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Twenty Years of Scholarship in the Journal of Poetry Therapy: The Collected

Abstracts
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Journal of Poetry Therapy
(June 2008), Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 63133
Twenty Years of Scholarship in the

Journal of Poetry Therapy: The
Collected Abstracts+
Nicholas Mazza, Ph.D.
Editor, Journal of Poetry Therapy
Downloaded By: [Florida State University Libraries] At: 20:15 12 June 2009
The Patricia V. Vance Professor of Social Work

Florida State University
College of Social Work
2512 University Center-C
296 Champions Way
Tallahassee, FL 32306-2570, USA
850-644-9702
nfmazza@fsu.edu
(Acknowledgement: Grateful appreciation is extended to Elizabeth Mason and Erica
Seery for their assistance in the preparation and collection of the abstracts)
Abstract
The abstracts from the inception (1987) of the Journal of Poetry Therapy to the end
of the previous volume year (2007) are presented in this report.
Keywords: Arts, bibliotherapy, community, education, journal therapy, language

arts, narrative therapy, poetry therapy, research, symbol, storytelling
In an effort to provide a comprehensive picture of the scholarship (practice, theory,

research, and education) on poetry therapy produced in the Journal of Poetry Therapy
(JPT), there is a departure from the usual format containing articles, columns, and
poetry. This issue contains the cumulative abstracts from Volume 1 Number1 (1987)
through Volume 20 Number 4 (2007). In 1998, Dissertation Abstracts, a column
containing abstracts of dissertations relating to poetry therapy was initiated (with the
gracious permission of Dissertation Abstracts International/ProQuest) to advance
the research base of poetry therapy. The collected reference information on these
abstracts will be provided in the next issue of JPT.
As I noted in the last issue, the Journal of Poetry Therapy is a home for language,
symbol, and story in community practice, therapy, education, and the arts. A review
+
The abstracts in Volume 1 Number 1 through Volume 15 Number 4 of the Journal of Poetry Therapy
are reprinted with the kind permission from Springer Publishing (http://www.springer.com/psychology/
psychology+general/journal/10938).
ISSN 0889-3675 print # 2008 National Association for Poetry Therapy
DOI: 10.1080/08893670802128424
64 Scholarship and Poetry Therapy
of the abstracts indicates that JPT is indeed interdisciplinary and contains a wide
variety of material that has advanced the practice and research base of poetry therapy.
In the Editors Note of Volume 1 Number 1, I wrote: The Journal pages will
be open to a wide range of theories, techniques, philosophies, and research
methods . . . The Journal is arriving amidst high tech times with a concomitant
search for scientific validation of therapeutic approaches. The Journal of Poetry
Therapy has the potential to make a contribution to the restoration of the balance
between art and science . . . This is a most exciting challenge (p.3). It is for the
readership to determine the extent that this challenge has been met and what new
ones are before us.
In that first issue of JPT, I reflected on the importance of the heart of
scholarship by mentioning how my children (Nicole, age 5 and Chris, age 2) joined
me in my work on the Journal by bringing in their toys, coloring book, and crayons. It
appeared to me that colors and honesty of language were central in 1987 and I still
believe that they remain central today in a time of evidence-based practice. The
evidence should come from multiple sources (e.g., traditional research designs,
case studies, practitioner reports, creative works, etc.). Through the years of
scholarship noted in this piece, the word remains as its passed on for practice,
research, or personal/professional growth. The balance of artistic and scientific
discipline reminds us that our work is a human thing.
Volume 1, Number 1 (Fall 1987)
Title: Artisan or Genuis: Two Views of Poetic Process (pp. 513)

Author: Helen Jaskoski
Abstract: Historically there have been two ways of conceptualizing the process of
writing poems: one object centered and the other process-centered. Etymology of
terms for poetry reflects these historical understandings, and the ideas can be traced
through many cultures. Although interactive in the actual practice of poets, the two
notions are theoretically incompatible. These two ways of thinking about poetic
process determine the individuals definition of and criteria for good poetry.
Implications of these theories for the poetry therapist include necessary theoretical
foundation, progress toward a definition of poetry, understanding of clients reactions
to poems and poetry-writing, possible understanding of suicide of certain poets.
Title: Poetry Generated by Stillbirth and Livebirth: Transgenerational Sharing of

Grief and Joy (pp. 1422)
Author: Owen. F. Heninger
Abstract: This article preserves, in poetry, emotional reactions to the dire event of a
stillbirth and the subsequent joyous occasion of a livebirth. These poems give access to the
profound experience of a bereaved mother and her father, directly following the calamity
of a stillbirth. They also capture the rousing response to a livebirth that came 25 months
later. Writings from the mothers grandparents complete this record of shared response
across three generations. Finally, some implications are given on the therapeutic benefits
of writing poetry to help resolve grief and develop active mastery over traumatic events.
Scholarship and Poetry Therapy 65
Title: Darth Vader: Masks, Power, and Meaning (pp. 2330)

Author: Stephen Rojcewicz
Abstract: The psychiatric treatment of a schizophrenic male with the delusion that
he was Darth Vader stimulated an investigation into this character from the Star Wars
movies. The name itself is infused with inherent contradictions and multiple
meanings. Vader is related to Indo-Aryan terms for father*pater in Latin,
Vater in German, vader in Middle English. Darth is a perfect word for
ambiguity, meaning both glory and scarcity in Middle English, with suggestions
of dark, death, and dare. The black mask emphasizes rigidity and mystery.
Since there are no facial movements visible, the characters and viewers cannot
accurately judge the feelings or intentions, enhancing the sense of threat. The mask
also indicates a secret to be hidden, and an urge to unmask others. The enormous
power of Darth Vader adds to his fascination.
Volume 1, Number 2 (Winter 1987)
Title: Poetry Therapy in a Womens Growth Group on the MotherDaughter

Relationship (pp. 6776)
Author: Geri Giebel Chavis
Abstract: The article sets forth the goals and format of a 12-week womens growth
group that explored the issues and features common to the motherdaughter
connection during the various stages of the life-cycle. The author focuses on the ways
in which she incorporated poetry and writing activities into the group experience and
describes several vignettes that illustrate how poetry functions as an effective medium
for tapping memories, fostering spontaneity, evoking feelings, stimulating insights,
and helping group members generate alternative attitudes and behavior in relation to
their mothers and/or daughters.
Title: Poetry as a Key to the Unlocking of the Self (pp. 7787)

Author: Aaron Kramer
Abstract: In a series of brief narratives, the author demonstrates poetrys self-
explanatory and self-expressive powers. He includes experiences with emotionally
disturbed preschoolers, hospitalized schizophrenic children, brain injured and
autistic preadolescents, adolescent victims of advanced cerebral palsy and dystonia
muscularum deformans, adults schizophrenics both hospitalized in halfway houses,
withdrawn elderly, and a woman terminally ill. Examples of their creative work
underscore the dramatic process of self-liberation that occurred in each instance.
Title: Poetry Therapy in the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (pp. 88
94)
Author: Ronald Pies
Abstract: There is little information in the clinical literature on the use of poetry
therapy in well-defined borderline personality disordered patients. The potential for
psychotic or violent regression in such patients demands caution in applying poetic-
expressive techniques. However, the dichotomous nature of poetry may lend itself
well to the complementary structural deficits of borderline patients. The emotive

aspects of the poem may permit the patient to engage in the work, while the more
rational, structured aspects of the poem facilitate personality integration.
Title: The Poetics of a Check Out Place: Preventing Burnout and Promoting Self-
Renewal (pp. 95102)
Author: Samuel T. Gladding
Abstract: The article emphasizes the importance of a check out place within a
professional therapists life in order to prevent burnout and promote positive wellness
and self-renewal. Three time periods*past, present, and future*are concentrated
on and specific metaphorical and poetic exercises that clinicians can use in dealing
with each are recommended.
Volume 1, Number 3 (Spring 1988)
Title: The Value of Fiction as Therapeutic Recreation and Developmental

Mediator: A Theoretical Framework (pp. 135148)
Author: Joseph Gold
Abstract: Fiction has developed as a human medium of expression to assist people
in adapting to the complexities of social organization. Fiction extracts readers from
the immersion in personal confusion and decontextualizes them to permit the
reformation of responses. Fiction uses narrative to engage the reader emotionally,
while generating new and newly arranged information so that cognitive shift can take
place. The results of this are improved problem-solving skills, a greater sense of
normality, a breakup of rigid and confusing cognitive frameworks, improved
socialization, and increased self-actualization. Given these benefits, fiction reading
should be generally encouraged and consciously directed. More specifically such
reading can be regarded as an exceptionally useful tool in the treatment of
developmental blocks, periods of stress and life crisis, and in certain cognitive
dysfunctions involving self-concept, self-esteem, and interpersonal relations.
Title: The Wizard of Oz in the Land of the Id: A Bibliotherapy Approach (pp. 149
156)
Author: Sherry Reiter
Abstract: This essay provides a perspective on the use of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
as a bibliotherapeutic tool in group therapy. An example of theme extraction in a
session is provided. Philosophical and theoretical issues are briefly considered.
Title: An Evaluation of Interactive Bibliotherapy in a Clinical Setting (pp. 157168)

Authors: Charles Rossiter and Rosalie Brown
Abstract: Assessments by ward senior staff of 25 bibliotherapy groups offered by 17
different facilitators between 1977 and 1986 at St. Elizabeths Hospital, Washington,
D.C. were analyzed. Questionnaires completed by the staff indicate that they are
consistently positive in their evaluation of bibliotheraphy as a modality. The staff
believe bibliotherapy promotes a higher quality of interaction among patients and
that, in the hospital setting, the modality is particularly beneficial to patients who are
withdrawn, socially isolated and/or have been hospitalized for many years, as well as
for stabilized admissions. Patients who benefit least are those whose deficiencies in
thinking, attending, verbalizing are so great as to make meaningful participation
impossible.
Title: Metaphoric Communication and the Psychotherapeutic Process (pp. 169

181)
Author: Lewis B. Morgan
Abstract: The use of metaphors in psychotherapy is discussed, including Milton H.
Ericksons contribution in this area. Suggestions are given for the construction and
delivery of therapeutic metaphors. Two abridged metaphors which were used with an
actual client are included, as well as the clients poetic responses.
Volume 1, Number 4 (Summer 1988)
Title: Processing Possible Selves in Possible Worlds Through Poetry (pp. 207220)
Author: Marguerite Nelson Creskey
Abstract: This article is a report of a special project on the use of poetry to enhance
self-understanding with learning disabled students (ages 612). The purpose of the
project was to utilize poetry to provide exposure to achievement imagery and
practices in expressing self-determination. The reading, discussing, and writing of
poetry was consistent with the progression of steps leading to self-determined
behavior.
Title: Poetry as a Healing Force in Later Adulthood: The Case of Nezahualcoyotl

(pp. 221228)
Author: Martin Wasserman
Abstract: This paper investigated how Nezahualcoyotl, a fifteenth century Aztec
poet used writing as a healing force in his later adult years. The author concluded
that the poetry served as a therapeutic resource for Nezahualcoyotl to resolve a crisis
of despair.
Title: Poetry and Technical Proficiency in Brief Therapy: Bridging Art and Science
(pp. 310)
Author: Nicholas Mazza
Abstract: The use of the poetic is examined with respect tot the technical
characteristics common to various forms of brief psychotherapy. In considering the
compatibility of poetry and brief therapy, it is suggested that poetry can serve as a
therapeutic agent in promoting client change. Implications for practice and
directions for further research conclude the report.
Title: Working Through Grief By Poetry Writing (pp. 1119)

Author: Art Berger
Abstract: A brief is given on the therapeutic value of writing in working through the
grief process. The author then presents two of his own poems that helped him work
through the loss of his mother and brother.
Title: Healing Images in Poetry: Liberating Creativity and Nurturing the Self (pp.
2024)
Author: Mary Quattlebaum
Abstract: Living creatively and fluidly often depends on an adults ability to play.
A workshop was designed to enhance awareness of the importance of play for adults
and to provide imaging strategies helpful to therapists, teachers, and poets.
Title: Poetry, Healing, and Making Whole

Author: Betty S. Flowers
Abstract: This essay provides a perspective on the integrative healing aspects of
poetry.
Title: Poetry Therapy with Frail Elderly in a Nursing Home (pp. 7283)
Author: Sue Silvermarie
Abstract: This study examined the relative efficacy of a poetry group which
encourages the expression of memories and imagination among frail elderly residents
of a nursing home over a period of nine months.
Title: Agony, A Womb of Poetry. Why? (pp. 145154)

Author: J. Bardarah McCandless, Ph. D.
Abstract: The creative process of formulating poetic imagery during therapy may
control, integrate, and communicate emotional distress. Poetic writing may exert
control by containing pain, naming it, balancing its destructive potential, giving
aesthetic expression to it, providing distance from it, and recording it. The effort to
construct imagery may also foster integration of previously unknown feelings by first
revealing and interpreting them, and then weaving new interpretations of the past
into present self-understandings. Through poetic imagery one may also commu-
nicate with others in order to gain emotional support or, more importantly, to share
insights which may sooth other persons pain.
Title: Poetry as a Therapeutic Tool Within an Adolescent Group Setting (pp. 155
160)
Author: Pamilla Juanita Cohen-Morales
Abstract: Creating poetry can be a therapeutic method of allowing deep-rooted

feelings and experiences to be expressed. When the creation of poetry can be shared
within a group context it can enhance the experience for all members, helping to
provide cohesion and acting as a catalyst. The techniques discussed in this paper
include: introducing poetry, having members bring a song or poem that they found
to have personal relevance, and finally writing poetry within a group and discussing
emotional issues raised by the poems. Through this process group members learn a
new way of self-expression and find the experience therapeutic.
Title: Poetry and Feminist Social Work (pp. 221230)

Author: Kris Kissman
Abstract: This paper explores how the use of poetry can be included in feminist
social work as a method of empowerment and consciousness raising among women.
Poetry and other literary writings by women serve as examples of the common
experiences of subgroups of women who are connected by a unifying voice through
the universe through literature.
Title: Poetry and Therapeutic Factors in Group Therapy (pp. 231241)

Author: Marion Goldstein
Abstract: This paper describes the ways in which the use of poetry in group therapy
facilitates therapeutic goals consistent with interpersonal theory. A discussion of the
relationship between poetic interventions and Yaloms therapeutic factors in followed
by a case example of an inpatient therapy group. The identification of strengths and
limitations of using poetry in therapy conclude the report.
Title: Poetry on the Final Common Pathway to the Psychotherapies: Private Self,
Social Self, Self in the World (pp. 517)
Author: Kenneth Gorelick
Abstract: The place of poetry within five major schools of psychotherapy is briefly
examined. The process of self-creation is presented as a final common pathway for
poetry and therapy. Specific principles of poetry therapy are applied to schizophrenic
patients. An identification of key issues pertaining to the role of the therapist and the
field of poetry therapy conclude the article.
Title: Bibliotherapy: An Effective Principal and Supplementary Method of Healing,

Correcting, and Administering Relief (pp. 1921)
Author: Alexander Alekseychik
Abstract: This article contains a summary of a bibliotherapy approach that has been
used in the Vilnuis Republic Psychiatric Hospital in the Soviet Union for over two
decades. Prescribed reading of fiction and nonfiction is used for diagnostic and
treatment purposes. General and specific healing factors are utilized.
Title: Reading Guidance: Death and Grief (pp. 2328)

Author: Alice Gullen Smith
Abstract: Guidelines are given for the librarian using reading guidance. A brief
annotated bibliography on the subject of death and grief is provided.
Title: Center for Applied Humanities (pp. 2931)

Authors: Sara M. Deats and Lagretta T. Lenker
Abstract: This role and function of the Center for Applied Humanities at the
University of South Florida is briefly discussed. Particular attention is given to
programs relating literary perspectives to social and psychological problems.

