Poetry as Self-Care for Medical Practitioners | Dr. Jo Kelly and Dr. Shea Kelly-Buckley

Shea Kelly-Buckley, MD and Jo Kelly, MD

Poetry as Healing Work for Medical Practitioners

Note of introduction from John Fox regarding the following two pieces of writing by Dr. Johanna "Jo" Kelly and her daughter Dr. Mary Shea “Shea” Kelly-Buckley.

A significant part of my work over the decades has been bringing poetry and poem-making into medicine. That includes going to many medical schools, many hospitals. I have had a deep connection to the field of Medical Humanities.

The PBS documentary Healing Words: Poetry & Medicine broadcast in 2008 nationally, is a profound demonstration of this – hearing from both patients and doctors reveal how poetry and poem-making helps them.

Along the way, the pediatrician Jo Kelly and I crossed paths. It began for Jo when, as you'll read below in her own words:

One of my friends suggested I read John Fox’s books about poetry and medicine - Poetic Medicine and Finding What You Didn’t Lose.

It changed my trajectory into one of gratitude and attention to the many beautiful moments that occur in a day of having the privilege to care for my patients and their families.

Over the past year or so I learned from Jo that her daughter Shea became a doctor. Not only that … Shea too has made poetry and poem-making centrally significant to her practice. It is something that mother and daughter, fellow physicians, share.

I hope you will read and enjoy what they have to say.

Kindness,

John Fox, PPM

Founder, The Institute for Poetic Medicine

***

Dr. Jo:

Years ago before I started medical school I was told “you are too sensitive to be a doctor”. I ignored that and forged ahead into grueling training that was often devoid of time to take care of my own emotions. At one point, my career veered into a period of time when I served on a sexual abuse examiner team. Then I thought, maybe I AM too sensitive to do this work. One of my friends suggested I read John Fox’s books about poetry and medicine - “Poetic Medicine“ and “Finding What You Didn’t Lose”.

It changed my trajectory into one of gratitude and attention to the many beautiful moments that occur in a day of having the privilege to care for my patients and their families. Poetry helped me to take pause and appreciate all the facets of life. Feeling deeply no longer meant being “too sensitive” and it became my super power; my ability to connect with my patients deepened.

Writing poetry helped me feel what I needed to feel, embrace my own humanity, and enhance my practice of medicine and my ability to be present to my patients. I grew up being told to be positive and to minimize the negative and hard parts of life. Poetry and writing poems allows me to go deeply wherever I need to go without rules. I can say what I need to say directly, metaphorically or symbolically. I can have a tough day, come home and write and feel lighter and more grateful even if the poems are heavy or sad.

They are also a way to recognize joy in my days and to celebrate the most awesome parts of being a doctor or of just being a human. I also found it was a way for me to share some of myself with my daughter so I started to share poems with her. We also would share art. Sometimes, she would draw on a canvas and I would paint it. Often I would write a poem that went with the finished painting and then send it back to her.

It was a way we could stay connected as she left for college then medical school. We both find poetry deepening and comforting. Had I not discovered John Fox’s amazing work, I think my view of life would have been much more limited, my practice of medicine not as deep and my self care would not have been so life-giving. I learned from him that I can write poems and that there are many ways to do that and I learned not to judge what I write and to just be in it. It has been a gift and continues to be as I near the end of my career and move toward my retirement years.

Dr. Jo Kelly

***

Dr. Shea:

I feel so grateful that poetry has been a consistent thread for me throughout my whole life - and much of that I owe to my mom. I grew up watching my mom explore poetry and art as a way to process the hard work of taking care of patients, ground herself in her work, and stay present both to her patients during the work day but her life and her loved ones outside of the office. I loved learning about her work - and more importantly her experience of her work - through the poetry she shared with me.

I think it’s a big part of what ultimately helped me decide that I wanted to become a doctor. I wanted to have those deep, moving experiences she captured so beautifully. I have always admired her bravery and vulnerability in writing and sharing her work, and I have never felt that “fear” that some people feel around poetry when you have to learn it in school.

Poetry has always helped me shift from the ‘head space’ of school and medical training to a more whole-self kind of heart space that more reflects who I want to be both in the exam room and with all the people in my life. Poetry helps to gently challenge my own defense mechanisms around things that are deeply sad or hard or moving by giving me a safe way to feel them - at my own pace and on my own terms, which is especially important when you’re in the middle of being bombarded by new and hard things as a medical student.

I am hopeful that it can continue to be a tool for me to stay connected with my whole self - as a human first and a doctor second - as I continue to learn and grow and make my way in this privileged role as a healing professional.

Dr. Shea Kelly-Buckley