Lev Leytzan on Righteous Crowd this Week!
A Lev Leytzan volunteer visiting a young patient.
Lev Leytzan
Lifting Spirits through Medical Clowning
In the Talmud, we read “when the month of Adar arrives, happiness increases.” Next week’s celebration of Purim begins on Monday night, the 14th of Adar, therefore we are excited to feature an organization that brings compassionate medical clowning to hospitals, nursing homes, senior centers, special-needs camps, and private homes in the United States and abroad.
Read our interview with Lev Leytzan Founder/Executive Director, Neal C. Goldberg, Ph.D.
What is the mission of Lev Leytzan?
Lev Leytzan provides medical clowning to help in the healing using doses of laughter, joy, and empowerment. In concert with medical professionals, our medical clowns engage the medically ill and residents at hospitals, nursing homes, and in their home setting both in the United States and abroad.
Why did you decide to start your organization?
Having spent many years as a psychologist focusing on grief and abuse, I was looking at a way of reaching people on a different level and at a different point in their journeys. Medical clowning is a person-centered approach to engage with people by entering into their world and using a creative way to help them express the deep range of their emotions.
What's the best part of your job and why?
We reach people that are lonely, isolated, and scared during challenging moments in their life. Our work allows us to transform their mood, their situation, their experience - even just for moments!
What’s a story about your organization that is meaningful to you?
Her apartment was somber with the shades drawn, the lights dimmed and people solemnly sitting in a circle, heads bowed, teary eyed and silent; not the atmosphere one expects to find in the home of a 9-year-old girl - a formerly vibrant gymnast, singer, and adventurer. In home hospice with a brief period to live, it was no wonder, albeit a painful reality, that the house lacked the spirit that once brought it to life. Gotta hand it to the family member who forgot to mention that Lev Leytzan’s ElderHearts were going to be visiting, leaving the family perplexed when a therapeutic clown knocked on the door and asked to use the bathroom. No sooner did the first clown walk in than a second and a third followed, all heading straight for the bathroom. Twelve minutes later, with curiosity mounting, the kids, including the 9 -year- old, were peeking under the door, knocking and banging on the door while giggling. Soon after the clowns emerged from the bathroom, the girl’s uncle said, “… REALLY, clowns at a time like this!” Meanwhile, the 9-year-old girl took control, acting as a gymnastic teacher instructing the clowns in gymnastics and reprimanding them for failing to move correctly. It was a projection of how she felt about her body and her current reality. The clowns were able to rejuvenate the family and reinfuse the innocence of childhood into their home for a short time. The clowns returned for another gymnastics lesson the following week and elicited still more pleasure and laughter. Now the family understood: Clowns at a time like this.
What are some non-monetary ways for others to get involved in Lev Leytzan?
There are sometimes opportunities to raise awareness, help with making connections to others that share our vision, and participate in our international missions.