Certified Practitioner of Poetic Medicine

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We will soon be accepting applications for 2026. Note that some aspects of the program will be changing for this upcoming cohort. Read more below to learn about the program as it has been offered in recent years.

The Poetic Medicine Training Program is designed for a wide range of people interested in using poetic medicine for themselves, as well as bringing this healing art to others, meeting the therapeutic needs of individuals and communities. This practice of poetic medicine serves as a catalyst for spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

The training program draws from a lineage of practitioners and a practice that includes clinical and indigenous perspectives of “poetry as healer.” The Institute's Founder, John Fox, brings 40 years of experience, having taught in a variety of graduate programs, and made ground-breaking written contributions to the field. The training program's structure and content was developed by John, with the support of IPM board members and IPM's national network of people working in the field of poetic medicine.

In 2020, John invited Cyra Dumitru, a graduate of the first Poetic Medicine cohort, to co-teach in the training. She brings decades of experience teaching creative writing in a holistic way. Building on the original curriculum John created, Cyra offers significant contributions to the growing, breathing structure of the training.

Students are mentored through this 3-phase training program and into their professional practice. Phase 1 is dedicated to personal work within the cohort, using John's book Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem-Making as its working text. Phase 2 reenforces the deep work experienced in the first phase while exploring how to share this work with others, emphasizing best practices in poetic medicine. Phase 3 is the academic and practicum stage—taking Poetic Medicine out into the world.

A range of guest mentors are available to students in Phase 3 as they apply this work to fields of medicine, education, psychology, pastoral & hospice care, social action, cancer support, grief work, earth & indigenous wisdom and contemplative practice.

This distance-learning/low-residency program includes on-line classes every three to four weeks plus four in-person colloquiums throughout the three phases of the training.