Title: Reading as a Group Process Phenomenon: A Theoretical Framework for

Bibliotherapy (pp. 7383)
Author: Laura J. Cohen
Abstract: Based on Shrodess (1949) model of bibliotherapy and Yaloms (1985)
research on the therapeutic factors in group therapy, this paper presents a unifying
theoretical framework for bibliotherapy. Research and practice implications are
drawn for both individual and group therapy.
Title: The Therapeutic Behavior Scale: A Tool for Training, Therapist Self-
Assesment, and Research (pp. 8595)
Author: Charles Rossiter
Abstract: This article reports the development of the Therapeutic Behavior Scale, a
6 item scale which is used to assess verbal therapeutic behaviors. Data reported here
suggests that the TBS has adequate internal consistency, inter-rater reliability and
construct validity and can be useful for training, therapist self-assessment and
research about therapeutic processes and outcomes.
Title: About Collaborative Poetry Writing (pp. 97105)

Author: Karen Chase
Abstract: This paper describes how a poet at work in a mental hospital can help
chronic patients recapture the use of language and expressiveness. Methods of
collaborative poetry writing are described, as well as the rationale for the use of this
approach. A variety of cases and methods are discussed.
Title: Poems on AIDS Express a Patchwork of Emotions (pp. 107109)

Author: Nancy Pate
Abstract: The development of an anthology of poems on AIDS in discussed in this
brief report.
Title: Intimacy in Human Relationships: Linking Education and Practice Through

Creative Methods (pp. 145154)
Author: Jannah J. Hurn
Abstract: The linking of education and practice in the field of social work has long
been a goal of both educators and practitioners. This paper presents an example of
an enrichment course that focuses on this linkage through creative methods involving
poetry and music. Implications for further application and research are noted.
Title: The Poem as Therapy: Catalyst for the Epiphanies of Creative Growth (pp.
155166)
Author: Will Kir-Stimon, Ph. D.
Abstract: This paper is an exploration of some of the similarities and differences

between the intent of poetry and psychotherapy. There appears to be considerable
congruence with reference to their theoretical bases and raison detre. Major focus is
on linguistic and craft aspects, with some discussion of both the formal and
unconscious aspects of poetry as they relate to different therapeutic styles. In an
existential frame of reference, the poetic experience provides for self-discovery and
creative growth as well as an outlet for cognitive and affective expression. Some
parallels are drawn with implications for therapy.
Title: Poetry as Therapy: Self and World Analysis (pp. 167171)

Author: Mark Antony Rossi
Abstract: This brief report provided a perspective on poetry as therapy that involves
a quest for self-identity and association to the world
Title: Poetry and Group Process: Restoring Heart and Mind (pp. 221227)
Abstract: The author provides a chronicle of a poetry session that he conducted as
poet in a state mental hospital
Title: Poetry and Childhood Trauma (pp. 229233)

Author: Richard L. Sartore
Abstract: Reaching traumatized children by employing poetic metaphors is an
effective means of resolving trauma. An understanding of the metaphoric language of
poetry is crucial if healthy change is to result. Since poetry is frequently in figurative
language, traumatized children understand and relate to this communication
concept.
Title: Two Poems from a Narcissistic Transference (pp. 235240)

Author: Caroline Scielzo
Abstract: This paper examines two specific analysand poems to show how the
spontaneous and solicited creative writing of poems accurately monitored and
expressed emotional growth within a transference relationship that was then able to
be utilized in real life interactions.
Volume 4, Number 1 (Fall, 1990)
Title: A New Criterion for Selecting Poems for Use in Poetry Therapy (pp. 511)
Authors: Charles Rossiter, Rosalie Brown, Samuel T. Gladding
Abstract: The effect of poem selection on therapeutic process and outcome was
investigated in this qualitative study of poetry therapy. An analysis of poem-therapist-
participant interaction was based on an examination of the use of three different
poems by three different therapists in a variety of contexts. The authors conclude
that the success or failure of poems is based in part, on what the therapist and
poem ask of a client
Title: Poetry and Metaphor as Instruments in Promoting Human Rights in

Counseling (pp. 1320)
Author: Samuel T. Gladding
Abstract: This article examines the uses of poetry and metaphor in promoting the
human rights of silence/thought; discovery/awareness; communication bridges; being
creative; and altering perceptions while promoting hope
Title: Poetry in the Prisons: Coming Back up with Light (pp. 2126)
Author: Ken Denberg
Abstract: The author discusses the role of poetry writing in prisons. Drawing from
his experiences as NEA Writer-in-the-Prisons, he provides examples from poems that
appeared in his anthology of prison writing
Volume 4, Number 2 (Winter, 1990)
Title: Poetry: An Avenue into the Spirit (pp. 7181)

Author: Arleen McCarty Hynes
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of biblio/poetry therapy as
an avenue into the spirit that can promote individual integration and global
awareness. The philosophical and psychological underpinnings linking the poetic
and the spiritual are reviewed. The theme of the paper is developed through the
acrostic, S-P-I-R-I-T, referring to spirituality, perception, insight, relevancy,
integration, and totality.
Title: Poetic Interventions with Forensic Patients (pp 8392)

Authors: Art Berger and Marti Giovan
Abstract: The use of poetry, music, and creative writing with forensic patients at a
state mental health institute is examined in this paper. It was demonstrated that
expressive interventions were helpful in group treatment by promoting verbalization,
decision-making, and the recognition of personal responsibility for incarceration.

(This paper is from a book-in-work Mind Menders.)
Volume 4, Number 3 (Spring, 1991)
Title: Storytelling and the Therapeutic Process: The Tellers Trance (pp. 149163)
Author: Scott Johnson
Abstract: Storytelling is a widely used and long established technique in therapy. Yet
while much has been said of the effects of storytelling on the listener, little has been
said about its effects on its tellers. The author looks at brief examples of storytelling
from the work of Hesse, a student paper, and one of the authors poems, and raises
questions about their autotherapeutic effect.
Title: Scripture as Narrative and Therapy (pp. 149163)

Authors: Thomas Edward Smith and Susan Counsell
Abstract: The role of the Scripture within therapy is examined and recommenda-
tions are made on how and when it should be used. A rationale is given on why
secular therapists should use the Scriptures and what role objectivity plays in such
practice. Differences between therapeutic practice with Old and New Testament
passages are described. Different roles for therapists who use the Scripture are also
described. Contraindications for the use of Scripture are given with attention to the
therapists position.
Volume 4, Number 4 (Summer, 1991)
Title: Using Original Music to Explore Gender and Sexuality with Adolescents
(pp. 205220)
Author: Gordon R. Hodas
Abstract: This paper discusses the use of original music in the treatment of
adolescents-individually, in groups, and with their families. The approach expands
the therapist-client relationship at the same time that it stimulates new adaptive
possibilities. Particular focus is on how the therapist can use music to explore the
often difficult areas of gender and sexuality with teenagers. The specific songs also
have potential applicability beyond the treatment context in high schools, health
clinics, and elsewhere.
Title: Narrative, Symbol, and Psychotherapy: Emotion as Experienced Action and

Enactment of a Gesture (pp. 221234)
Author: Thomas R. Bell
Abstract: This paper explores a view of both art and therapeutic emotion as primary
acts of mind, or lived experiences. Processes of artistic gesture or emotional
enactment construct symbols from personal (body or physiological) and interperso-
nal (object or social) contexts. Felt action tendencies occur in the spaces between self
and body, and between self and object. Adequate research and theory in emotion,
art, and therapy requires acknowledgement of these processes as they symbolize and
construct these relationships. An understanding of these processes as experienced

and enacted calls for a narrative rather than a paradigmatic approach
Title: Verbalizing Silent Screams: The Use of Poetry to Identify the Belief Systems of
Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse (pp. 520)
Author: Mary Beth Williams
Abstract: Survivors of child sexual abuse utilize belief systems to organize the
meaning of their experiences of abuse. These beliefs about safety, trust, power, self-
esteem, and intimacy form the assumptive framework for evaluation, appraisal, and
information processing. In this paper, two methods are introduced to aid the
therapist in gaining access to the survivors often guarded belief system: a) the
Williams-McPearl Belief Scale, a 31 item scale designed to measure beliefs of trauma

survivors in the above areas, and b) the review of subjective writings (e.g., poetry and
journal entries) of survivors. The primary focus of this article is on the poetry of
survivors as it provides a vehicle for them to come to voice and allow their silent
screams to be heard. Poetry and journal writing have healing qualities and can prove
to be valuable assessment, treatment, and evaluative tools for the trained therapist
familiar with the recurring abuse-damage themes of survivors.
Title: A Veterans Recovery and the Use of Poetry Therapy (pp. 2129)
Author: Debra J. Bowman
Abstract: The use of poetry therapy by a social worker on an acute care psychiatric
ward in a VA Medical Center is examined. A case example of a homeless, alcoholic
male suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder is provided. The patients poetry
writing proved to be an effective and efficient therapeutic tool that facilitated the
expression of intense feelings, opened communication between the patient and his
family, and was a source of strength in maintaining sobriety. Examples of the
patients poems are included.
Title: Poetry and the Abused Child: The Forest and Tinted Plexiglass (pp. 7983)
Author: Michael B. DeMaria
Abstract: This paper explores poetry as a phenomenological access point to the
world of the abused child. In so doing, poetry serves a threefold function: (1) a
window into the childs world, (b) a way to track the abused childs progress along
the recovery process, and (c) a tool for transforming abused childrens world, by
allowing them to find their own unique voice. These functions are illustrated through
case vignettes
Title: The Bible as Biblio-source for Poetry Therapy (pp. 95103)

Author: Shulamit Ritblatt, Janet H. Ter Louw
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of the Bible as a resource in
therapy. The authors provide a Bible Resource Subject Index (e.g., communication,
depression, and incest) and offer several techniques on the differential use of the
Bible in individual and group therapy. A brief example and discussion of the use of
the Bible in social work with groups concludes the report.
Title: A Haiku Psychotherapist: On Giving Up Writing Haiku as a Way of Being in

the World (pp. 105112)
Author: Vin Rosenthal
Abstract: After twenty-six years of writing as a Disciple of haiku I discover I am
finished and that an imperative question has taken the place of haiku in my life.

Title: Writing to Heal: Therapeutic Uses of Creative Writing by Adult Survivors of

Incest (pp. 135142)
Author: Marie T. Burns
Abstract: This paper examines the use of creative writing by adult survivors of incest
both as a self-help technique and as an adjunct to therapy. A survey of the popular
and professional literature on incest revealed that creative writing is often
recommended to survivors. Writing can be useful in helping survivors validate their
experiences, recover memories, express feelings, and communicate with self and
others. The specific needs of incest survivors around safety and boundary issues
should be considered, however, and some cautions are noted.
Title: Poetry and Children of Alcoholics: Breaking the Silence (pp. 143151)
Author: Martha Dyer
Abstract: This paper addresses the use of poetry as a therapeutic means of breaking
silence with survivors of an alcoholic household. The author examines some of her
own poetry as descent images and links ancient myth to the journey of contemporary
women.
Title: Poetry and Dying (pp. 153160)

Abstract: This essay demonstrates some of the roles poetry can play as people
confront the death of loved ones and their own dying. The first half deals mainly with
a creative outpouring, sustained for eight years, by means of which the great German
poet Heine transformed his agony into triumphant art. The second half chronicles a
moment in the lives of college students completing a thanatology course. The poetry
of two participants, both in advanced stages of neurological disease and totally
speech-impaired, was read aloud by others. Whatever impulse to patronize and
pity might have existed at the outset, it soon became clear that through poetry*the
courageous instrument of their terrors and wishes and questionings*these young
people spoke for us all, taught us all how to approach our morality.
Title: Exploring Lyric, Epic, and Dramatic Voices: Stages of Incandescence in the
Poetry of the Aged (pp. 197218)
Author: M. Ann Reed
Abstract: Relative to Jungian therapist Kanes finding that retrieval of imagination
indicates healing, this study explores what happens between the poets images, which
draw us outside ourselves, and the poets lyric, epic, and dramatic voices, which not
only guide us between imagination and self, but allow new relationships to form
between self and psyche. True relationships between psyche and lyric, epic, and
dramatic voices are identified and discussed as they unweave unwholesome
relationships and engage the elderlys power to create images*to recover imagina-
tion. Ways lyric-epic-dramatic voice relationships can be used diagnostically and to
document growth are suggested.
Title: Infertility and Crisis: Self-discovery and Healing through Poetry Writing
(pp. 219226)
Author: Anne Barney
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of poetry writing as a
means of coping with the crisis of infertility. Noting how the crisis of infertility
reawakens earlier conflicts, the author provides a personal narrative on how her own
poetry served as a tool for self-discovery and healing. Attention is given to both
individual and couple issues. Specific advantages of poetry writing, within the
context of psychotherapy include: (a) problem-solving, (b) expression of feelings, (c)
insight, (d) couple communication, and (e) individual and couple growth.
Title: Commonalities among the Creative Arts Therapies as a Basis for Research
Collaboration (pp. 227235)
Abstract: Poetry therapy is similar to the other creative arts therapies not only in its
use of creative processes and products, but also in its intrinsic positiveness, gentle
indirectness, and breadth of appeal and application. These commonalities suggest
that collaborative research efforts among poetry therapists and other creative arts
therapists can lead to new understandings of the processes and effects of creative arts
therapies.
Title: The Bardic Mystery and the Dew Drop in the Rose: The Poet in the
Therapeutic Process (pp. 526)
Author: M. Ann Reed
Abstract: This study responds to Jungian therapist Kanes findings that most clients
need therapists to help them descend into their own bodies and let their old selves
die*that descent is renewing only if activated and supported by Self, not by memory
of coerced death. Research of the ancient Bardic Mystery, which incorporates the
Eleusynian, indicates such descent is renewing only when activated and supported by
lyric, epic, and dramatic voices in harmonic relationships. Descriptive of Bardic
Mystery and the poets role of unweaving unwholesome lyric-epic-dramatic voice
relationships, the study identifies implications for poet-therapist-client relationships.
Title: Poetry Therapy in Counseling the Troubled Adolescent (pp. 2734)

Author: Daniel O. Bowman
Abstract: This paper suggests several ways in which poetry may be used as a creative
vehicle for self-discovery; presents by example the revelation of adolescent conflicts
relating to death, sex-role identity, and conformity as expressed in poems composed
by the adolescent client; and discusses several therapeutic implications of the use of
poetry in counseling. Poetry therapy is discussed within the framework of actualizing
counseling, the primary treatment modality.
Title: Healing the Mother/Daughter Relationship through the Therapeutic Use of

Fairy Tales, Poetry, and Stories (pp. 3544)
Author: Linda L. Whitaker
Abstract: The author explores several diverse elements of the complex mother/
daughter relationship and presents creative therapeutic means to facilitate under-
standing and healing through the use of poetry, fairy tales, and stories. Published
literature is cited and specific practical prescriptives are offered for therapeutic
intervention with individuals, families, and groups. Interpretation of these genres
into therapy sessions expands the clients awareness of their own and others
experiences, demythologizes ineffective and damaging cultural expectations, and
suggests ways to redefine and transform the mother/daughter bond.
Title: Newspaper-Based Instruction as a Catalyst for Poetry Writing (pp. 7385)

Authors: Barbara C. Palmer, Mary Cozean Alexander, Karla Lynn Kelsay, and
Marilyn F. Sharp
Abstract: This study examines the use of the newspaper as a vehicle for poetry
writing in the alternative classroom. Case histories were taken and interviews were
conducted with two adolescents who were assigned to a residential drug treatment
center. Their poems and those of several other students, which were written
following newspaper-based instruction, are presented and discussed. Results of a
one-year follow-up interview and implications for practice conclude this report.
Title: Poets in Combat: Muse of Fire (pp. 8794)

Author: Angela Belli
Abstract: The verse of poets who have been inspired by their wartime experiences is
examined to reveal how poetry can serve a therapeutic function for individuals under
combat conditions. Examples taken for discussion are drawn from the work of
representative British and American poets from World War I through the Vietnam
War.
Title: Prescriptive Literature: Story and Lyric as Therapy (pp. 95100)

Author: Charles R. Perakis
Abstract: Stories, poems, and other fictional forms are advocated as healing agents
in the distinctive configuration of The Physicians Desk Reference, a comprehensive
description of the drugs physicians prescribe. The prescribing information for
Prescriptive Literature includes the description, clinical pharmacology, kinetics and
metabolism, indications and usage, contraindications, precautions, adverse reac-
tions, over dosage, dosage and administration, and how supplied. Prescriptive
Literature is a largely untapped resource that properly administered can serve as a
valuable cure for many human ailments.
Volume 6, Number 3 (Spring, 1993)

Title: Adverse Reaction to Poetry Therapy: A Case Report (pp. 143147)

Author: Ronald Pies
Abstract: The author presents a case analysis of a patient with Borderline
Personality Disorder and PTSD who underwent significant regression in response
to poetic material during a therapy session. Noting the need for research, a
prototypical questionnaire (Poetic Response Assessment Scale) to assess a patients
response to a particular literary work is provided.
Title: Poetic Responses to Art: Summoning the Adolescent Voice (pgs. 149156)
Author: Marilyn Bates
Abstract: This paper explores high school students poetic responses to artwork.
Adolescent writers are able to objectify their feelings about sensitive issues when they
interact with art, giving voice to concerns that are too touchy to openly discuss in the
classroom but are a part of their increasingly complex world. Oftentimes the
therapeutic value of these responses include catharsis, insight, and the individuals
sense of personal worth.
Title: Vince (pp. 157160)

