the poetry practice - writing your way to hope and healing
WHAT TO EXPECT IN A WORKSHOP

The word therapy may, at first, make some people uncomfortable. You can be intrigued by the idea of poetry as healing, while at the same time thinking, "I didn't come here for therapy!" Well, poetry therapy is not therapy in the way you might have previously experienced it. Let's look at what it is and even what it is not.

In the groups I facilitate, we won't be studying poetry. That is, we won't be talking about the style of a poem, or taking it apart line by line. Rather, we will be reacting to HOW IT MAKES US FEEL. While "what the poet might have meant" may come up, I am more interested in what it means to you. We'll talk about it as you might discuss a movie with friends after seeing it. You might say: "I really liked the part when..." or, "That part really bothered me." So we'll get to know each other as we get to know the poem. But we will not, at anytime, be "analyzing" each other. However, you will most likely find new insights about yourself. And there will be lots of group discussion.

We also use the poem as a springboard for our own writing. I might ask you to write something in response to a line in the poem. That's just one simple technique (among many), to get you going.

Most importantly, when we read poetry, we read it not with our minds, but with our hearts. In that way we will connect to whatever moves us. We don't even literally have to grasp the meaning of the entire poem - a line, a phrase, an image, may jump out and reach us. When you find a line, or a stanza that reaches out to you, it is your personal "way in" to the poem.

And when we write our own words - response poems or prose pieces - or fragments - we always keep in mind that we are not here as writers. This isn't about writing something that sounds good, that is finely edited and choreographed, but about writing in the same way we read - from our hearts. It's the language of our souls, from our deepest places.

When we go around the room to share what we've written (and you always have the option to say, "pass," as there may be something private that you want to keep to yourself, and I respect that instinct in you) - we will also hear from that very same place. Not as literary critics, but from our humanness. We won't comment on the perceived quality of another group members writing, but whatever emotions and thoughts it brings up. By responding to it that way, we honor it, the other person, and ourselves.

Workshops are safe spaces for the poetry practice participants to begin the process of exploration through sharing, writing, and experiencing the dynamic interaction of an intimate group. Discovering and uncovering pieces of ourselves in a room with others forms a circle of healing that both gives to and receives from others. You will find it to be a unique and comforting connection that greatly enhances how you perceive yourself and the world around you.

Back to top
Site by: fusionlab | integrated media design