Poetry as a Tool for Wellness
For anyone interested in fostering a creative and therapeutic approach to wellness through the integration of Poetic Medicine into mental health and wellness programs. This program offers an opportunity to experience poetry-as-healer through our monthly poetry circles and training series.
About this Pathway
Each month we offer a "drop-in" session of the Poetry as a Tool for Wellness (PTW) 8-session series. This allows freedom for individuals to join when available and creates a unique gathering of poetry circle participants each month.
With an emphasis on creating both a safe and creative circle, participants are guided by experienced Peer Facilitators to approach poetry for self-understanding through reading, reflecting, and writing poetry. As always, sharing within the poetry circle is by invitation and is not necessary or expected.
The most effective training in utilizing PTW emerges from the experience of the medicine of poetry for yourself.
Whether the goal of attending these monthly sessions is to tap into the potential of poetry as a tool for wellness for one's self or to see what it might be like to bring it to others by facilitating poetry circles, these individual sessions invite time for the experience of the process of opening to the potential of poetry-as-healer.
For those wishing to become a Peer Facilitator of Poetry as a Tool for Wellness, the 9-week training curriculum includes four weeks of experiential sessions with a dedicated group of participants followed by sessions that invite more specific and active participation to hone skills of facilitation. This second part of the full 9-week series continues to offer the personal experience of poetic medicine, addresses four additional themes/skills, and actively involves participants in the practice of facilitation.
Having truly experienced the healing potential of poetry for one's self, the participant is able to speak about it with a natural authority and heartfelt conviction.
Please see the Upcoming Events page to learn more about specific monthly sessions and to register for those or the training series. If the live training is unavailable at a time that works for you a self-paced webinar option is available - the manual needs to be purchased in addition to the webinar. The live training is the preferred training method and is highly recommended.