300 Participants Attend from 20 Countries
“Every time I thought I had met the most interesting person, I’d meet another person or group just as amazing,” reflected Hearts & Noses Hospital Clown Troupe Executive Director Cheryl Lekousi, upon her return from the 2016 Healthcare Clowning International Meeting held in Lisbon, Portugal, in March. Joining Lekousi — known as Tic Toc to young patients — was Joyce Friedman, aka Frizzle, a Troupe member since 1999.
The conference drew some 300 people from more than 20 countries. Besides hospital clowns, there were trainers, administrators, psychologists and physicians. The main purpose was to bring together representatives from the diverse fields of work in healthcare clowning and introduce new approaches. Many topics resulted from the Leaders’ Summit in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2013. (In photo, a discussion panel led by Olivier-Hugues Terrealt, Artistic Director, Teatro do Sopro, Brazil.)
“We were delighted and honored to attend, to reconnect with friends from troupes around the world, to connect with new clowns and troupes, to glean new ideas, and to represent Boston,” Lekousi says.
Hearts & Noses has an international leadership tradition: At the first international meeting, in Israel in 2011, the Boston Troupe’s manual, The Art and Joy of Hospital Clowning by Hearts & Noses founder Jeannie Lindheim, was given to attendees.
The Lisbon conference provided a forum for the hospital clown community to share experiences and set training and organization guidelines. “It’s the ideal way to increase our professionalism,” says Lekousi. “Everyone’s focus is on the child and family, bringing our specialized form of empowerment and choice through child-centered play.” (Photo: Lisbon Doctor Clowns on stage)
Among those Friedman and Lekousi met were Caroline Simonds of France who’s been examining the practicality of a months’ long, full-time certificate program, and Joan Barrington, Executive Director of Therapeutic Clowning International, who had just returned from Cuba, where she helped train their first hospital clown Troupe.
As an example of idea sharing, Friedman attended a workshop on clowning with teens. “We always get permission to enter a child’s room,” she says, “but we are clowns and that ‘ask’ can look different for different children, especially teens. By putting the teen in control from the first moment and even before entering, it is empowering and great fun. Having the clowns in debate in the hall about who is the ‘cooler’ clown and asking the teen if they have time to offer opinions … allows the teen to say ‘no,’ a gift for someone who can’t say no to anyone else in the hospital, or to consider the coolness of these clowns.”
Among conference workshops and courses Friedman and Lekousi attended: ‘Coaching and Healthcare Clowns’ workshop with Ami Hattab of Amiworshop, France; ‘Best Practices for Health Care Programs’ panel with several health care leaders; and ‘Tools for Communication & Conflict Management’ with Karen McCarthy of Big Apple Circus Clown Care.
The clowns returned with a clearer understanding of the Troupe’s next steps.
“After 20 years and so much growth, Hearts & Noses is ready to bring on another specialized staff person to add to the training and support of our clowns and to help in the search and training of new clowns,” Lekousi says.