What Are the Psychological Benefits of Play For Adults?

When was the last time you played as an adult just for the fun of it—without a goal, a metric, or an agenda?

For most adults, play sits at the very bottom of the priority list...

Adult play is a neurological and psychological necessity that goes far beyond simple entertainment; it is an active state of open-ended engagement that promotes emotional regulation and neuroplasticity. Despite intense professional and societal pressures, contemporary neurobiological research confirms that maintaining an active sense of playfulness is vital for sustainable mental health.

Adult play—like a high-stakes game of tumbling blocks—is a neurological necessity that lowers stress, boosts cognitive flexibility, and creates moments of shared joy.

Studies from organizations like the National Institute for Play indicate that play is a core biological drive. It is essential for optimal cognitive function, stress resilience, and deep psychological well-being.

The key psychological benefits of adult play include:

• Stress Reduction and Cortisol Regulation: Engaging in playful activities triggers the immediate release of endorphins and dopamine while actively down-regulating cortisol. Highly playful adults experience lower levels of perceived stress and utilize healthier, adaptive coping mechanisms—such as positive reframing—rather than avoidant or numbing behaviors.
• Preventing Workplace Burnout: Unstructured play serves as a vital psychological buffer against chronic stress. Research shows that play directly enhances emotional intelligence and strengthens personal resilience, allowing adults to bounce back faster from professional exhaustion and systemic adversity.
• Cognitive Flexibility and Flow States: Play acts as a cognitive refresh by removing the pressure of goal-driven thinking. Engaging in mentally stimulating, unstructured play (like complex puzzles, strategic board games, or creative arts) stimulates lateral problem-solving. This cognitive unburdening makes it significantly easier to enter deeply satisfying flow states (see my article: What is a Flow State?).

• Combating Loneliness and Isolation: Group play, cooperative games, and shared laughter foster empathy, trust, and interpersonal intimacy. Cultivating structured social play as an adult significantly reduces modern feelings of loneliness and deepens social connectedness.

How Do Adults Play?

Somatic and behavioral researchers generally categorize adult play into three distinct archetypes:

• Active Form: Engaging in recreational sports, dance, or physical movement that emphasizes agility and teamwork.
• Digital & Strategic Play: Participating in video games, cooperative tabletop games, or complex puzzles that stimulate cognitive strategy.
• Unstructured Hobbies: Immersing yourself in painting, playing music, gardening, or trying a new craft purely for the joy of creation without criticizing the final product.

How Can You Reclaim Your Sense of Play?

If you are ready to invite more playfulness back into your daily routine, start with these actionable steps:

1. Give Yourself Explicit Permission: The single largest barrier to adult play is internal. Remind yourself that play is not frivolous. By prioritizing joy, you can quiet the inner critic that judges you for being "unproductive."
2. Lower the Stakes and Start Small: You do not have to immediately join a competitive sports league. Start low-commitment to reduce performance anxiety. Put on your favorite music and dance in your living room, or spend ten minutes coloring.
3. Follow Your Curiosity: Explore what genuinely lights you up. Do you prefer games with clear winners and losers, or do you like making things with your hands? Are you drawn to laughter and silliness, or do you prefer play that involves movement and somatic awareness?
4. Notice Play in Everyday Mindsets: Playfulness is ultimately a state of mind. You can weave it into your day through common, everyday examples like doodling during a break, improvisational cooking without a recipe, daydreaming, or exploring nature without a fixed destination.

Conclusion

When you deliberately weave play into your life, you realize that your existence isn't meant to be entirely about maximizing productivity or enduring daily challenges. It is also about experiencing radical joy, safety, and vitality in your own skin.

About Josephine Ferraro, LCSW

I am a licensed New York psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, and certified sex therapist with advanced clinical training in EMDR, AEDP, IFS, EFT for couples, and Somatic Experiencing. 

Over the years, I have helped many individual adults and couples heal trauma, navigate workplace burnout, and restore mind-body distress.

Ready to reclaim your vitality?
I offer a complimentary 15-minute phone call to discuss your needs.

I see clients in person at my office in Greenwich Village, New York (10011) and online via secure telehealth.

• Website: Visit Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist to learn more.
• Phone: Reach out directly at (917) 742-2624 during regular business hours.
• Email: josephineferraro@iCloud.com

Explore More Articles on Mind-Body Wellness:

• The Joy of Being More Playful
• The Benefits of Laughter For Your Health and Mental Health
• Being Open to New Experiences
• 11 Ways to Be a More Creative Person

The Power of Humor and Laughter in Relationships

Many people identify a sense of humor as an important trait they seek in partners when they're dating.  