Author: Frank Polite
Abstract: The author (a vocational rehabilitation counselor) narrates how client-
counselor rapport based on shared human experience, rather than counseling
techniques and medical models, can lead to revelation and realization.
Title: Self-Healing through Poetry Writing (pp. 161168)

Author: Lianne Elizabeth Mercer
Abstract: The author (a psychiatric nurse) provides a personal perspective on the
self-healing aspects of writing poetry.
Title: Runaway with Words: Teaching Poetry to At-risk Teens (pp. 213227)
Author: Joann Gardner
Abstract: This article reports on Runaway with Words, a poetry workshop for at-
risk teens in Floridas runaway shelters. Through various exercises, oral recitations,
and conversations, troubled teens learn basic writing skills that help them gain
control over their emotions. Students, counselors, and instructors alike are asked to
participate in the workshop, thus increasing the approachability of the adults and
providing a crucial distinction between this experience and school. In the year and a
half of the programs existence, Runaway with Words has interacted with a variety of
children from a variety of backgrounds. Poems taken from the programs work with
PACE and The Village School in Orlando demonstrate what can be achieved
artistically in a relatively short period of time.
Title: Poetry as a Health Care Management Tool (pp. 229234)

Author: Ralph K. Allen
Abstract: An overlooked, or certainly infrequently seen form of management

communique is the poem. Health care management provides a set of examples*
demonstrating psychotherapeutic value to the variety of groups living and working in
such a setting. Poetry is shown to be an artful partner not only as a therapeutic tool,
but also to have purposeful value in management practice.
Title: Vanilla Fudge Beer and Poetic Inspiration (pgs. 235238)

Author: Virginia V. James Hlavsa
Abstract: This narrative on the therapeutic benefits of writing poetry examines the
creative process in relation to reading misperceptions and to useful delays in word
retrieval. The author suggests that a particular learning disability may signal a
creative capability.
Title: The Therapist as a Poet (pp. 520)

Author: Mary Rubin
Abstract: This article discusses how the therapists creative works, developed in
response to the patient/therapist relationship, and shared with the patient, promote
progress in treatment. Included are examples of the therapists poetry and drawings
which were produced during two years working as an art psychotherapist in a drug
and alcohol abuse day treatment program.
Title: For Every Season . . . Art and Poetry Therapy with Terminally Ill Patients
(pp. 2143)
Author: Diane Hodges
Abstract: A program using art and poetry therapy with terminally ill patients is
described in this paper. The creative writings of two patients are presented.
Discussion and implications for practice conclude the paper.
Title: Permit to Grieve (pp. 4549)

Author: Georgia Thomas Henry
Abstract: This narrative focuses on the use of writing poetry to assist in the
movement through the cycle of grief which is presented as somewhat unpredictable
in substance and in sequence.
Title: The Therapeutic Use of Reading: A Qualitative Study (pp. 7383)

Author: Laura J. Cohen, Ph. D.
Abstract: This paper presents a qualitative study of therapeutic reading intended to
provide understanding of the process underlying bibliotherapy. Using the Colaizzi
(1978) method, interviews with eight participants were analyzed and the structure of
the experience and characteristics of therapeutic reading identified.
Title: The Therapeutic Potential of Synges Riders to the Sea (pp. 8590)
Author: Jane Marston
Abstract: The essay describes an insight achieved, during the authors own therapy,
through her knowledge of Synges play (though the reading of the play was not a
formal part of therapy). While her growing self-understanding helped her to better
comprehend the play, the issues of the play, conversely, enriched her understanding
of issues in her own and her mothers life. As an addendum, the author included an
original poem which, she hopes, reveals some of what she has experienced in therapy,
an event which has, from the start, helped to release her own voice.
Title: Jack the Giant Tamer: Poetry Writing in the Treatment of Paranoid
Schizophrenia (pp. 9194)
Author: Constance Silver
Abstract: The author provides a brief case report on the use of poetry writing in the
treatment of a patient with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.
Volume 7, Number 3, (Spring 1994)
Title: Poetry Therapy: Toward a Research Agenda for the 1990s (pp. 121136)
Author: Nicholas Mazza, Ph.D., R.P.T.
Abstract: Poetry therapy goes beyond the use of poems and poetry writing in
therapy. It has a pluralistic base that has evolved through the exploration and
evaluation of the therapeutic aspects of the language arts in various helping and
educational capacities. The purview of poetry therapy included bibliotherapy,
narrative, and metaphor. Poetry therapy has been considered an ancillary technique,
method of practice, therapeutic entity, and philosophy of practice. Moreover, the
National Association for Poetry Therapy has standards and procedures in place for
Certified Poetry Therapist and Registered Poetry Therapist. Due to the
advancement of the field of poetry therapy and the diversity of the use of poetry
therapy, increased attention toward the establishment of a solid research base is a
priority. In an effort to contribute to the development of a poetry therapy practice
research model, the following areas will be examined: (a) research paradigms, (b)
specificity and replication, (c) poetry selection, (d) studies in practice research, (e)
professional issues and (f) the identification of directions for future research.
Title: The Life and Death of a Poet (pp. 137143)

Author: Sue Chance, M.D.
Abstract: The author provides a psychohistorical perspective on the Russian poet,
Marina Tsvetayeva, who committed suicide in 1941. A critical analysis of Pasternaks
(1983) I Remember: Sketch for an Autobiography yielded several points to consider
in interpreting motives for suicide.
Title: The Collaborative Poem and Inpatient Group Therapy: A Brief Report
(pp. 145149)
Author: Karen Yochim, M.A.
Abstract: The use of the collaborative poem in poetry therapy groups with low
functioning patients on a psychiatric unit is the focus of this brief report. The
collaborative poem proved to be an effective technique in fostering group cohesion
and instilling contact with reality.
Title: Code Blue: The Blues as Medicine (pp. 179187)

Author: W. Randolph Purdy, D.O.
Abstract: The blues is a form of music that lends itself to the study of human
suffering. This manuscript explores the basic features and background of the blues
as a musical tool, or archetype, for (1) understanding the universal condition of
human suffering. The blues offered as a method for looking at the spirit of human
tragedy as a way for potentially allowing a triumphant quest.
Title: A Tale of Eating: Writing as a Pathway Out of an Eating Disorder (pgs. 189
196)
Author: Fiona Place, M.A.
Abstract: This prose/poetry tale examines the use of writing as a pathway out of an
eating disorder. In highlighting the need for persons with an eating problem to find
their own voice, to be able to describe experience in their own words rather than the
restrictive narrative of an eating problem, it shows how creative writing can assist in
the opening up of this closed narrative. It also stresses the value of eliciting reflecting,
as well as affective responses to texts.
Title: Poetry/Art Therapy: The Message and The Medium (pp. 197201)
Author: Barry Ikver
Abstract: The author responds to two articles previously published in the Journal of
Poetry Therapy: 1) DeMaria (1991) on poetry and child abuse, and 2) Rosenthal on
the haiku psychotherapist. The analysis indicates two complementary articles
wherein one focuses on imagery and the other on poetic form. Art expression with
respect to the element of choice of medium is discussed. Implications for the process
and outcome of therapy are noted.
Title: The Bard-Certified Diplomate Examination in Poetry Therapy: Sample

Questions and Answers (pp. 203207)
Author: Glenn Allan Roosevelt
Abstract: [Humor] As poetry therapists, its our due duty to avoid dotty ditties and
dipody-doggerel lite verse thats chockablock with muttaphors and other snuggle-
pup figurines of speech. Certifying Bards, as opposed to Mocking Bards, can help us
to eschew such egregious poesy, not to mention shooting-blanks blank verse and
odorless nonscents verse. Once diplomated by the Certifying Board of Bards, one
will know exactly what to do when an irresistable farce faces down an immovable
objective correlative.
Title: Mutilingual Poetry Therapy (pp 314)

Author: Stephen Rojcewicz, M.D.
Abstract: Poetry Therapy can have even greater clinical impact when used in the native
language of the patient. Childhood emotions and early trauma, intellectualized when
examined solely in nonnative English, can be vividly summoned through the childhood
language. The use of bilingual editions of poems can evoke important emotional
material, while at the same time providing a structure through rhyme, rhythm, and the
use of metaphor. The rhyme and rhythm, and phonetic associations, essential
components of the full impact of the poem, are not fully reproducible in the English
translations, but can be captured in bilingual versions. The tension between freedom of
expression, raw emotions, and highly organized structure, a basic characteristic of
Poetry Therapy, is superbly exemplified through the use of bilingual poems.
Title: Unlocking Creativity: Connections Between Psychic and External Reality

(pp. 1519)
Author: Paul Rodenhauser
Abstract: While addressing the enigmatic and alluring nature of creativity, this essay
focuses on associations between creative temperament and clinical disorder.
Implications considered include relations between psychic and external realities,
between artists and society, and between artists and therapists.
Title: Poetic Medicine: Explicating a Sonnet (pp. 2126)

Author: Owen E. Heninger, M.D., R.P.T.
Abstract: An explication of a sonnet illustrates the benefits of the therapeutic use of
poetry. Particular attention is given to organization, condensation, clarification,
safety, catharsis, and mastery.
Title: Poetry Therapy in the Construct of Immersion in the Psychotherapy of

Exogenous Depression: A Brief Report (pp.. 2733)
Author: Victor Kagan

Abstract: Psychological content of exogenous depression of a will to a death and a
will to a life. Proposed method of Immersion helps a client to intensify a will to life
through a dosed deepening of a feeling of a death which creates a Force for Pushing
Out. Author uses own verse as an example of poetry therapy in a context of this
method.
Title: The Application of Poetry Therapy in Grief Counseling with Adolescents and
Young Adults (pp. 6375)
Authors: Daniel O. Bowman, Robert J. Sauers, and David Halfacre
Abstract: This paper discusses the use of poetry therapy, utilizing poems composed
by the bereaved, as a creative vehicle in grief counseling with adolescents and young
adults; explores several implications for the use of poetry in grief counseling; and
suggests additional strategies for those involved in the assimilation of the death or a
parent. Poetry therapy used in conjunction with actualizing counseling provided
avenues for mobilizing the individuals coping resources that had been blocked,
permitting the client to grow beyond the loss experience. There appears to be an
evolutionary pattern toward the resolution of grief when one articulates feelings in
poems, a pattern revealing changes in perceptions and feelings about the deceased
and about the meanings the surviving youths assign to the loss.
Title: Watching Matilda: An Odyssey into Grief (pp. 7579)

Author: Arthur Lerner, Ph.D., RPT
Abstract: This narrative focuses on the grief process; linking personal literary and
clinical elements.
Title: Using Poetry, Fiction, and Essays to Help People Face Shattered Dreams
(pp. 8189)
Author: Ted Bowman
Abstract: Loss of dreams refers to experiences we have which dont match our
expectations of the way life is supposed to be. It is a special kind of grief. Poetry
Therapists/Bibliotherapists can be especially resourceful in aiding people in grieving
loss of dreams because of the abundance of material found in poetry, fiction, and
essays, in contrast to its scant attention in the grief and family literatures. This article
provides a framework and suggests tools for assisting work on this special kind of
grief.
Title: The Dance as a Metaphor (pp. 9194)

Author: Claudia Gafford Stiles
Abstract: In this narrative case example the story form is used as a device to involve
an emotionally and sexually abused youngster in the therapeutic process. Through
metaphor and imagery she discovers the link which allows her to move from her
bleak and lonely worlds into a search for beauty, hope, and survival, and finally, the
celebration of her strong and violated young body.
Title: The Therapeutic Insights of Poetry Writing (pp. 9592)

Author: Tommy Boone, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Abstract: This brief report is about the use of poetry writing in expressing and/or
resolving feelings that may otherwise be too difficult to talk about. As a result, instead
of feeling helpless, a person learns to grown in hope and understanding.
Title: The Use of Poetry in a Psychological Autopsy into the Death of a Political
Prisoner (pp. 117122)
Author: Michael A. Simpson

Abstract: The Psychological Autopsy is a technique used for exploring the likely
cause of ambiguous deaths. For an inquest into the death in custody under
suspicious circumstances of a South African political prisoner; unique use of poetry
written by the victim, including verses found in his possession at the time of death,
was used to reconstruct his attitudes and led the author to conclude that suicide was
a most unlikely explanation for his death, which was far more likely to be due to
murder or neglect.
Title: The Bridge of Hope: The Use of the Creative Arts Therapies in Group
Treatment for People with AIDS and HIV Infection (pp. 123133)
Author: Deborah Eve Grayson, M.S., L.M.H.C., R.P.T.
Abstract: The author provides a report on the use of the creative arts as therapeutic
techniques in group treatment for people with AIDS and HIV infection. Particular
attention is given to poetry and art techniques in workshops on Intimacy and
Dating.
Title: Poetry Therapy in a Parenting Group for Recovering Addicts (pp. 135142)
Author: Beatrice Plasse, A.C.S.W.
Abstract: This article describes a parenting group for recovering addicts in which
poetry, journal keeping, and creative writing are instrumental in the group process.
Title: The Myriad Forms of Magic: A Narrative on Poetry and Grief (pp. 143148)
Author: Claudia Gafford Stiles
Abstract: This is the story of grieving nine-year-old Stephanie who discovers her
own rhythmic voice through poetry and writing. In the process she begins to move
through the intricate mass of denial, grief, and loss buried deep within her.
Title: Puzzling Questions and Poetry of Healing (pp. 179183)

Abstract: Human illness and healing are not simply technological problems, but are
true mysteries. The highest response of the healer is to respond to the other by
evoking the human mystery inside him or herself.
Title: Spontaneous Poetry in the Therapy of a Feral Street-Child Recording a

Return from Alienation (pp. 185189)
Author: Michael A. Simpson
Abstract: A remarkable young man is described who suffered multiple handicaps
and cruel deprivations, from birth. He became a street person at an early age, living
in derelict houses. After a suicide attempt, he responded well to intensive
time-limited psychotherapy with an existential and Zen approach. He began
spontaneously writing poetry which recorded his gradually reducing alienation. He
was able to enter higher education, win a prestigious University Scholarship, and
become involved in the helping professions.
Title: Contemporary Multicultural North American Poetry and Poetry Therapy

(pp. 191194)
Author: Charles A. Rossiter, Ph.D.
Abstract: Four recent anthologies of poetry by members of ethnic and racial groups
which have been traditionally underrepresented in the poetic canon are analyzed.
It is concluded that much contemporary multicultural North American poetry can
be of value to poetry therapists who use poetry to stimulate therapeutic discussion
because it is generally accessible, emphasizes narrative and often tells stories which
have not previously been available in poetry. It is suggested that poetry therapists
familiarize themselves with the current explosion of multicultural poetry, particularly
if they work with clients whose personal/social issues are related to the clients race or
ethnicity.
Title: Father and Son: Using the Poetic to Enhance Communication (pp. 195208)
Author: J. Dan Daniels, J.D.
Abstract: The relationship between father and adolescent son is one of the most
difficult of human associations. Both individuals are experiencing profound physical
and emotional changes during these turbulent years. The fathers goal is to assist the
son in detaching and defining his self-identity, while still providing security and
guidance. To accomplish this goal, a father and son need to communicate. The
poetic, specifically the use of popular music, humor, and poetry/creative writing, can
facilitate communication.
Title: Metaphor in Motion: Narrative Perspective in Special Education (pp. 209

211)
Author: Claudia Gafford Stiles, M.Ed.
Abstract: The author, a special education teacher, provides a narrative on the role of
metaphor in working with an 11-year old boy with learning disabilities and severe
emotional problems.
Title: Living on the Moon: Persona, Identity, and Metaphor in Paul Monettes
Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir (pp. 311)
Author: Deryl B. Johnson, Ph. D.
Abstract: This paper explores the representation of AIDS in culture through
narrative structure by focusing upon the critically acclaimed autobiography.
Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir by Paul Monette. The purpose of this study is
to examine how poesis and healing represent illness and to reflect upon the
negotiation between identity and dominant, cultural images associate with this
disease.
Title: Writing as Therapy in a County Jail (pgs. 1323)

Author: Zandra Stino

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to describe how the process of creative
writing not only led to development in literacy but also had a therapeutic effect for
incarcerated youth in a county jail. Six inmates in an adult literacy classroom
composed and recorded a rap song entitled How to Stay out of Jail as a caution to
their younger siblings. The writing process itself*brainstorming, drafting, revising,
and recording for dissemination*improved literacy skills, enhanced self-reflection,
helped them think through their values, improved self-esteem, and cultivated interest
in others in the community. Teaching the process of writing has secondary benefits of
special significance to this nontraditional literacy class.
Title: Crises and Turning-Points in the Psychotherapy of a Borderline Adolescent:

