The Trickster Dynamic in Therapy

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Sometimes in therapy, something playful and unexpected shows up right in the middle of pain. This is often referred to as a “trickster dynamic.” It can lighten the moment, but it can also pull both therapist and client away from something raw and vulnerable.

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An Example

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Imagine a client begins sharing something painful — like feeling rejected. Just as the sadness starts to surface, they crack a joke. Both of you laugh. On the outside, it looks like relief. Underneath, it may be a way of avoiding the deeper hurt.

• Implicit process: Without thinking, the client shifts from sadness to humour as a protective strategy.
• Trickster energy: The joke creates lightness and playfulness, but it also tricks both people away from the painful emotion beneath it.

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How Awareness Becomes the Intervention

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In Gestalt therapy, the power often lies in simply noticing what is happening in the moment. Instead of going along with the humour, the therapist might reflect gently:

This reflection does a few important things:

• It brings an unconscious process into awareness.
• The client begins to see their own pattern of avoiding pain with humour.
• Naming the shift gives the client more choice — they can stay with the humour, or slowly touch the sadness beneath it.

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The Outcome

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When the “trickster” move is noticed together, the session becomes more real. The laughter doesn’t have to be wrong or shut down. Instead, the awareness itself becomes the healing intervention. Both client and therapist are more present, more connected, and less carried away by avoidance.

👉 In short: The goal isn’t to stop the trickster energy. It’s about noticing it together. That shared awareness makes space for deeper presence, honesty, and connection.

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In therapy, humour can act as a trickster that hides pain, but bringing awareness to the shift opens space for deeper presence and connection.

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