The Power of Humor and Laughter in Relationships

People often include a sense of humor as one of their attributes as well as an attribute they're seeking in a potential partner in their dating profile (see my article: Why is a Good Sense of Humor So Attractive in a Partner?).

The Power of Humor and Laughter in Relationships

Humor and laughter play a powerful role in long term relationships (see my article: The Benefits of Laughter For Your Health and Mental Health) including:

• Strengthening the Bond in a Relationship: Shared humor and laughter can increase closeness and connectedness to strengthen the bond in a relationship.

• Improving Communication: When two people can laugh together, they often overcome barriers to communication. Humor can help a couple to talk about difficult topics when humor is used in an appropriate way.

The Power of Humor and Laughter in Relationships

• Reducing Stress: Laughter increases endorphins which improves mood and reduces stress.

• Building Resilience: Laughter can have a positive impact on a person's overall sense of well-being. It can also help a couple to build resilience in their relationship.

How to Increase Laughter in Your Relationship

Stress and anxiety can make it difficult to find humor in everyday situations, especially if a couple is trying to balance family and work obligations (see my article: Balancing Your Personal Life and Your Career).

Even when you're going through stressful times, you can take steps to create an opening for humor:

• Gentle Teasing: Well-time light hearted teasing can help you and your partner to relax, laugh and enjoy each other's company.

• Playfulness and Flirting: When you flirt with your partner in playful ways, you can enjoy each other's company and even improve your sex life (see my articles: What is Rec-Relational Sex? and Try a Little Playfulness in Your Relationship).

The Power of Humor and Laughter in Relationships

• Silliness: You and your partner can share silly moments, including telling jokes or funny stories, to add humor to your relationship.

• Remember Funny Moments Together: When you and your partner recall fun times together, you're sharing moments in your life that felt good for both of you. This can strengthen the bonds between you.

• Play Fun Games Together: Taking the time together to play fun games together can help you both to laugh, relax and enjoy each other's company.

Getting Help in Therapy

A lack of humor and playfulness is often a sign of relational problems for couples.

If you and your partner have problems you have been unable to resolve on your own, seek help from a licensed mental health professional who works with couples.

        See my article: What is Emotionally Focused Therapy For Couples (EFT)

A skilled couples therapist can help you to overcome problems so you can have a more fulfilling relationship.

About Me

I am a licensed New York psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT, Somatic Experiencing and Sex Therapist.

I work with individual adults and couples.

To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.

Why is a Good Sense of Humor So Attractive?

A good sense of humor is sexually appealing to most people.  It's one of the qualities that's often mentioned in dating profiles as an attractive quality in a potential partner.

A Good Sense of Humor Can Be Very Attractive

This article will explore what makes a good sense of humor, why it's so sexually appealing, and how you can develop a healthy sense of humor to enhance your social skills.

What is a Good Sense of Humor?

First, let's distinguish well-intentioned humor from mean-spirited humor.  

Unfortunately, a lot of humor today is mean spirited.  It's based on getting a laugh at someone else's expense, which is a form of bullying.  

Well-intentioned humor, on the other hand, makes people feel good.  It makes people laugh without hurting their feelings.  

Well-Intentioned Humor Doesn't Hurt Others' Feelings

A good sense of humor is a valued social trait.  Conversely, an undeveloped sense of humor often means undeveloped social skills, and it can put someone at a social disadvantage.

In some cases, having a good sense of humor means entertaining people and making them laugh.  But more often than not it means having the ability to see humor in every day life.  

People with a good sense of humor tend to:

• Be Creative
• Think Outside the Box
• Bring a Different Perspective to Situations
• Have a Lighthearted Attitude
• Be Resilient
• Be Adaptable
• Be Conscientious (they don't try to get a laugh from mean-spirited jokes)
• Cope With Stress Better
• Laugh More and Others Laugh With Them
• Benefit in Terms of Their Health and Mental Health (see my article: The Benefits of Laughter For Health and Mental Health)

What is the Connection Between a Good Sense of Humor and Sexiness?

Flirting, pleasant teasing, playfulness, creativity, self confidence and intelligence are all qualities that most people find sexually appealing:

• Humor and Flirting: Flirting is driven by emotions and instinct rather than logic. Flirting and pleasant teasing often signal sexual interest.  Flirting can be used to gauge someone's sexual interest in you. It can also ease tension between people. In addition, flirting stimulates the nervous system with increased blood flow and the release of adrenaline.  

Flirting and Healthy Teasing

• Humor and Playfulness: Humor and playfulness can create a strong bond between two people.  Being able to laugh together also helps people to feel more comfortable with each other.  Playfulness is also fun and sexy when you're attracted to someone and you sense they're attracted to you.

• Self Humor and Confidence: Being able to laugh at yourself shows self confidence, which is sexually appealing to most people.  