Poetry as a Marker of Progress (pgs. 2531)
Author: Michael A. Simpson, M.D.
Abstract: This article is a case-history of the stormy psychotherapy of a young man
with borderline syndrome involving powerful self-hatred and self-destructive urges.
His progress in therapy was marked by distinct changes in the poetry he wrote for his
therapist.
Title: The Use of Poetry in Identifying and Coping with the Emotional Tasks of
Moving (pp. 3339)
Author: Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson, M.S.W.
Abstract: This narrative perspective explores the authors use of poetry as therapy to
cope with the numerous geographical moves she has made in her adult life. She
identifies six tasks involved in moving from one home and community to another,
and cites examples of poetry written during each of those transitions.
Title: Finding Our Way Home: Poetry Therapy in a Supportive Single Room
Occupancy Residence (pp. 6377)
Author: Mari Alschuler, MFA, ACSW
Abstract: This paper discusses a poetry therapy group held at a supportive single
room occupancy residence (SRO) in East Harlem, New York City. The SRO houses
formerly homeless, mentally ill adults. The group has been helpful in reaching clients
in ways in which medication and psychotherapy have not been able. This paper
describes the SRO, the group members, techniques and work produced by members,
and issues of social integration, separation and clienthood as special difficulties of
psychiatrically impaired people and addresses ways in which poetry therapy can be
useful in developing and fostering peer support, mastery and achievement among its
members.
Title: Write Another Poem About Marigold: Meaningful Writing as a Process of

Change (pp. 7988)
Author: Sandra Gail Teichmann, Ph.D.
Abstract: In this article, I consider a process approach toward the goal of meaningful
writing which may aid in positive personal change. From outlining recent criticism
of contemporary poetry, to arguing against the tradition and practice of craft in the
writing of poetry, I move to propose a means of writing centered on a method of
inquiry, which involves the elements of self-involvement, curiosity, risk to think in
a new way, and development of the new possibility through extensive thought.
Title: How to Make a Hill: A Narrative Perspective in Special Education

Author: Claudia Gafford Stiles (pp. 8991)
Abstract: The author, a special education teacher, provides a narrative on the use of
a book, The Hill That Grew (Meeks 1959) and letter writing to help a 10-year old
boy cope with stress.
Title: Children, Death, and Poetry (pp. 129141)

Author: John Graham-Pole, M.D.
Abstract: The author, a pediatric oncologist, reflects on his own poetry in relation to
his work with dying or life-challenged children. For the author, poetry writing serves
to reclaim the creative self, express feelings, clarify thinking, connect with others, and
develop a philosophy of life.
Title: Poetry as the Hidden Voice: Adults with Developmental Disabilities Speak
Out (pp. 143148)
Author: Susan L. Davis
Abstract: The majority of people with developmental disabilities have difficulty
expressing thoughts and feelings in traditional ways. This article describes how a
group of adults with autism, mental retardation, and other disabilities, have accessed
a means of communication and formed a bridge to the community through poetry.
Title: Poetry Memorization and Trauma: Surviving and Earthquake (pp. 149154)
Author: Susanne Petermann
Abstract: In this article, the author tells her own story of surviving the 1994
earthquake in Los Angeles, and how the practice of memorizing poetry helped her to
recover from that trauma.
Title: The Haikuists Growth Process Revealed (pp. 155161)

Author: Patrick Frank
Abstract: In this paper, personal growth through long term work in various literary
genres*including haiku-senryu sequencing*is viewed as a continuous process, and
the author demonstrates how self-integration can be enhanced through the creative
processing of dream material.

Title: In the Web of Creative Connections: Redefining Writing in Education and

Therapy (pp. 195206)
Author: Gerd Brauer
Abstract: Discoveries in therapy and education about writing have rarely been
shared between the two. This article attempts to bridge the gap through practical and
theoretical explorations of the potentials of humanistic psychology and expressio-
nistic writing pedagogy for academic and therapeutic learning. Based on his own
experiences, the author creates a framework where education and therapy together
seek a more holistic approach to their fields.
Title: On Facilitating Creative Writing Groups and a Players Workshop for Elderly
Residents: A Meditative Essay as Poem (pp. 207215)
Author: Melissa Ann Reed, Ph.D.
Abstract: Focusing upon the movement of the creative spirit and the impact of
listening in the collaborative oral composition process for elderly residents, the essay
draws some conclusions about the relationship between poetry, innocence, and
healing.
Title: The Prayer-Poem and Jungs Use of Active-Imagination (pp. 217226)

Author: Warren L. Molton
Abstract: The article develops the concept of the prayer poem as a method for
spiritual insearch. It further attempts to relate the process of the prayer-poem to Carl
Jungs use of active-imagination as a way of pushing the poetic image to a deeper
level of meaning and usefulness. The prayer-poem can be a window into the psyche
(soul).
Title: Freud, Poetry and Serendipitous Parapraxes (pp. 227232)

Author: Cora L. Diaz de Chumaceiro, Ph.D.
Abstract: Serendipitous parapraxes in the recall of poetry are rarely reported in the
contemporary literature. An overlooked example in everyday life presented by Freud
is underscored and discussed. Its principles are applicable to clinical and educational
research and practice, taking into account contemporary transference-counter-

transference dynamics.
Title: Adolescents Use of Imagination in Lower Socioeconomic Environments

(pp. 317)
Authors: Nancy M. Wonder, M.S.P.H., and Stephen A. Rollin, Ed.D.
Abstract: Imagination is an important skill that has proven to be related to divergent
thinking skills, ability to cope with stress, and the expression of emotion. Necessary
environmental factors conducive for the development of imagination are privacy,
limited television viewing, a role model, and storytelling. Lower socioeconomic
youth were interviewed to find the current use of their imagination and what
environmental factors had been present in their lives. The interviews revealed that
the youth had few environmental factors that would enhance their imaginative ability
and most of them spent little time in imaginative activity. Following the interview, the
youth in the study, 12- to 15-year-old African American boys and one girl,
participated in a psychoeducational intervention aimed at enhancing imaginary
skills. Pre-post assessment of the intervention indicated significant change (p .031)
in richness of storytelling, evidenced by greater use of concrete images, adjectives,
and adverbs. Subjects also reported a greater comfort with imaginative contents. The
findings indicate that lower socioeconomic teens benefit from psychoeducational
interventions aimed at teaching imagination skills.
Title: Exploration of Sexual Identity Through Poetry Therapy (pp. 1926)

Authors: Daniel O. Bowman, Ph.D., Robert J. Sauers, Ed.S., and Ryan P. Judice
Abstract: This paper discusses the use of poetry therapy, utilizing poems composed
by the client, as a supportive, creative technique in counseling young people as they
explore issues relating to sexual identity. It also considers the implications of the use
of poetry therapy as an adjunctive technique with a life-skills approach in counseling,
and suggests some strategies for resolving sexual identity problems. There appears to
be supportive evidence that writing poetry anchors insights into a context, physically
as well as metaphorically, which provides a reference point for transforming
experience.
Title: Whats in a Daughters Name? A Poem for a Child with the Madonnas Name
(pp. 2730)
Abstract: Lullaby poems with the name of Mary, mother of Jesus, given to a childs
name are unusual. Even rarer are children named after such poems. An overlooked
case in the psychoanalytic literature in which Beer-Hofmanns poem, Schlaflied fur
Miriam, served as the basis for the naming of the child born in New York, of
European parents, is briefly underscored.
Title: Journal Writing as a Powerful Adjunct to Therapy (pp. 3137)

Author: Kathleen Adams, M.A., LPC
Abstract: Drawing from personal and professional experiences, the author provides
a narrative perspective on journal writing. She delineates ten reasons why journal
writing can serve as a powerful adjunct to therapy.
Title: If I Had My Life to Live Over*Stephanies Story: A Case Study in Poetry

Therapy (pp. 5567)
Author: Perie J. Longo, Ph.D.
Abstract: This article demonstrates the effectiveness of poetry therapy in the last
months of a young woman who suffered bilateral brain damage as a child resulting
from encephalitis. Her poems not only capture the struggle, grief, and loss she
experienced resulting from her illness, but also how her expression through poetry
lessened her isolation and helped to resolve anger and conflict. At the time of her
sudden death, from a massive seizure, her poems reflect joy, hope, and positive self-
regard while making plans for her future. Her work is legacy for those with similar
struggles.
Title: Working with People with Dementia: A Social Worker Uses Creative Writing
to Recreate a Life Story (pp. 6976)
Author: Emily Carton, M.A., L.I.S.W.
Abstract: This article offers a social workers narrative perspective on working with a
client suffering from dementia. The author provides an original short story as the
vehicle to piece together the fragments of a persons life in order to understand and
recreate a life that could no longer be articulated. Through creative writing a bridge
could be built from what was seen but not understood and help to give meaning to a
life which had lost its context.
Title: The Structured Journal Therapy Assessment: A Report on 50 Cases (pp. 77
85)
Author: Kathleen Adams, M.A., L.P.C.
Abstract: This article reports on 50 structured journal therapy assessments (clinical
interview and self-report questionnaire methods) conducted at an inpatient facility
specializing in the treatment of dissociative disorders. Areas investigated included
background with journal writing, trauma associated with journal writing, current
use/therapeutic application of the journal, obstacles to effective use of the journal,
interests and goals for journal therapy, and present relationship with the journal.
Based on the results of the assessments, a workbook was developed. Implications for
practice and further research conclude report.
Title: Wounded Healer: A Physicians Poetic Perspective (pp. 8794)

Author: Rita Iovino, M.D.
Abstract: The author, a pediatrician, provides narrative and poetry on her

experiences as a healer and as one who needed healing.
Title: The Topology of Spirituality in Poetry Therapy (pp. 9598)

Author: Hirsch Lazaar Silverman, Ph.D., R.P.T.
Abstract: This brief report examines the relationship between poetry and
spirituality. Particular attention is given to the importance of beauty in poetry
therapy.
Title: Angels of Mercy: Autobiographical Story and Poems (pp. 99102)

Author: Phyllis A. Williams
Abstract: An autobiographical story which describes physical feelings mirroring
those of a critically injured loved one and the comforting archetypal images which
appear and reappear during that time of crisis, helplessness and uncertainty. Also
suggested is a cellular connection between significant others which makes possible a
body-mind way of processing information before that information has been revealed
by more conventional means.
Title: The Consulting Office: Beauty and the Arts in Therapy (pp. 131136)
Abstract: The importance of an aesthetically inviting consulting office is briefly
highlighted. Illustrations of aesthetic responses to this setting and to objects in it used
to advance the therapeutic process are discussed.
Title: Managing the Countertransference Through Poetry Writing (pp. 137141)

Author: Manya Bean, Ph.D., NCPsyA
Abstract: In this paper the analyst/poet presents the process of poetry writing as a
method for the study and management of countertransference feelings in the
treatment of patients with varying degrees of pathology. The poems included here are
products of conscious and unconscious communication between analyst and
analysand and are shown to serve a number of functions, such as recording,
documenting, exploring and analyzing countertransferential feelings. In one exam-
ple, a poem also functioned as a diagnostic tool in the case of a depressed man.
Title: Automatism and Neurolinguistics in the Creation of a Fairy Tale for Adults:
Excerpts of The Secret of the Seventh Tower (pp. 143148)
Author: Elizabeth Valarino H.
Abstract: Excerpts of a fairy tale for adults entitled The Secret of the Seventh
Tower are presented, indicating the presence of the neurolinguistic systems of
representation used in its creation during the process of automatism. The latter is the
process of writing while suspending conscious editing to be able to express
subconscious ideas and feelings. This model has been applied to facilitate the
resolution of writers blocks and enhance creative writing in seminars for students
and university professors.
Title: Prison Poetry: A Medium for Growth and Change (pp. 149158)
Author: Juliet C. Rothman, Ph.D., LCSW and Reginald Walker
Abstract: Poetry is an excellent therapeutic and medium for use in prisons. It can be
written in confined spaces, can be shared with fellow prisoners, and encourages self-
expression for those whose routines and confinement may tend to stifle the
exploration of person and experience that is a vital part of growth and self-awareness.
The article presents both a program for poetry and creative writing in the prison
setting, and an inmates poetry to illustrate the kinds of growth and change that can
be engendered through poetic expression.
Title: The Sound of My Rainbow, The Taste of My Clouds: The Synesthetic

Experience (pp. 150168)
Author: Wendy Harding, MAT, Ph.D.
Abstract: Synesthesia is the physiological crossing of the senses. Using the
metaphoric aspect of this condition, it is possible to have students write increasingly
self-directed and reflective poems which allow a reader/teacher insights into the
students lives and personalities. Exercises start off describing the taste of clouds, for
example, move to the smell of anger perhaps, and then on to describing oneself as a
color. Student sample poems are included.
Title: Poetry Therapy: Testimony on Capitol Hill (pp. 169178)

Author: Sherry Reiter, C.S.W., RPT, RDT
Abstract: This report on poetry therapy was originally submitted to the National
Coalition of Arts Therapies (NCATA) for testimony on Capitol Hill. The report
presents an overview of the field of poetry therapy.
Title: Poetry Therapy and Adolescents with Learning Disabilities: New Directions
in Special Education (pp. 201214)
Author: Alexandra Hieb, MS, APN, R.P.T.
Abstract: This paper is a descriptive study of the use of poetry therapy with
adolescents who have learning disabilities. The issues of receptive and expressive
language disabilities are addressed. The use of poetry in special education was found
to be an effective method of facilitating the students identification of their needs and
expression of their feelings.
Title: My Mother Got Tears in Her Eyes: Poetry as Self-Creation by Adults with
Mental Retardation (pp. 215235)
Authors: Sirkku Sky Hiltunen, Ed. D., RDT/MT, ATR, LPC
Abstract: Adults with mental retardation, developmental and multiple disabilities,
even those who are unable to read or write or have limited verbal skills can express
their ideas, feelings, and thoughts through poetry written or dictated by them. For
the participating clients, poetry became an excellent vehicle for self-expression,
because its grammatical requirement could be varied depending how its style and
structure were matched with their skill levels. Samples of poetry, created during
19861990 as an adjunctive part of the process-oriented approach to art and drama
therapy, are presented. Therapeutic intervention is a reciprocal process: For the
clients, bibliographical poetry, memories, and immediate reflections after performing
on stage in public became the vehicle for self-esteem building through processes of
self-creation and self-affirmation. For the author, persons with mental retardation
became transpersonal teachers of patience, gentleness, and love.
Title: Unconsciously Induced Recall of Prose and Poetry: Analysis of Manifest and
Latent Contents (pp. 237243)

Abstract: This brief paper highlights the importance of paying attention to
unconsciously induced recall of prose and poetry in treatment. A published example
of Theodore Reiks evocation of Shakespeares Hamlet is discussed.
Title: The Use of Poetry in Death-of-a-Child Grief Training for Medical Profes-
sionals (pp. 245250)
Author: Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson, MSW, ACSW, BCSW
Abstract: This article outlines the use of poetry in a grief-training session for
medical professionals. Poetry is used to sensitize and draw forth participants feelings
they might encounter in the medical field when dealing with the death of children.
Volume 11 Issue 1 (Fall 1997)
Title: Interactive Bibliotherapy: An Effective Method fort Healing and Empowering

Emotionally-Abused Women (pp. 316)
Authors: Barbara C. Palmer, Derrik Biller, Regan E. Rancourt, and Karen A. Teets
Abstract: This study examined the therapeutic use of interactive bibliotherapy as a
catalyst for healing and empowering emotionally-abused women. A case history was
taken with an adult female who was an outpatient at a psychiatric center. Insights
from her counseling sessions and the related dialogue journals are presented and
discussed. Implications for practice are also included in the article.
Title: Victoria: A Study of the Countertransference Through Poetry Writing (1732)

Author: Manya Bean, Ph.D.
Abstract: In the present work the analyst uses herself and her poetry writing as
heuristic tools in the study of countertransference during the treatment of a woman
immersed in the alcoholic syndrome. The poems presented here are shown to have
served a multiplicity of functions: a) as a means to record, document, and study
countertransference feelings, b) as holding environments or containers, c) at times as
diagnostic tools, and finally d) as developmental signposts of the treatment process.
Title: Building Confidence Through Poetry Writing (pp. 3348)

