of an in-service, psycho-educational staff training for the doctors, nurses, social workers, and administrative employees of the VSNRI.

Team building is a serious and challenging undertaking, and, in order to succeed, requires a large contribution from everyone. Wessan's team building work builds on the premise that using humor and laughter during the process causes oxytocin to be released, which stimulates bonding and group cohesiveness¹. Laughter also relieves tension and makes the whole process fun².

During the training, participants will learn the core ideas for incorporating more humor and laughter into their healthcare work, including:

• How to use humor to create a collaborative team environment where people are motivated and ready to contribute.
• How to use humor to stimulate listening, trust, cooperation, creativity, and spontaneity.
• The difference between constructive and destructive humor.
• Practical techniques to "lighten up" the office environment.
• How to have more fun at work and easy stress management techniques.

Each training session will also include a relaxing sequence of Laughter Yoga and Laughter Meditation.

"These techniques are proven to be easy and workable, plus they relieve office stress, relax muscles and give your insides a good laugh-induced massage," says Wessan.

Wessan is uniquely trained to facilitate Team Building with Laughter. Prior to her career as a counselor and coach, Wessan had successful careers in broadcasting and executive sales.

"When I was a Vice President of Broadcast Sales at the International Institute for Learning in New York, I was selling satellite broadcasts on management topics to Fortune 500 companies. I learned that no matter how much success I had as the top performer in the company, when people hated me for that or begrudged me my wins, the experience was soured tremendously for me," says Wessan. "I yearned for a more convivial work environment, where my team members would cheer each other on and be inspired by our mutual success, " she adds.

That led Wessan to do research on team building to enhance her relationships with her sales associates. She studied neurolinguistic programming, motivational interviewing, and other positive psychology thought systems and methods to foster improved sales and positive regard from her team.

In her second career as a licensed clinical social worker, Wessan became certified in therapeutic laughter, and is trained to bring laughter yoga, laughter meditation and laughter therapy to the workplace. For licensed employees, Wessan's programs are approved for continuing education units (CEUs), a huge benefit  for employers who seek to grant CEUs to their staff as a perk.

Over time, Wessan has blended her knowledge of team building from her sales career with laughter therapy from her clinical work to create her Team Building with Laughter program.

Wessan's work has been featured on CNN’s Paula Zahn Now, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Daily News, The Boston Globe, The Lowell Sun, ABC News 20/20, and in many television, print and radio interviews.

Wessan facilitates a variety of inspirational keynotes and seminars, including Laughter Therapy for Caregivers, Relaxation Techniques,  Declutter Your Mind, Home & Office, and  Creating a Space for Grace. Her website, http://www.lisawessan.com, provides further information about her work and seminar schedule.
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Footnotes
¹  Baumgartner, T. et.al. (2008). Oxytocin Shapes the Neural Circuitry of Trust and Trust Adaptation in Humans.    Neuron, Volume 58, Issue 4, 22.
² Berk, L.S., et.al.(1989b). Neuroendrocrine and stress hormone changes during mirthful laughter. American Journal of the Medical Sciences. 298(6), 390-396.