Poetry as a Tool for Wellness — Facilitator Training

Facilitated by Athena McClendon and Cathey Capers

Poetry as a Tool for Wellness (PTW) is a culmination of over 20 years of ground-breaking practice utilizing poetry as a catalyst to enhance skills, affirm strengths, and nurture creativity in order to promote overall wellbeing. Piloted in settings focused on mental health, it has been found equally transformative and roundly received in a much broader context.

PTW is an ideal program for counselors, peer specialists, teachers, chaplains, healthcare/wellness coaches, community activists, support group facilitators, and anyone else interested in fostering a creative and therapeutic approach to wellness through the integration of Poetic Medicine into mental health and wellness programs.

This peer-facilitator training program has participants across the globe including people in Austrailia, Egypt, England, Hong Kong & Singapore.

The program is structured as eight themed, skills-based sessions outlined in a comprehensive manual. Emphasis is placed throughout on the interactive nature of each session that includes quotes, poems, discussion questions, writing activities/guided sharing and an Appendix of Facilitator Tools.

We offer the program as an 8-week training in two parts.  Part 1 will offer a four-week experience of poetry-as-healer that develops into the practical training offered during Part 2 honing the skills and allowing time within these four weeks to practice as a facilitator of the Poetry as a Tool for Wellness program.

The manual is included in the price of this training program as it serves as a vital adjunct to the training series. 

The Poetry as a Tool for Wellness: A Peer Facilitator's Manual includes:

• 8-week series of themed, skills-based sessions
• Quotes, poems, discussion questions, and writing activities
• Suggested scripts and actions
• Bonus session for hosting a celebratory poetry-reading event
• Appendix including tools and resources for peer facilitators
• Additional session add-ons

Additional themed sessions are regularly being developed - look for more information about these sessions later in 2023.