Author: Sally Love Saunders, CPT
Abstract: The author provides a narrative perspective on her use of poetry writing
with children, adolescents, and adults in a variety of educational settings. She
documents the therapeutic aspects of poetry writing as it relates to the promotion of
self-confidence. Original poems by the students are included in the article.
Title: The Meaning of Poetry therapy as Art and Science: Its Essence, Religious
Quality, and Spiritual Values (4952)
Author: Hirsch Lazaar Silverman, Ph.D.
Abstract: Poetry therapy is examined as a healing force for the individual. With an
emphasis on spiritual and religious values, poetry therapy is discussed as a conduit to
draw out inner emotions and feelings of spirit. Personal growth and the development
of the value system can be enhanced through poetry therapy.
Volume 11 Issue 2 (Winter, 1997)
Title: The Effects of Music and Poetry Therapy on the Treatment of Women and
Adolescents with Chemical Addictions (pp. 81102)
Author: Alisha A. Howard, M.M.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of music and poetry
therapy on women and adolescents with chemical addictions. Eight women, ages
averaging 34.9, and 12 adolescents between the ages of 15 and 17, served as subjects
for this analysis. All participants were clients at regional substance abuse programs. A
single system design (ABABAB) was used. Six sessions alternating music and poetry
were provided during the course of the six weeks. Independent variables included live
and recorded music and poetry. The dependent variables included a chemical
involvement questionnaire, goal attainment form, automatic thoughts questionnaire,
and an observational behavior scale. Subjects served as their own control for this
study. The data that were assessed are as follows: 1. Chemical involvement, 2.
Automatic thoughts, 3. Weekly immediate goals, and 4. On-task behavior. These
data were obtained by the viewing of video recorded sessions and specially designed
checklists. Results indicated that there were no significant differences between the
presented poetry and music therapy activities. The chemical involvement chart of
most and least used drugs revealed that the most frequently reported drug for the
adolescents was marijuana and the least used drug was a four-way tie between
barbiturates, pop, heroin, and opiates. The most reported drug of choice for the
women was cocaine, with amphetamines, barbiturates, heroin, and opiates receiving
low ratings. The results also showed the effectiveness of the expressive arts on on-task
behaviors.
Title: A Conversation: Humanizing the Encounter Between Physician and Patient

Through Journalized Poetry (pp. 103111)
Authors: Jon Jones Montgomery and John Graham-Pole
Abstract: This piece of journalized poetry is an ongoing conversation between a

psychologist/patient (JJM), who underwent a bone marrow transplant for cancer, and
a marrow transplant physician (JG-P). The dialogue never in fact took place. Rather,
it takes the form of extracts from JJMs journal, and commentary by JG-P as
counterpoint, on issues both momentous and mundane that together make up the
ordeal of this hazardous treatment. It is an attempt to draw clinician and client closer
to each others understanding and experience, through the subjective voice of each.
Title: LifeStories*Biography and Autobiography as Healing Tools for Adults with

Mental Illness (pp. 113117)
Author: Mari Alschuler
Abstract: Adults with mental illness are often estranged from family, their histories,
and often, from their own self-identity. Through oral storytelling, writing biogra-
phies, autobiographies and creating fictional characters, clients were gently directed
to focus and explore one significant person or period of their own lives, to develop
their sense of self and ego strengths, and to connect to important others in their lives,
including other group members.
Volume 11 Issue 3 (Spring, 1998)
Title: Hamlet in Freuds Thoughts: Reinterpretations in the Psychoanalytic

Literature (pp. 139153)
Author: Cora L. Daz de Chumaceiro
Abstract: An involuntary recall of Hamlet was a source of inspiration to Freud
during his process of creating psychoanalysis; later, another instance of an
unintentional evocation facilitated Reiks understanding of a patients dream and
dynamics. In view of the creation of a new Hamlet film by Branagh which may be
evoked by film-buff patients, therapists or supervisors, this paper presents a selection
of interpretations in the psychoanalytic literature of Shakespeares masterpiece.
Title: Teaching Imagination Skills to Lower Socioeconomic Youth (pp. 155173)

Authors: Nancy M. Wonder and Stephen A. Rollin
Abstract: Imagination is an important ability for adolescents that is related to
cognitive, affective, and coping skills (Donahue & Tuber, 1993; Pikard, 1990; Singer
& Singer, 1981). This study involved eleven 12 to 14-year-old lower socioeconomic
youth involved in a delinquency prevention program in a small, rural midwestem
community. The first segment of the study involved a structured interview with each
participant, indicating that most of these youth spent little time in imagination.
Furthermore, they lacked the necessary environmental factors that enhance the
development of imagination, (e.g., privacy, supportive role model, and storyteller).
Each of the youth (nine boys and two girls) then participated in a 16 session, eight-
week psychoeducational intervention aimed at teaching them imagination skills. The
pre and post assessment data showed nine of the eleven improved in their ability to
be more fluent thinkers. Furthermore, eight of the eleven showed better divergent
thinking ability in the area of originality. Seven improved in richness in storytelling,
evidenced by a greater ability to use concrete images in subject created endings to

scenarios. Finally, all the youth reported a greater ability to relax and were able to
describe various imaginative experiences they had during the intervention. The
findings of this study suggest imaginative skills training was useful for this group of
adolescents and may have promise for future research.
Title: Let Me Tell You a Story... Using Fairy Tales and Fables with the Hard to Treat
Client (pp. 175181)
Author: Nina Maria Diana
Abstract: This article reports on the use of storytelling with the chronically mentally
ill, hard to treat individuals in a forensic inpatient setting.
Volume 11 Issue 4 (Summer, 1998)

Title: Drama: Transforming the Pathology of Compulsive Repetition (pp. 205213)

Author: Toni L. Bennett
Abstract: This article offers an investigation into the links between dramatic activity
and the repetition compulsion. Aspects of Freuds discussions on the fort-da game and
the process of transference and countertransference are highlighted in their connection
to psychological aspects of dramatic activity. Various aspects of the drive to repeat as
manifested in dramatic forms are considered for their therapeutic possibilities, with
the conclusion that from the pathological need to repeat can come therapeutic
possibilities in the human tendency for people to restage and reobserve their lives.
Title: Touching Creations Web: Key Images in Poetry (pp. 215222)

Author: Cortney Davis
Abstract: Significant childhood events may give rise to key images that
unconsciously bring life, energy, and universality to a poets work. In this article, a
poet examines how her work in nursing helped reveal, through poetry, her own key
images; and she suggests ways other writers might encourage intense personal
imagery to enter their own poems or the poems of their students.
Volume 12 Issue 1 (Fall, 1998)
Special Arthur Lerner Memorial Issue (No Abstracts)
Title: The Healing Process of a Developmental Creative Poetry Therapy as

Reflected by the Written Poems (Product Analysis) (pp. 7783)
Author: Dahlia Lorenz
Abstract: This study presents the results of an analysis of spontaneous written
expression according to a structured model of Creative Poetry Therapy, sampled
from 11 workshops. Despite the profound differences in the composition of the
groups (children, youth, adults) there is similarity in the poetic indicators and in the
expression of psychological needs. The healing process of poetry therapy is

reflected in the poetic expression.
Title: Dancing with Words: Transference and Countertransference in Biblio/Poetry

Therapy (pp. 8593)
Author: Juhani Ihanus
Abstract: Storytelling and active listening in interaction processes have been a vital
core of biblio/poetry therapy long before current narrative therapies. The invention
of the self and others through expressive resources inherent in language is
incorporated in this article within biblio/poetry therapy. Especially poetic commu-
nication conveys, through texts, transformative transferences and countertransfer-
ences that foster the creative imagination, dancing with words. The author also
proposes that there can be static textual transferences and countertransferences
that maintain a monological stalemate, a desert of words. Biblio/poetry therapy is

seen as a performance scene where co-tellings, co-constructions and co-interpreta-
tions of life intermingle, and create shifting worlds of meaning.
Title: Bibliotherapy and Perceptions of Death by Young Children pp. 95107)

Authors: Jeffrey Todahl, Thomas Edward Smith, Michael Barnes, and M. Grace
Alves Pereira
Abstract: This study explored the impact of bibliotherapy and parentchild
discussion on a childs understanding of death using a true experimental posttest-
only control group design. Study participants included 16 girls and 13 boys aged 4 or
5 and their parents. Participants were randomly assigned to either control or
experimental groups. Families in the experimental group read books provided by the
experimenter and, while following a curriculum, discussed the issue of death.
Fourteen sessions, lasting from 15 to 20 minutes, took place in participants homes
over a 5-week period. Following this experience, both groups of children were
interviewed by the experimenter. A t-test did not show a statistically significant
difference between the groups at the .05 level. Reasons for this result and
recommendations for future studies are given.
Title: Childrens Cognitive Capacities: The Foundation for Creative Healing (pp.
135153)
Author: Shellie Levine
Abstract: This article articulates a model of childrens cognition as creative healing.
It integrates the fields of creativity and therapeutic techniques developed within self
psychology, narrative therapy, and Ericksonian psychotherapy. Childrens cognitive
skills are explored as isomorphic to those found to be paradigmatic of creativity and
to those utilized during accessing of unconscious resources during therapy.
Bibliotherapy is discussed as a particularly efficacious technique for concretization
of the model inasmuch as the hermeneutic process invites the child to actualize
cognitive skills necessary for creative accessing of unconscious resources. Case
examples of childrens dialogue during literature interpretation are analyzed to

highlight the cognitive underpinnings of the interpretive process and their ther-
apeutic implications.
Title: The Use of Poetry in Exploring the Concepts of Difference and Diversity for
Gifted/Talented Students (pp. 155160)
Author: Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson
Abstract: The author addresses the issues of difference and diversity, and their
effect on gifted and talented (G/T) students. The characteristics of G/T students are
listed and analyzed, with a resultant understanding of the many ways in which these
students may be different from their peers. The listed characteristics also show how
G/T students are able to excel in the writing and understanding of poetry.
Techniques for the writing of poetry to further understand their own difference
and diversity are listed, as well as specific poetry to be read about the subject. The
author is a social worker, poet, former elementary teacher, and the parent of G/T
children.
Title: Establishing a Creative Writing Program as an Adjunct to Vocational Therapy

in a Community Setting (pp. 161168)
Author: Amanda Meunier
Abstract: Adults with mental illness were given the opportunity to participate in an
eight-week creative writing pilot project as an adjunct to their already established
vocational therapy. This program was developed in an attempt to address the
psychosocial needs of outpatients living independently in the community, the
majority of whom had not been exposed to a creative outlet in the past.
The following discussion is an overview of those initial eight weeks.
Title: Poetry Therapy Within a Therapists Practice Model (pp. 169175)

Author: Veronika Ospina-Kammerer
Abstract: This article reports on the usefulness of poetry therapy within a therapists
practice model. Through the use of poetry, clients translate their interior images of
the unconscious into oral, written, and symbolic forms to communicate with the
therapist. Case examples are provided that demonstrate poetry created by clients
helps them to express emotional pain and suffering. It is a valuable tool in individual
and couples therapy. For instance, using poetry in therapy lends itself well to
practicing Bowens theory.
Title: A Layoff Story: Trauma, Prevention, and Poetry (pp. 177184)

Author: Owen E. Heninger
Abstract: This is a personal story about the emotional consequence of being laid off.
It is highlighted and expanded by the poetry I wrote as my layoff approached,
occurred and faded away. These poems state the problems I encountered and
suggested solutions to these problems. When the solutions were acted upon they led
me to healing, seasoning and personal growth. The reader is invited to witness the
effects of layoff and benefit from the prophylactic value of the poetry.
Title: Induced Recall of Music in a Biographical Film of a Great Poet (pp. 203210)
Abstract: This paper extends previous work on the induced recall of music and the
induced recall of poetry to include biographical films. A personal recall of a tango
interpreted in the film Il Postino [The Postman] and its use as a therapeutic tool with
elderly patients or family members and friends who have an interest in the Hispanic
world of arts is addressed.
Title: Exploring Diagnostic Identity of Psychiatric Patients Through Poetry Therapy

(pp. 211217)
Author: Robert W. Bjorklund
Abstract: This paper discusses the use of poetry therapy to assist in the exploration
of diagnostic identity among psychiatric inpatients. A small group approach
enhances self-expression, collaboration, and peer interaction. Strategies are sug-
gested to help the individual understand the effects of his or her label and the
resulting stigma. A need exists for more research specifically studying the use of
poetry therapy with this population. An examination of selected poems and
implications for clinical practice are discussed.
Title: Therapist: Heal Thyself with Poetry (pp. 219224)

Author: Susan T. Dennison
Abstract: The author shares a personal experience of writing a poem to her dying
mother as a way of saying good-bye, expressing what her mother has meant to her,
and sharing the grieving experience with family members and friends. The article
goes on to address the impact this experience of using poetry in the healing process
has had both on the authors personal and professional growth.
Title: One into Many; Many into One: A Group Experience in Poetry (pp. 225230)
Author: Wendy Harding
Abstract: The author reported on poetic techniques used in an educational capacity
with adolescents. The poetic process and product revealed therapeutic and
educational elements that promoted self-awareness for the students and provided
insight to the educator.
Title: Existential Motifs in Medieval Poetry: Insights on Therapeutic Practice from

Dantes Divine Comedy (pp. 316)
Author: Sarah Corrie
Abstract: In this paper, I review the four existential realities of isolation,
meaninglessness, death and freedom and explore how these ultimate concerns of
existence were conceptualized by the medieval poet, Dante Alighieri, in his
acclaimed trilogy, The Divine Comedy. My central thesis is that through studying
the array of metaphors embedded within the text, we can achieve an enriched
understanding of the dilemmas of human existence which enables us to refine our
understanding of therapeutic practice generally and the therapeutic relationship in
particular. I will then offer some ideas as to how Dantes framework could assist an
exploration of specific areas of therapist-client interaction and represent a heuristic
structure for guiding choice of intervention at different stages in the therapeutic
process.
Title: Thou map of woe, that dost talk in signs: The SpeakerListener Dialogue of
Poetry and the Practice of Selecting Poems for Poetry Therapy (pp. 1728)
Author: M. Ann Reed
Abstract: Shakespeares Lavinia of Titus Andronicus not only embodies the physical
wounds given Procne and Philomel of Greek myth; she is Shakespeares metaphor for
the wounds of division*the map of woe*between spoken and written word. As a

person, she is disenfranchised from her language community. As a poem, she talks in
signs*the compressed and silent gestures beneath human speech. As a person in the
poem, she is both poet and agent of healing. This study focuses upon healing
Lavinias wounds: the cut tongue and severed hands. With respect to Lavinia, the
archetypal poet and person in the poem, two criteria are derived for selecting poems
to serve her poem-making/healing process and the dialogue of self-realization: 1) a
poems capacity to sustain her rapture*her wonder and patience*as this passion
sustains the play-spirit with its primary motive of moral constraint against harm and
2) a poems capacity to shape a house of consciousness for the particular movement
within the psychodynamic model for therapeutic action*a house of consciousness
with which Lavinia may identify and to which she may accommodate.
Title: Evaluating a Therapeutic Poetry Group for Older Adults (pp. 2937)
Authors: Andrew Papadopoulos, Sue Wright, and Sarah Harding
Abstract: This study presents a poetry group developed for Older Adults with
functional mental health problems. It was based at a day hospital in Birmingham,
UK. The group was facilitated by two Assistant Psychologists and had six group
members (four female and two male). The group was closed and ran weekly for six
sessions. Each week poetry was read by the group based on an emotional theme.
The group was evaluated using both quantitative pre and post measures and
qualitative feedback. All group members said they enjoyed the group and benefits
seemed to lie on a continuum from therapeutic to respite.
Title: Poetry, Prayer and Meditation (pp. 3945)

Author: Dennis Patrick Slattery
Abstract: Both poetry and prayer have the ability to move the imagination into a
meditative space. Poetry, like prayer, can alter our perceptions, deepen our
appreciation of the commonplace, and collapse the distance between everyday life
and a more numinous experience. Prayer, like poetry, is a deeply imaginal experience
that opens us to mystery, to the ineffable by allowing us a deeper felt sense of
the created world.
Title: The Therapeutic Use of the Fairy Tale The Buried Moon to Inspire Hope
in Caregivers and Their Clients (pp. 6572)
Author: Karina Golden
Abstract: Fairy tales and myths can be used as therapeutic tools for caregivers*
helping professionals such as counselors, therapists, clergy, social workers, and
teachers. The universal themes and rich metaphors in these stories can be used to
promote healing and encourage personal growth. This article utilizes a case study to
illustrate how the British fairy tale The Buried Moon can be examined from a
Jungian perspective and used to provide inspiration to both caregivers and the clients
they serve.
Title: Poetry, Healing and the Latin American Battered Woman (pp. 7379)
Author: Marja Booker
Abstract: This paper explores ways in which poetry can be used in support groups
as an adjunctive treatment technique to empower and to raise consciousness of
Latina battered women. Several examples of Latin American womens literary works
are used to demonstrate the connection that poetry has to peoples everyday lives,
and how Latina spouse abuse survivors can gain a deeper understanding of
themselves as women and recover their voice through poetic expression.
Title: Freuds Therapeutic Mistake with Jungs Disclosure of Childhood Sexual

