Clown Doctors - Le Rire Medecin
'"When a child is sick people focus on the illness, but there is still a child there, frightened, hurting, confused, sad, anxious and powerless"
Clown doctor
The performers trained by Le Rire Medecin are not therapists; they are creative artists. Whereas most medical specialists concentrate on treating a child’s illness or the reason for the hospitalisation, the clowns primarily address there "wellness". In France since 1991 the Rire Medecin's 50 professional clown-doctors work hand in hand with medical staff members.
Ragdoll funded the development of a complete training, development and recruitment process and manual for the whole organisation. Which has enabled the organisation to recruit ans train more clowns and increase numbers of visits, maintaining the core values of Le Rire medecin.
If children, from the beginning of a hospitalisation, can express some of their most intense feelings of sadness, fear, anger and even joy through using the clowns as a tool, they may gain precious ground for coping with hospitalisation and medical treatments. This freedom to play and channel emotions creatively can even prepare a child for a change in his body image. They may sometimes use the clown as the scapegoat, or as a way to express refusal of their illness for example. It can give them a sense of mastery over their environment. For example when a patient is in pain or extremely anxious the clowns will try to find ways to open the doors to small pleasures and victories.