Ms.

Women To Watch: Karen Loftus

The director called to say that it had been a horrible week - the girls were out of control. But walking into the Los Angeles home for teen ex-prostitutes, Karen Loftus knew exactly what to do: meditate, then let the "Body Comedy" begin. Since 1999, Loftus has worked with high-risk teens and victims of domestic violence to help them gain control over their bodies and, by extension, their lives.

The workshops begin with yoga, then progress to clown exercises, comedic improvisation, and other games. Adding comedy to the therapeutic mix helps draw out their "childlike states" marred by violation and trauma, says Loftus. A victim of molestation herself, Loftus discovered, while giggling as a stand-up comic in Los Angeles, that humor heals. She now travels the country performing and conducting at least one body comedy class in each city she visits - in battered women's shelters, transitional homes, and detox centers. In the future, she hopes to train new workshop facilitators in body comedy, advancing her vision of "spreading the health."

by Allison J. Petrozziello