Abuse: Narrative Lessons in the Dos and Donts of Validation (pp. 8195)
Author: Janice Gasker
Abstract: Amid the swirling controversy surrounding adult recollections of child-
hood sexual abuse, the clinical technique of validation is of paramount importance.
Helping professionals must be able to give clients the opportunity to share their
stories in an atmosphere conducive to the integration of those painful memories into
a functional life narrative. This study is a systematic analysis of the life narratives of
over 25 victims and survivors of sexual victimization, including that of Carl
Jung. These life narratives of traumatic experiences*some of which are successfully
resolved, some are not*illuminate validation in a variety of guises. Concrete
therapeutic techniques are discussed.
Title: At the Crossroads of the Humanities and Healing: Dancing at Two Weddings
(pp. 97103)
Author: Geri Giebel Chavis
Abstract: A narrative perspective on the relationship between the humanities and
healing is provided. The author examines her own poetry therapy journey with
implications for a diversity of disciplines.
Title: A Guide to Contemporary Multicultural North American Poetry for Poetry

Authors: Jennifer Gillan, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, and Charles Rossiter
Abstract: In an effort to make contemporary North American multicultural poetry

more readily available to poetry therapists, a wide-ranging selection of poetry books
and anthologies are briefly annotated with reference to issues explored by the poets
and the volumes relevance to poetry therapy.
Title: The Use of Collaborative Writing to Enhance Cohesion in Poetry Therapy

Groups (pp. 125138)
Author: Karina M. Golden
Abstract: Collaborative writing is used as a therapeutic technique in poetry therapy
groups. This article describes a study on the effect of collaborative writing on
cohesion in poetry therapy groups with 33 graduate students. Participants were
randomly assigned to poetry therapy control groups without collaborative writing or

experimental groups with collaborative writing. After six sessions, posttest scores on
the Group Environment Scale (Moos & Hanson, 1974) indicated a significant
difference in cohesion for those groups using collaborative writing. Previous research
on collaborative writing and suggestions for future studies are discussed.
Title: Teaching Inclusion Through Alphapoems (pp. 139155)

Author: Susan BOON Murray
Abstract: This article profiles the authors use of alphapoems to develop college
students affective learning and advocacy toward people with disabilities. Examples
and analyses of the students work are provided. It was concluded that that
alphapoems served to further pedagogical inquiry and evoked the felt experience
of inclusion.
Title: Induced Film Recall: Biographies of Classical Composers (pp. 157163)

Abstract: Increasingly the film industry is making available new and old movies in
video format that can facilitate our work in treatment when patients recall this art
form. This paper draws attention to videos of biographies of classical composers, as
in the expressive arts therapies we also select the materials to be used with patients.
Working with these films in therapy additionally enhances the cultural aspect of life.
Title: Healing from Addictions Through Poetry Therapy (pp. 165173)

Author: Mari Alschuler
Abstract: People addicted to drugs and alcohol often are helped by writing; note
how many 12-step programs utilize writing as a tool. Poetry therapy as a creative arts
modality is especially helpful in working with this population, in outpatient as well as
residential settings. The authors work with chemically-dependent adults in one
residential and one outpatient setting of a large drug rehabilitation program is
presented in this paper.
Title: Effect of Song Writing Versus Recreational Music on Posttraumatic Stress

Disorder (PTSD) Symptoms and Abuse Attribution in Abused Children (pp. 189
208)
Author: Susan J. Coulter
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop a song-writing technique which
would reduce PTSD symptoms in abused children. Participants were patients of an
inpatient psychiatric child/adolescent unit in the State of Florida. The participants
were between the ages of 9 and 17 and had been physically and/or sexually abused.
This research project was of a within-subjects, pre-/posttest design. The experi-
mental condition (song writing) followed the control condition (recreational music).
The dependent measures were a self-report questionnaire about selected PTSD
symptoms, using a 4-point response scale, and a measure of off-task behavior.

Results showed no significant change in overall scores due to treatment condition.
However, a significant difference occurred between African-American and Cauca-
sian scores, and a significant interaction occurred between age of participants and
test conditions. Possible reasons for these results are explored.
Title: Exploring the Therapeutic Fairy Tale Motifs of Silence, Betrayal, and the
Search for a Voice in the Film The Piano (pp. 209217)
Author: Karina Golden
Abstract: Fairy tales can be used as therapeutic stories to deal with psychological
issues. This essay shows how the film The Piano reflects themes addressed in the
fairy tales The Little Mermaid, Bluebeard, and The Handless Maiden. It
demonstrates how the film can be used with clients to address the archetypal motifs
of silence, betrayal, and the search for a voice as aspects of personal growth and
transformation. Using a Jungian approach, the symbolism of the film is discussed
and its implications for therapeutic use with clients are explored.
Title: A Note on Poetry Therapy in Health Care Training Programs (pp. 219223)
Abstract: A series of articles in the international literature in the 1980s focused on
teaching nurses-in-training Japanese poetry to develop their imagination. This
pattern may serve as a model for teaching poetry in training programs of different
schools of health care.
Title: Poetry or Medicine (pp. 225229)

Author: Charles R. Perakis
Abstract: This article addresses the common features that the disciplines of
medicine and poetry share. Both require the application of technique and art. The
practitioners of each discipline share similar attitudes and purposes. The author
explores their common features.
Title: The Use of Poetry Therapy in the Treatment of an Adolescent with Borderline
Personality Disorder: A Case Study (pp. 314)
Author: Michael A. Smith
Abstract: Persons with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) have proven difficult
to treat with traditional talk therapies. They are characteristically demanding,
crisis-oriented, and often self-lethal. It is estimated that 11 percent of all outpatients
at psychiatric and other counseling programs meet the criteria for this illness (Paris,
1994). As a result, clients with BPD represent a large number of patients treated in
mental health settings. Yet, there is no one unified approach to treatment, and
research on the treatment of borderline personality disorder has waned in recent
years. Poetry therapy is an expressive therapy that offers therapists an alternative to
traditional verbally-oriented interventions. The following is a case example on the

use of poetry therapy with an adolescent with BPD. Although the author is not a
trained poetry therapist, processing the clients numerous poems proved to be
invaluable in assisting the client to express her feelings. In this article, the author
presents a brief overview of treatment of borderline clients, poetry therapy, and use of
poetry therapy with troubled adolescents. Selected poetic phrases of the client
underscore her issues and movement toward resolution during several years of
treatment. Implications for the use of poetry therapy with this population are
discussed.
Title: The Milkwood Casebook (pp. 1524)

Author: Diane de Anda
Abstract: The female characters in Dylan Thomass Under Milkwood are examined
from a Jungian perspective employing Toni Wolffs framework for analyzing the
female psyche as well as female archetypes proposed by Jung.
Title: Shakespeares Poetics of Play-Making and Therapeutic Action in The

Tempest (pp. 2539)
Author: Melissa Ann Reed
Abstract: This study practices Kenneth Burkes rhetoric of empathic identification
to read and understand six levels of consubstantiality between Shakespeare and his
Elizabethan audience blueprinted by the authorized text of The Tempest. These
levels reveal Shakespeares agent of healing, Prospero, composing new, fluid
dialogues that unfold the ritualized movement of therapeutic action inherited from
the medieval theatre art of mumming. Burkes rhetoric also reads Shakespeares
theatre art*the alternating movements between identification and detachment*and
finds his art continuing and developing the mummers play-making practice. These
findings offer implications for the contemporary practices of poetry and drama
therapy with participants capable of self-differentiation.
Title: Induced Recall of Jane Austens Novels: Films, Television, Videos (pp. 4150)
Abstract: The film industry in the 1990s showed a special interest for Jane Austens
novels. The popularity of Austen adaptations in theaters, television, and videos
increases the probability that patients and therapists may recall these movies in
treatment. Excerpts from a comparison of an Austen novel with the psychoanalytic
process are underscored and available film adaptations in video format are
highlighted.
Title: Art, Poetry, Loss, and Life: A Case Study of Ann (pp. 6578)
Author: Rachel Marie-Crane Williams
Abstract: Through a case study method, the author examines the role of art and
poetry in the life of a female inmate serving a life-sentence. Insights regarding the
inmates institutional journey, relationships, daily life, poetry writing, and art making
are provided. The author concludes that art and poetry are powerful forces that
pervade, inform, and are informed by culture. Implications for practice, policy, and
research are noted.
Title: Topology of Awareness: Therapeutic Implications of Logical Modalities of

Multiple Levels of Awareness (pp. 7995)
Author: Shellie Levine
Abstract: The theory of the topology of awareness offers a model of mind
integrating research in cognitive psychology, linguistics, clinical psychology, and
philosophy, clarifying the implications for therapeutic techniques and our under-
standing of the nature of the mind. It specifies a model of mind composed of multiple
levels of awareness diagrammatically presented as a pyramid. Lower levels closest to
consciousness are organized according to the binary oppositions of Aristotelian logic.
At this level the self and entities of the world are experienced as discrete, bounded,
and independent. Higher levels, in contrast, crystallize the gestalt structure of self
and world, and organize reality through dialectical logic. This logic reveals that
seemingly independent discrete entities are gestalts, and each gestalt is in an intimate
relation with others. The language of the higher levels includes metaphor, poetry,
and narrative, promoting the expression of the tension and synthesis of opposing
meanings characteristic of dialectical logic. The therapeutic disclosure of higher
levels promotes the lived reality of the integrity of self and intimate relations with the
world, replacing the often pathogenic experience of alienation, and control
characteristic of lower level awareness. In this article the theoretical foundation for
this theory sets the stage for a discussion of specific therapeutic techniques.
Title: Sources of Joy: Induced Recall of Sigmund Rombergs Music (pp. 97103)
Author: Cora L. de Daz Chumaceiro
Abstract: Joy is a subject infrequently addressed in the psychology literature.
Biographical films and videos of American composers may be used for the
psychotherapeutic inducement of joy, when their music was positively linked with
significant people and events in the patients past. A clinical use of Deep in My
Heart, a 1954 film based on the life of Sigmund Romberg, is illustrative.
Title: I didnt Understand the Damage it did: Narrative Factors Influencing the
Selection of Sexual Abuse as Epiphany (pp. 119133)
Author: Janice A. Gasker
Abstract: The epiphany, or turning point, is the foundation of the life narrative.
Consequently, the classification of life experiences as epiphanies is a task critical to
personal growth. This paper employs narrative analysis to illuminate the factors that
seem to influence the choice of events as epiphanies for survivors of sexual abuse.
Implications for the narrative therapist are provided.
Title: Authoring Fiction as a Form of Group Work (pp. 135144)

Author: John MacDevitt
Abstract: Authoring fiction presents strong parallels with leading counseling groups.
Authors and leaders strive to create a climate in which growth can occur. Reading
provides an emotionally engaging and sometimes life-changing experience, as does
participation in a counseling group. Among readers of a particular book, as among
members of a particular group, there are immense differences in the events that stand
out as important, and the meanings attached to those events. There are significant
similarities in the therapeutic factors and modes of change experienced by readers
and members, the values implicit in authoring and leading, and necessary author and
leader behaviors.
Title: Gathered Around the Fire of the Heart (pp. 145157)

Author: Perie Longo
Abstract: This paper examines the sacredness of language from the early history of
language, and how poetry from all times and cultures connects and heals. The author
discusses her work with the California Poets-in-the-Schools program and how the
childrens poems healed the heart of a Chumash Indian elder. The history of the
literature of other nations and cultures exclusion from American literature is
addressed, and how finally that wound is being mended so that poetry of all peoples
can help to truly blend us, rather than separate us.
Title: Nonverbal Poetry: Family Life-Space Diagrams (pp. 159167)

Author: Donald R. Bardill
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to examine life-space diagrams as a form of
nonverbal poetry. Family life-space diagrams, by their very nature, are a nonverbal
blend of lyrical, narrative, and dramatic poetry. The life-space diagram taps personal
feelings, tells a story, and characterizes a particular life situation. The human
memory process, with its multilevel consciousness, provides the basis for creatively
learning about deeply experienced family relationships. Family life-space diagrams
are most effective when the therapist him/herself regards the process as artistic
and creative.
Title: Using Social Stories with Autistic Children (pp. 187197)

Authors: Patricia R. Del Valle, Adriana G. McEachern, and Hermell D. Chambers
Abstract: Children with autism have difficulty communicating and interacting with
others. Lacking in social skills, they may exhibit symptoms of withdrawal, abnormal
language patterns, and a preoccupation with unusual routines, behaviors, and
objects. Therapists working with these children can create social stories to improve
social functioning and behavior. Social stories are brief narratives that describe
situations in terms of social cues and appropriate responses. They are individualized
to the needs and abilities of the child and can be used to help children behave
appropriately in social situations and to develop problem-solving skills.
Title: Storytelling as a Constructivist Model for Developing Language and Literacy

(pp. 199212)
Authors: Barbara C. Palmer, Shelley J. Harshbarger, and Cindy A. Koch
Abstract: Adhering to the philosophy of constructivism, storytelling is explored as a
vehicle for expanding childrens existing oral language and developing their literacy
abilities during community-sponsored summertime programs. Ongoing observations
of the program participants prompted the authors to make the following conclusions:
(1) Storytelling is a rich interactive process that facilitates imagination, creative
thinking, language abilities, and cooperative learning; (2) Learners actively construct
their own understanding, building upon their current knowledge base; (3) Working
with others (social interaction) on meaningful tasks enhances learning; and (4)
Storytelling offers a limitless opportunity for developing a more authentic awareness
of and respect for children with diverse language and cultural backgrounds.
Title: The Languages of the Gods (pp. 213228)

Abstract: The Yoruba myth of Eshu, the only god who knows all the languages of
the different gods and of humans, is the point of departure for an examination of
poetry and poetry therapy. Metaphor, transference, translation and transport are all
intrinsic elements of the languages of the gods. This language calls for empathic
attention to the suffering person and full respect for that persons individuality,
without imposition of ideology. Poetry therapists rise to the level of this language,
and can contribute to human justice, when they confront human tragedy and
personal development without bias or preconception, find language to help the client
say what has heretofore been unsayable, and, when necessary, translate the words
and behavior of the client in such a way as to convey the authentic experience without
making that person only an object of scientific analysis.
Title: Grace by Body Clues (pp. 229234)

Author: Marianne Adams
Abstract: Grace by Body Clues crosses the boundaries between art making, dance,
poetry, healing and interdisciplinary expressive arts. A basic premise in the field of
expressive arts is that involvement in the arts is therapeutic and that layering
experiences from several arts modalities can enrich ones perspective and deepen the
felt sense of healing. At the heart of this manuscript are poems*grappling with
professional identity, deeply personal life issues, and early formative memories.
Title: A Therapists Induced Recall of Sinatra Singing My Way (pp. 235239)

Abstract: What song reminds you of patient x and the stated problem? Your answer
may illuminate transference-countertransference dynamics active at that moment in
the therapy dyad. A brief supervision at a post-conference workshop is illustrative.
Title: Warrior Mothers as Heroines and Other Healing Imagery in the Finnish
National Epic of Kalevala (pp. 318)
Author: Sirkku M. Sky Hiltunen
Abstract: By introducing mother imagery from the Finnish mythological epic of
Kalevala, the author introduces ego stages for healing metaphors. The metaphors are
illustrated by examples in both Finnish and English. The author shares the
inspiration for her personal and transpersonal journey. A distance of more than a
decade from her own culture was required, before the healing imagery of Kalevala
opened up to her. An invitation for the readers to find their own healing imagery
from Kalevala is presented.
Title: The Vampires Seduction: Using Bram Stokers Dracula as a Metaphor in

Treating Parasitic Relationships (pp. 1928)
Authors: Toni Cascio and Janice Gasker
Abstract: In parasitic relationships, the emotional and sexual needs of one partner
are met at the expense of the other person. The ultimate expression of this type of
relationship is illustrated in the story of Dracula. There are five themes that
characterize the destructive nature of such a relationship: invitation, progression,
seduction, inhumanity, and reversibility. There are also three subthemes, including
fear of the unknown, multiple forms, and help in termination. These are presented
and discussed in terms of parasitic relationships. An illustration is provided through a
case example, and suggestions on how to use this novel as a metaphor in work with
clients are presented.
Title: The Place of the Poetic in Dealing with Death and Loss (pp. 2935)
Abstract: This article provides an overview of the R.E.S. model of poetry therapy.
The relationship of poetry therapy to narrative therapy and family practice is
examined through a case study of a single parent family dealing with death and loss.
Title: Burkes Dialogic Theory: An Epistemology of Interpretive Practice for Poetry