Humor and Self Confidence

• Humor and Intelligence: Intelligence is an important quality for most people when they are seeking a romantic partner.  For many people, especially people who identify themselves as sapiosexual (people who find intelligence to be sexually arousing), intelligence is essential. But for most people intelligence is not as important as a good sense of humor.  According to Psychology Today, people with a good sense of humor are usually intelligent, but intelligent people don't necessarily have a good sense of humor.  

Developing a Good Sense of Humor

If you want to develop a better sense of humor:

• Learn to listen and observe people who have a good sense of humor and who know how to banter.

• Be aware that to be humorous in a well-intentioned way can signal that you're friendly.  It can also be flirty and signal that you're attracted to someone.

• Learn how to respond to other people's humor, especially if you're someone who tends to be easily offended and jump to conclusions by taking things personally.  This doesn't mean that if someone makes a joke that's offensive you need to pretend that it's funny. But before you react, pause and ask yourself if it's likely this person wanted to offend you.  After you take a pause, you can decide how to respond.  If you still find the other person's humor offensive, let them know you don't appreciate it in a tactful way.

• Learn to be funny without being offensive.  Jokes, stories or statements that are racist, homophobic, sexist, ageist, or that are at other people's expense, aren't funny, so avoid them.  Like any other social skill, you'll need to observe others and practice taking a risk by putting yourself out there.

Conclusion

Sexual attraction is influenced by many individual factors, including psychological, cultural, genetic, conscious and unconscious factors.

An undeveloped sense of humor often signals undeveloped social skills. 

A good sense of humor can enhance sexual attractiveness.  People often want to be around someone with a good sense of humor because their humor is fun and it makes them good about themselves.  

Getting Help in Therapy

If you're struggling with unresolved emotional problems, you might be struggling socially.  This makes it difficult to meet and socialize with others.

Seek help from a qualified mental health professional so you can live a more fulfilling life.

About Me

I am a licensed New York City psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT, Somatic Experiencing and Sex Therapist.

I am a sex positive therapist who works with individual adults and couples.

To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.

The Benefits of Laughter For Your Health and Mental Health

You've probably heard the saying, "Laughter is the best medicine" which hints at the physical and mental health benefits of laughter.  In the past, I wrote an article, Humor Can Be Helpful in Psychotherapy, which explored how humor can sometimes increase the effectiveness of therapy.  In this article, I'm focusing on how laughter benefits both your physical and mental health.

The Benefits of Laughter For Your Health and Mental Health

The Benefits of Laughter For Your Health and Mental Health
Laughter is beneficial for your mind and your body because it:

• strengthens your immune system
• elevates your mood
• reduces pain
• protects you against the harmful effects of stress
• inspires hope
• helps you to connect and bond with others
• keeps you grounded
• relaxes your body
• eases stress and anxiety
• strengthens resilience (see my article: Developing Resilience)
• diffuses anger
• reduces inhibitions
• helps you to feel recharged and energized
• increases your ability to use your imagination and increases creativity (see my article: Using Positive Imagination to Cope)

Adults Need to Seek More Opportunities For Laughter
Most children tend to laugh many times a day.  However, adults tend to be more serious, and they don't laugh as much as children. Therefore, adults, who want the health and mental health benefits of laughter, need to seek out more opportunities to laugh.

You can seek out these opportunities to include more laughter in your life by:

• watching a funny movie or TV show
• watching standup comedy
• playing games with friends
• spending time with people who are funny
• playing with your pet
• reading a funny story
• sharing a funny cartoon with friends 
• engaging in laughing yoga
• being grateful for what you have
• being "silly"
• taking an improv class
• sharing true stories about yourself with others (see my article: The Psychological Benefits of Storytelling)

Examples of How to Bring More Laughter Into Your Life

Sue
After realizing that she wasn't having as much fun as she used to, Sue decided to join an improv class, which was recommended by a friend. She had never taken an improv class before and, initially, she felt intimidated. But on her first day of class, she discovered that most other people in the class had never done improv or any type of comedy before, and they were feeling just as inhibited as she was feeling. By the second class, she realized she really liked her instructor, who made learning improv fun easy.  So, after a while, Sue opened up more and allowed herself to just have fun. She realized that she had not laughed so much in years, and she decided to take the next improv class when it was over.

Jim
Although he enjoyed painting in his free time, Jim found it to be too solitary an activity, especially since he already spent a lot of time on his own as an online editor.  He didn't look forward to spending even more time alone doing his artwork.  However, at the suggestion of a neighbor, he offered a free art class to the children in his apartment building, and while he was working with the children, he realized that not only were they having fun, but he was also having fun with them.  This group activity with children helped him to feel energized, and it allowed him to spend time alone doing his own artwork.

Conclusion
As mentioned above, there are many physical health and mental health benefits to laughter.

Sometimes, you need to experiment with different activities to find one that you enjoy.  If you approach this exploration with a sense of curiosity and playfulness, you'll discover an activity that's just right for you. In addition, you'll begin to experience the benefits of laughter.

About Me
I am a licensed NYC psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT, Somatic Experiencing and Sex therapist (see my article: The Benefits of Integrative Therapy).

I provide teletherapy, also known as online therapy, telemental health or telehealth for clients (see my article:  The Advantages of Online Therapy).

To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

To set up a consultation with me, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.

5 Tips For Bouncing Back From Routine Disappointments

Everyone experiences routine disappointments at some point in life (see my article: Are You Overreacting to Routine Disappointments?).  Disappointments are unavoidable.  The question isn't whether you will be disappointed but how well you can bounce back from disappointments.  The better you get at moving on from routine disappointments, the more resilient you become (see my article: Resilience: Bouncing Back From Life's Challenges).  In this article, I'm going to provide tips for rebounding from routine disappointments.

Bouncing Back From Routine Disappointments

5 Tips to Bounce Back From Routine Disappointments

• Focus on Gratitude:  Although you might be disappointed about what you didn't get or that life is unfair, you probably have other areas in your life that are positive.  So, rather than focusing on what you don't have, focus on what you do have.  It might sound trite, but it will shift your mood, which is what you need to bounce back from a disappointment and not to wallow in it so that it colors everything in your life (see my articles: Is It Possible to Feel Gratitude Even When You're Sad?, Keeping a Gratitude Journal, and Getting Out of a Rut.

• Exercise at a Pace That's Right For You:  Movement helps to shift your mood.  Whether it's a sport, yoga or other types of exercise, movement will help you to lift your spirits (see my article: The Mind-Body Connection: Can Yoga Improve Your Mood?).

• Give Yourself Credit For Coping As Best As You Can:  Making any kind of effort after a routine disappointment deserves recognition, including self recognition.  Too often people don't give themselves credit for being able to handle disappointing situations.  As part of your self recognition, remember other times when you got through routine disappointments and how these disappointments didn't have a major impact on your life.

• Use Humor to Shift Your Attention and Lift Your Mood:  Watching funny movies, TV programs or listening or telling funny stories will release neurochemicals in your brain to shift your mood.  Don't underestimate what a change humor can make to help you to bounce back.  Having others join you can increase the benefit of using humor because humor is contagious.  Have you ever been in a crowd where people were laughing uproariously and you didn't even know what they were laughing about but their laughter made you laugh?  If so, then you know how powerful it can be to be in a group where there is humor.

• Set Goals For the Important Areas of Your Life:  Rather than focusing on your disappointment and what you don't have, take some time to reflect on what you want for your future in each area of your life (personal life, career, and so on).  Then, set broad goals for how you plan to succeed in each area.  After you write down your broad goals, narrow it down by writing what you need to do in the next year (or longer), what you need to do in the next six months, in the next month, next week, etc., so you make the steps concrete and realizable (see my article: What's Holding You Back From Achieving Your Goals?).

What If It's a Major Disappointment?
Notice that, until now, I've been emphasizing routine disappointments.  Routine disappointments are things that everyone faces in one way or another fairly often.

In other words, routine disappointments aren't life changing.  But there are disappointments that are much more significant and that are harder to overcome.

For instance, if you found out that a close friend that you trusted betrayed you, that's a major disappointment, especially if it causes an unbridgeable breach in your friendship (see my article: Coping With a Close Friend's Betrayal).

To overcome major disappointments, all of the tips that I mentioned can be helpful, especially when you focus on what you're grateful for in life, but those tips aren't going to be enough for you to bounce back quickly because a major disappointment goes deep and hurts a lot.

Getting Help in Therapy
If you find that you're having a hard time rebounding from a disappointment, you might need help from a psychotherapist to work through the disappointment, especially a major disappointment (see my article: The Benefits of Psychotherapy and How to Choose a Psychotherapist).

A major disappointment, like a betrayal of a spouse or a friend, can make you feel like your whole world is falling apart.  It can make you question your beliefs and your judgment.  It might even result in your questioning your plans and what you want to do in life.

Rather than suffering on your own, you could benefit from the emotional support and clinical expertise of a licensed mental health professional.   A skilled psychotherapist can help you overcome a major disappointment more effectively than you could on your own, so you can eventually move on with your life.

About Me
I am a licensed NYC psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR and Somatic Experiencing therapist (see my article: The Therapeutic Benefits of Integrative Psychotherapy).

I have helped many clients to overcome major disappointments so they could go on to live fulfilling lives.

To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.