Therapy (pp. 5770)
Abstract: Emergent from the Pre-Raphaelite and Symbolist Movements in painting
and poetry, Kenneth Burkes epistemology for interpretive practice contributed to
the aesthetics of oral interpretation of literature. In this historical study, the author
summarizes Burkes dialogic theories and exemplifies how they describe not only
Edward Burne-Joness interpretations of his paintings, but also his painted

interpretations of poetry. The author then discusses how Burkes epistemo-
logy of interpretive practice contributes to the discipline of poetry therapy.
Title: Unconscious Ethnicity in Induced Song Recall: A Research Case Revisited

(pp. 7178)
Author: Cora L. Daz de Chumaceirov
Abstract: Ethnicity can determine music preferences and tastes. This article focuses
on unconscious ethnicity, meaning the unwitting displacement of personal ethnic
values to music preferences that may be of the same or of different cultural origin.
A research case with music evocations of both members of a psychotherapy dyad is
illustrative.
Title: A Note on Freuds Reaction to the Music of His National Anthem (pp. 7981)
Abstract: Associations to music contain an unconscious ethnic variable. Reiks
anecdote about Freud being moved by Haydns melody of the Austrian national
anthem is illustrative.
Title: Recovery Poetry 101: The Use of Collaborative Poetry in a Dual-Diagnosis

Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program (pp. 8392)
Author: Charles Gillispie
Abstract: This practice report profiles the authors use of collaborative writing
techniques in a dual-diagnosis drug and alcohol treatment program. Examples of
typical patient-generated collaborative poems are provided. The author concludes
that collaborative group poetry, when effectively facilitated, can generate a mean-
ingful process-discussion toward values clarification. Furthermore, group-writing
exercises can be converted to individual writing exercises, enabling patients to
continue the process of values clarification through poetry written outside of the
group setting.
Title: The Use of Line Poetry as a Therapeutic Technique in Sexual Assault

Survivors Support Groups (pp. 9398)
Author: Teresa J. Hiney
Abstract: This brief report focuses on the use of line poetry as a therapeutic
technique in a support group for survivors of sexual assault. Line poetry, a group
activity in which members contribute lines to a collective poem, was found to be
helpful in developing a bond among members, validating feelings, and in offering a
powerful outlet for self-expression.
Title: Human Behavior and the Social Environment, Self-Disclosure, and Poetry
(pp. 99105)
Author: Diane Carol Holliman
Abstract: Human Behavior and the Social Environment is a social work course that
describes developmental theories throughout the lifespan. This course requires

students to reflect upon their own theories of human development. In this article the
author reflects upon her experiences as a student and teacher of Human Behavior
and the Social Environment. The role of self-disclosure is discussed and the author
shares several of her own poems that illustrate her own view of lifespan development
and theory.
Title: Renku as a Poetry Therapy Memorial (p. 107109)

Abstract: Rosalie May Bovey Brown, a pioneer in poetry therapy, is honored by her
NAPT friends through renku (a form of Japanese linked poetry). A brief introduction
to renku and its use in poetry therapy is provided.
Title: Metaphorical Language: Seeing and Hearing with the Heart (pp. 123130)
Author: Lois E. Wilkins
Abstract: Metaphorical language is the communication tool of poetry therapy. Now
a metatheory, The Theory of Transcendence supports the use of metaphor as the
method of making invisible realities visible. The poetry therapist will benefit from
this theoretical framework that encourages communications across disciplines and
encourages the gnosis (knowing) of why a specific metaphor is chosen.
Title: Hip Hop Therapy: An Exploratory Study of a Rap Music Intervention with
At-Risk and Delinquent Youth (pp. 131144)
Author: Edgar H. Tyson
Abstract: This article presents the results of an exploratory study of the therapeutic
potential of a rap music intervention in group work with youth. Hip-Hop Therapy
(HHT) is an innovative synergy of rap music, bibliotherapy, and music therapy. A
pretest/posttest experimental design with random assignment to groups was used to
compare outcomes of youth that attended HHT sessions (n 5) and youth that
attended comparison group therapy sessions (n 6) at a residential facility for
at-risk and delinquent youth. Post-hoc qualitative data are also presented to provide
depth to our understanding of the experiences of the youth in the HHT group.
Because rap music has become increasingly popular among youth, it was expected
that under a specific set of conditions rap music would improve the therapeutic
experience and outcomes for youth. Taken together, the quantitative and qualitative
results partially supported the hypothesis. Implications for clinical practice, as well as
future directions in research are noted.
Title: Making a Case for the Use of Nontraditional Courses in Educating Medical
Students on Issues of Mental Illness (pp. 145156)
Author: Sonia Usatch
Abstract: Healing and Madness is a course offered to second-year medical students
at SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine, Division of Medicine in Contemporary
Society. Students who choose this course, during the annual selective offerings, have
an opportunity to explore and express their attitudes towards issues of mental illness
through the poetic art form. The need, value, and outcome of a bibliotherapy
technique applied in a nontraditional setting are examined in this article. The use of
the double message poem, a particular device, is employed to create a paper-dialogue
(stream of consciousness between writer and subject). Underscoring the potentiality
for increasing levels of sensitivity in the doctor/patient and doctor/family relationship,
Healing and Madness offers a unique educational experience for medical students on
the issues of mental illness.
Title: A Memorial: On Recording the Ending of a Writing Group at a Recovery

Program for Addiction (pp. 157161)
Author: Diane Morrow
Abstract: We too often let endings pass without marking them. This article
describes the making of a poem to record the ending of a creative writing group at a
residential facility for persons recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. In the
poem, the writing of each of the group members is named and honored.
Title: Poetry and a Prison Writing Program: A Mentors Narrative Report (pp. 163
168)
Author: Lisa Rhodes
Abstract: This brief report examines the role poetry plays towards the road to
recovery as witnessed through the experience of a poetry writing mentor when
analyzing the poetic works of prisoners who participated in Pen Americas Prison
writing program.
Title: Letters Never Sent: Tending to Unfinished Business (pp. 187193)

Authors: Carole H. McAllister and May C. Wolff
Abstract: Since the 1970s the use of writing as an informal therapy has shown
significant positive results. Letters never sent: Using free writing to tend to
unfinished business is a writing as therapy workshop that offers techniques to

guide individuals as they write through change cycles. This workshop has provided
participants a way to untangle themselves from the past and has involved them in the
path to well-being. Specifically, it employs freewriting*a writing method that
harnesses the internal editor, the censor, through a series of timed writing exercises.
Through this freewriting workshop, participants can make significant discoveries
about themselves.
Title: Poetry Therapy and Infertility Counseling (pp. 195206)

Author: Michelle Emery Blake
Abstract: Various authors have recognized the significance of grief among clients
who are infertile. Poetry therapy offers unique opportunities for clients to crystallize
and communicate their thoughts and feelings about this painful issue. Examples of
poetry used to illustrate the various stages of grieving reflect the authors personal
experience of infertility.
Title: West Meets East: Processes and Outcomes of Psychotherapy and Haiku/
Senryu Poetry (pp. 207212)
Author: Robert H. Deluty
Abstract: This paper addresses the commonalities between the creative processes
and products of psychotherapists and haiku/senryu poets. These commonalities exist
in the realms of awareness/insight; genuineness; here-and-now experiencing;
interdependence of events; humor; use of blank space; and parsimony.
Title: Babes in [Surrogate] Arms: A Plea for Recognition (pp. 213226)

Abstract: Hardin and Hardins call for recognition of overlooked vicissitudes of
early primary surrogate mothering and the arrest of mourning, soar on the wings of
songs from a Rodgers and Harts musical show, at an imaginary public education
concert-lecture. The plot and lyrics are reinterpreted within the context of the EPSM
theme, and the main points of their works are summarized, followed by conclusions.
Volume 16 Issue 1 (March 2003)
Title: Poetry writing: A Therapeutic Means for a Social Work Doctoral Student in
the Process of Study (pp. 517)
Author: Zenobia C. Y. Chan
Abstract: Poetry writing was found to be therapeutic during my doctoral study by
relieving stress, promoting self-understanding and filling my emptiness. Twelve
poems are selected and categorized into six thematic areas: the sense of loss and
social isolation; the persistent studying; the fantasy world; the motherson relation-
ship; the bodily symptoms; and the omnipresent gaze. The background of the
prewriting experience and the functions of each poem are presented. The paper ends
by offering some implications for education and calls for the use of poetry writing as
a therapeutic aid for graduate students in the process of their study.
Title: Whitman, Dickinson and Melville*American Poet-Shamans: Forerunners of

Poetry Therapy (pp. 1927)
Author: Steven Herrmann
Abstract: In this paper I explore the works of three American poet-shamans: Walt
Whitman, Emily Dickinson and Herman Melville. By poet-shamans, I mean any
person who traces language to its archaic root in the animal psyche; forms a primal
relationship to the shamanic archetype; performs his or her works in an ecstatic state
of consciousness; and enters states of visionary and poetic madness. The primary
function of the poet-shaman is to heal emotional, sexual, and spiritual disturbances
in the poet, nation and the world. I view these three American poet-shamans as
forerunners of the contemporary field of poetry therapy in America.
Title: . . . that within which passes show: The Character of being, Poetry Therapy
and the Performatives of Self-Transformation in Menanders Dyskolus, Shake-

speares Hamlet and Chopins Story of an Hour (pp. 2944)
Abstract: This study considers how Menanders Dyskolus, Shakespeares Hamlet
and Chopins Story Of An Hour theorize dramatic character as being and
demonstrate that the cognitive movement of self-transformation theorized by the
contemporary practice of biblio-poetry therapy actually evolved through time as a
self-questioning dialogue.
Title: The Secret Garden: On the Loss of Nannies in Fiction and Life (pp. 4557)
Abstract: This article focuses on The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnetts
classic novel for children. British childcare customs of the upper-class parents of
Mary Lennox and Colin Craven in VictorianEdwardian England and the British Raj
in India are underscored. Overlooked psychoanalytic data on developmental
consequences of the loss of early primary maternal surrogates and the arrest of
mourning are applied to the novels main protagonists.
Volume 16 Issue 2 (June, 2003)
Title: Deconstructing Death: Toward a Poetic Remystification and all that Jazz
(pp. 7182)
Author: Gregory D. Gross
Abstract: Modernist citizens turn increasingly to social science and the popular press
for answers about what once was the unfathomable nature of death and dying.
Contemporary people have received an homogenized version of death and grief,
replete with neatness, predictability and control, which in the end rob the grieving of
meaning-making. Deconstruction of this death narrative occurs through the placement
of two interrelated texts laid side by side; a personal narrative and a comedians
routine, both interrupted randomly by poems submitted by students, combine to
shatter that narrative, thus creating multiple, personalized, meaningful narratives.
Title: Use of Matrices to Facilitate Qualitative Analysis in Poetry Rherapy (pp. 8389)
Author: Michelle Emery Blake
Abstract: Qualitative research methods are appropriate for researching the features
and outcomes of poetry therapy. This study examines the use of qualitative research
methods in poetry therapy. It was found that matrices (Miles & Huberman, 1994)
could be used effectively to identify emerging themes across both existing and
participant-produced poems, to note similarities and differences and to evaluate
outcomes. The present article is based upon the authors use of matrices in her
dissertation study (Blake, 1998).
Title: Exploring Stepfatherhood Through Poetry (pp. 9196)

Author: Rich Furman
Abstract: Poetry has been an invaluable tool in helping the author adjust to life as a
stepfather. Poetry and poetry therapy are seen as a means of helping people adjust to
normal developments in the family life cycle. The author provides his experience as a
means of demonstrating how poetry can be used in this manner, as well as to explore
themes of stepfatherhood.
Title: Poetry Therapy Techniques Applied to a Recreation/Adult Education Group

for the Mentally Ill (pp. 97106)
Abstract: This article describes how poetry therapy principles and techniques, such
as the isoprinciple and the collaborative poem, are applicable to adult education for
the mentally ill. The author describes how these techniques were applied during a
semester-long writing workshop conducted at a day-treatment programme for
mentally ill adults. Samples of student-generated poems are included.
Title: Community Writing as a Learning Experience (pp. 107113)

Author: Philip Amsel
Abstract: This brief report examines community writing as part of a community
arts programme at The Notre-Dame-de-Grace (NDG) Food Depot in Montreal. We
chose the locale of a food bank because we wanted to improve the life-coping
mechanisms of food recipients and to empower them, through the arts, to have the
self-confidence to join the mainstream of society.
Volume 16 Issue 3 (September, 2003)
Title: The Allure of the Unavailable: Using Scarlett OHara to Treat the Pattern of
Chasing Unattainable Love (pp. 125133)
Authors: Toni Cascio and Janice Gasker
Abstract: For some clients, finding the perfect life partner is the ultimate impossible
dream. The problem is personified by Margaret Mitchells (1936) Scarlett OHara, a
character that has fascinated generations of book-readers and movie-goers alike. The
near-universal popularity of Gone with the Wind makes it uniquely suited as a
metaphor clients can understand, and Mitchells depth of characterization makes
Scarlett the perfect prototype of the sufferer of unrequited love. There are four
themes in the story characterizing the nature of this problem: supreme wishful
thinking, lack of self-reflection, obsession, and repeating mothers history. Each is
presented here and discussed in terms of the destructive nature of this relationship
pattern. An illustration is provided through a case example, and suggestions on how
to use this story as a metaphor in work with clients are presented.
Title: The Use of Metaphors as Descriptive Tools in a Phenomenol Study of Adults

Exposed to Family Violence as Children (pp. 135151)
Authors: Roberta L. Burton and Marsha L. Rehm
Abstract: In a study of the effects and experiences of childhood exposure to family
violence, metaphors were used as an aid in describing and understanding the
experiences of four individuals. Each individual chose the name by which he or
she wished to be known in future publications. The selected names also appeared to be
metaphors for the participants. This paper explores metaphors, the metaphors of the
participants names and the metaphors the primary author used in interpreting their
experiences. There was an unexpected result of the use of the metaphors. At least two
of the participants experienced positive change through the use of the metaphors.
Title: I need to be a Turtle, Reflective, Mindful And Slow: The Projective Prism
of Consciousness in Poetry Therapy (pp. 153176)
Abstract: This article briefly introduces the psychological continuum in therapeutic
intervention, ranging from purely psychoanalytic to humanistic and eventually to a
transpersonal model. The Projective Prism of Consciousness is introduced as a
transpersonal tool for Poetry Therapists, who prefer to use their intuitive thinking in
assessing the poetic projections of their clients. The prism consist of the Projective
Sides of the Prism, the Domains and the Roots, the Content, and the Outcome of
Projections focusing on the Personal, Transpersonal, or Universal consciousness of
the creator of poetry. The authors own poetry is used as an initial application of the
Projective Prism of Consciousness Checklist.
Volume 16 Issue 4 (December, 2003)
Title: Writing for Protection: Reflective Practice as a Counselor (pp. 191198)

Author: Jeannie K. Wright
Abstract: Expressive and reflective writing has been one way of recording personal
changes and losses. It has also been key in surviving the sometimes traumatic work
involved in working with clients in psychotherapeutic relationships. This article
explores some of the underlying research into writing for personal and professional
development with illustrations from both personal and professional life.
Title: Therapeutic SOULSPEAK: The use of Ancient Oral Poetry Forms in

Author: Justin Spring
Abstract: Therapeutic SOULSPEAK is an oral, communal form of poetry adapted

from the forms of our preliterate past that can be used by anyone of any age
regardless of educational, cultural, intellectual or emotional limitations. Despite the
depth of the poems possible under SOULSPEAK, experience has shown it to be a
nontraumatic, healing experience. Evaluations by teachers and therapists over an
eight-year period support these observations. Of equal importance, it is a form of
poetry that can be directed to critical unconscious areas. It also a form of poetry that
is so human it can be mastered by anyone in a matter of minutes. And finally, once
learned, it can be used for a lifetime.
Title: Finding our Voice Through Poetry and Psychotherapy (pp. 217220)
Author: Noah Z. Kempler
Abstract: Poetrys ability to call forth deep-seated emotions and provide clarity and
integration are a few of its known attributes as an effective therapeutic tool. In

addition, the author asserts that poetry also possesses a quality that is unique even
among other creative arts therapies. He suggests that the use of poetry in therapy
may assist clients in developing an authentic personal voice that then can be
incorporated into the therapeutic dialogue. The following brief report revisits
poetrys recent emergence as a legitimate creative arts therapy and also highlights
the authors own development of a truly personal voice; a turning point in his own
therapeutic journey.
Title: When I Dream of Paris: How Sociocultural Poetry can Assist Psychotherapy
Practitioners to Understand and Affirm the Lived Experiences of Members of
Oppressed Groups (pp. 221227)
Author: Michael Anthony Ingram
Abstract: Sociocultural poetry can be used in conjunction with a counselor empathy
model to assist psychotherapy practitioners to understand and affirm the lived
experiences of members of oppressed groups. The model can also be utilized to assist
in the development of basic empathy skills.
Title: The Expressive/Creative Mode of Poetry Therapy in Short-Term Treatment:

A Case Study (pp. 229236)
Abstract: This brief report examines the use of writing in short-term therapy. A case
study of a 45-year-old male coping with schizophrenia is presented with respect to
the expressive/creative mode of poetry therapy (Mazza, 1999). Based on clinical
observation, it appears the clients writing served in both therapeutic and assessment
capacities within the boundaries of Wolbergs (1965) stages of development in brief
therapy.
Volume 17 Issue 1 (March, 2004)
Title: Poetry, Storytelling, and Star-Making: an Intergenerational Model for Special

Education (pp. 18)
Authors: F. E. Kazemek, J. J. Wellik, and Pat Zimmerman

Abstract: This article explores an on-going project in which children and young
adults with particular emotional and learning needs are connected with elder
mentors through poetry, oral history, and storytelling. The literary and personal
benefits to all of the participants in the intergenerational exchanges are highlighted.
Title: A Model for Use of Poetry in Diversity Education (pp. 920)

Authors: Michelle Emery Blake and Suzie T. Cashwell
Abstract: This study reports on the use of poetry in a university educational model
developed to facilitate communication about diversity.
Title: Maude Adams (18721953): Serendipity in Early Career on Stage (pp. 2132)
Abstract: Prominent performing artists of the past merit the attention of the creative
arts psychotherapies. Stage actresses and actors thrive on interpreting literature
works, and audiences greatly enjoy their successful performances. Although it is
known that serendipity provides performing artists with unexpected opportunities for
leaps in career advancement, the career literature remains silent. For the present
exploration of the role of serendipity in the early career path of Maude Adams, the
serendipity variable is added to Kogans new working model for career development
of performing artists. Historic data reveal serendipitous events, since infancy, in all
stages of Adams early career.
Title: Autistic Poetry as Therapy (pp. 3338)

Authors: Emil Roy, Manuel F. Casanova, and Vandna Jerath
Abstract: This brief report provides a narrative perspective on autism and poetry.
A brief review of selected poets identifies how each one was able to use his/her writing
to break out of isolation and influence societys perception of autism.
Title: Writing Bibliotherapy Books for Young Children (pp. 3944)

Author: Margaret M. Holmes
Abstract: This article describes the authors process for writing bibliotherapy/self-
help books for young children. Research, child development guidelines and inter-
views with professionals from various disciplines, including children, are the
groundwork for creating engaging stories. Realistic problem solving actions are
integrated to produce a story that will easily lend itself to the bibliotherapy process.
Volume 17, Issue 2 (June, 2004)
Title: If I Had My Own World: the Arts as Transformation for Adolescents

Exposed to Community Violence (pp. 6379)
Author: Lynne A. Kellner
Abstract: This study evaluates the effectiveness of a Community Arts mentoring
program with adolescents whose lives have been touched by violence. Using
projective and self-reporting pre- and post-measures, and a final semi-structured
interview, it seeks to understand how exposure to violence shapes the narratives that
10 rural adolescents created about themselves and their world, and whether
participation in the program changed these narratives and their sense of connection
to the larger community. This study looks at whether the participants perceived the
program as helpful. A model for an arts mentoring program for adolescents exposed
to violence is offered.
Title: Play: The Lantern of Hope (pp. 8190)

Authors: Bruce St Thomas and Paul Johnson
Abstract: Play is the lantern of hope whereby children are able to let go of more
conscious patterns, thoughts and structures in order to freely express feelings by
experiencing, through imagination, their deeper connections to their unconscious
identity. Play leads into group relationships; play can be a form of communication;
and lastly, play is in the service of communication with oneself and others. Stories
through imaginative play, art and drama, are discussed with respect to the ongoing
link between the inner meaning of life and the elements of the natural world. Play as
a therapeutic tool illuminates the way as children seize the emerging moments as an
opportunity to project their inner feelings and awareness. Transformative by nature,
play becomes the opportunity for individual and group insights as personal and
archetypal myths are recalled as a means of directing learning and creating ultimate
healing.
Title: The Prose Poem as a means of Exploring Friendship: Pathways to Reflection

(pp. 91100)
Author: Rich Furman
Abstract: In this article, the author utilizes prose poems as a means of exploring the
phenomenon of friendship. Friendships are highly important relationships that are
often neglected both by individuals and helping professionals. During a 2-month
period of in-depth exploration through the vehicle of the prose poem, the author
uncovered barriers towards establishing and maintaining friendships. These barriers
are shared to help the reader identify these issues in their relationships. Due to its
structure and style, the prose poem proved to be an excellent tool for self-exploration
and poetry therapy.
Title: Cancer and Chronic Illness: A brief report (pp. 101108)

Author: Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Abstract: This brief report provides an annotated bibliography and narrative
perspective on poetry therapy resources for working with people living with chronic
illness (physical and/or mental).
Title: Taiwanese Graduates Self-guided Bibliotherapeutic Experiences Relating to

Identity Issues (pp. 121140)
Author: Wang Ching-huang
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore the processes by
which five female Taiwanese graduate students majoring in Education (four) and
Science (one), who were studying in American university settings, employed
bibliotherapy to deal with their emotional difficulties in relation to identity conflicts.
The methods employed in this study for collecting data included audiotaped face-to-
face interviews, telephone interviews, mind-map activities, think-aloud protocols,
and telephone or e-mail follow-ups. The researcher examined these data using an
analytical model generated on the basis of identity theory, cognitive-behavior therapy
(CBT) and bibliotherapy theory. This model explicated how participants first
examined their initial identities, and then maintained them, modified them or
constructed new identities by moving through the three stages of bibliotherapy:
identification, catharsis and insight. By dint of this study, we come closer to
understanding how the participants employed literature to deal with their emotional
difficulties related to identity issues and further made adjustments to their given
situations. This study facilitates a better understanding of bibliotherapeutic
experiences and identity conflicts. It also contributes to our knowledge about self-
guided bibliotherapy and pedagogical bibliotherapy in cross-cultural study settings
and their importance in cognitive, emotional and social development, especially with
the approach of globalization.
Title: The Healing Power of Writing: Applying the Expressive/Creative Component

of Poetry Therapy (pp. 141154)
Authors: Kathleen Connolly Baker and Nicholas Mazza
Abstract: The healing aspects of writing are explored in this article. This includes an
overview of the evidence for the use of writing in therapeutic capacities, as well as a
discussion of the limitations. A case study involving the use of journaling with a client
suffering from Lupus is presented. Brief illustrations of the use of writing in couple,
family and group modalities are also presented.
Title: Toward a Pastoral Psychotherapeutic Context for Poetry Therapy: A Poetry

Therapy Process Adaptation of the Hynes and Hynes-Berry Biblio/Poetry Therapy
Model (pp. 155163)
Author: Joy Sawyer
Abstract: This case study offers a pastoral psychotherapuetic context for dealing
with sexual abuse, using a poetry therapy process adaptation of Hynes & Hynes-
Berrys (1994) four-stage model of biblio/poetry therapy.
Title: The Tanka as a Qualitative Research Tool: A study of a Native American

Woman (pp. 165171)
Authors: Carol Langer and Rich Furman
Abstract: This article explores the use of the Japanese poem the Tanka as a tool in
qualitative research. It presents two types of data, research and interpretative Tankas,
in the exploration of a Native American womans experience about her bi-culturality.
Title: The use of Poetry Therapy in Crisis Intervention and Short-term Treatment:
Two Case Studies (pp. 189198)
Author: Julie A. Schwietert
Abstract: This article reports on the use of poetry therapy in crisis intervention and
an integrative model of short-term treatment. A discussion of some of the
characteristics of poetry therapy specific to crisis intervention conclude the report.
Title: Create Through me, oh God this Hurts: Creative Writing, Spirituality, and
Insanity (pp. 199207)
Authors: Cheryl B. Sawyer and Darline Hunter
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to present a spiritual perspective of creative
writing, discuss the impact of emotional trauma and psychotropic medication on

creativity, and explore the dilemmas posed by pharmacological disconnection from
the Spiritual Divine.
Title: Poetry Therapy in Ancient Greek Literature (pp. 209213)

Abstract: Ancient Greek literature demonstrates definite precursors to poetry
therapy. Examples of treatment of wounds in the Iliad emphasize the value of
soothing words and stories, as well as that of soothing drugs. Plato, Aristotle, and the
Greek tragedians depict emotional catharsis, and the therapeutic role of verbal
persuasion. On many occasions, Homer calls on the Muses or Goddess for help,
foreshadowing the help provided by poetry and literature to psychotherapy and
medicine. The first word of the Iliad in Greek is menin, anger, while the last
syllables are damio, tamer. The Iliad can thus be seen as emblematic of Greek
civilization in seeking to tame wild and destructive forces, or in the language of
poetry therapy, of providing therapy, growth and support for irrational, emotional
forces within us.
Title: Blessed and Delighted: An interview with Arleen Hynes, Poetry Therapy
Pioneer (pp. 215222)
Abstract: Arleen Hynes talks about how she began in poetry therapy back when the
field barely existed, shares memorable experiences facilitating poetry therapy, and
discusses her process for writing her ground-breaking text, Bibliotherapy*the
Interactive Process: A handbook (1986) as well as her thoughts on the future of
poetry therapy. Her role in development of training and standards for poetry therapy
are also discussed.
Title: Potential Misuses of Poetry Therapy: A process for Reflecting on Practice

(pp. 223230)
Author: Ted Bowman
Abstract: If first do no harm continues as a legitimate guideline for helpers, what

are the implications for those using literary and writing resources and tools in their
work? Can anyone utilize literary resources for therapeutic purposes? What are the
risks of misuse of literary resources, even by trained or certified professionals? In this
article, a process for reviewing practice, ones own or in consultation with others,
will be presented. Possible guidelines for use of literary resources in therapeutic work
will follow.
Title: The Breaking of Waves in a Steady Surf: The Transformative Power of

Rhythm and Emotion in Poetry (pp. 249263)
Authors: Margaret M. Blanchard and S. B. Sowbel
Abstract: For poets, the word is often an easy, ready tool. For the client or the
unpracticed, however, words can seem removed from or an awkward way to express
internal and external experiences. This article considers three preliminary steps to
access experience that can then guide us to the realm of words*emotion, rhythm
and sound. We use the writings of philosopher Susanne Langer, educator and
philosopher John Dewey, poet Mary Oliver, and recent research from the fields of
neurocognition and physiology to support our thinking and activity design.
Title: Beast of Burden (Chekku Madu): The Power of the Wandering Poet Among
the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora (pp. 265281)
Authors: R. Oakley and V. I. S. Jayapalan
Abstract: The short story Beast of Burden illustrates a common experience faced by
educated, qualified, and visibleand migrants of peasant class to developed
countries. Containing a remarkable account of the birth of the individual and the
contradictions generated through the process of segmentation from the collective,
the story illustrates the results on the individual of a clash of cultural values under the
capitalist ethos. Significant to medical anthropology, moreover, are the healing
properties the story holds among the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora, who, well educated
and trained for white collar work, invariably spend an extended period working in the
unskilled service sector. Many of these individuals have, moreover, experienced some
form of depression, or have friends of family affected by the stigmatised bio-medical
label of mental illness. The story, its teller and its audience underscores the power
of a culture of literacy and the lasting significance of the wandering poet in
communal healing from trauma that is not only relevant to Tamils, but to many new
immigrants who have fled from trauma and war.
Title: Narrative perspective: The Use of the Feedback Poem as a Tool for Advancing
Interpersonal Communication (pp. 283291)
Author: G. L. Bell
Abstract: This brief report provides a narrative perspective on the use of the
feedback poem in advancing interpersonal communication through improved
listening skills. The technique is briefly illustrated and the limitations are noted.
Title: Introducing the Journal Experience: Expression Through Organization (pp.

293296)
Abstract: Community-based vocational clients were given the opportunity to
participate in weekly journal writing for 10 weeks. Their experiences and feedback
supports Adams (1998) journal ladder continuum, while bridging Baldwins (1991)
idea that writing increases awareness. Clients exposed to this element in the program
have agreed to continue to incorporate it in future writing sessions.
Title: Touching Stories in Biblio-Poetry Therapy and Personal Development (pp.

7184)
Author: Juhani Ihanus

Abstract: The contribution of stories in biblio-poetry therapy practice and in
enhancing personal development is the focus of this paper. Writing, telling and
listening to stories open up possibilities for change and new learning windows.
Through expressive and communicative stories, therapeutic and developmental dia-
and polylogism can expand ones imaginative space and perspectives of action in a
holding framework and even in virtual communities. Rewriting previous truth
stories moves and modifies ones conceptions of self, others and life relations.
The inhibitions, failures and dislocations inherent in storytelling also provide
valuable experiential and experimental touching/moving knowledge. The presence
of the imagined reader and the internal supervisor in the writing process can
help in reflecting, evaluating and steering, through meta-emotional and metacogni-
tive processes, ones own and others needs, aspirations and goals.
Title: Country Haiku from Finland: Haiku Meditation Therapy for Self-healing
(pp. 8595)
Abstract: The focus of this article is on Haiku Meditation Therapy as a self-healing
for the therapist. Written from a personal perspective, the author examines Haiku
writing guidelines and the stages used in Haiku Meditation Therapy. Examples of the
authors haiku are incorporated in the article.
Title: Transformation Through Poetic Awareness of the Inner Pain of the Prisoner
(pp. 97101)
Author: Eric A. Kreuter
Abstract: Prisoners feel immense pain due to their surroundings, loss of freedom
and, often, self-condemnation. Through encouragement, they can become more
aware of their negative behavioral patterns and seek transformation through self-
exploration. One method used to create such transformation potential is the use of
poetry and psychodrama in the group therapy setting. This method creates the
possibility of insights for the prisoner, leading to change in their internal thought
process and increased self-esteem. By opening up an appropriate emotional channel,

the prisoner regains a wider range of human expression.
Title: Using Poetry and Written Exercises to Teach Empathy (pp. 103110)
Author: Rich Furman
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how exercises associated with
poetry and bibliotherapy can be useful in assisting faculties of the helping professions
teach empathy to their students. A brief exploration of the concept of empathy is
discussed. Next, exercises useful in teaching empathy are presented. Finally, a case
study of the work of social work students is presented to illuminate uses of exercises
for teaching this important concept and skill.
Title: Brief Report: The Color of Sharing: Using Realia in Poetry Therapy to Invite
Intimacy (pp. 111112)

Author: Paulette Warren (also publishes under pen name of P.A. Pashibin)
Abstract: This brief report is a narrative perspective on the use of poetry therapy
techniques with the elderly in an assisted living facility.
Title: The Psalms: A Therapy of Words (pp. 133152)

Author: Donna C. Owens
Abstract: This study describes how the Psalms can be used in psychotherapy. The
Psalms are examined within a historical context, and their structure and content
evaluated for applicability in contemporary settings. A theoretical frame is created for
the use of the Psalms in therapy. This study includes a heuristic research process in
which the researcher read the Psalms and wrote poetic responses. The data was
analysed alongside a similar poetic response to the Psalms-Daniel Berrigans
Uncommon prayer: A book of psalms. Finally, suggestions, based on this
phenomenological study, are provided for those choosing to use this literary text
as a therapy of words. This study offers a theory for using language in therapeutic
contexts, the identification of archetypes in the Psalms and a procedure for
conducting a heuristic exploration of texts for therapeutic use.
Title: Irena Klepfisz, Loss and the Poetry of Exile (pp. 153163)
Author: Esther Altshul Helfgott
Abstract: In her use of the poetic form, Holocaust poet, Irena Klepfisz, confronts
guilt, fear, loss and anger. While her poems are filled with mourning, trauma,
ambivalence and the recollection of extremity, they are also filled with hope. This
essay concerns Klepfiszs early poems, primarily POWs, Death camp,
Searching for my fathers body and The house, which appeared in her 1975
work, Periods of stress and demonstrates that Klepfiszs poetry reflects her ability and
her tendency to confront grief and loss by way of the poetic form.
Title: The S in SOAP: Exploring the Poetic Connection (pp. 165170)

Author: J. Graham-Pole
Abstract: This article draws attention to a phrase often used in medicine, namely
SOAP, which stands for Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan. The author
reflects on how the S in SOAP is rarely given the attention it deserves to highlight
the patients subjective experience of illness. He reviews how writing poetry has been
helpful during his medical career to capture moments of close connection between
his patients and colleagues and himself, and how this has sometimes helped make
sense of difficult and apparently senseless medical events. He underscores the
common root of communication, community and communion.
Title: The Psychology of Time Present and Time Past: An Analysis of Literary and
Biographical Creations (pp. 171179)
Author: Muchugu Kiiru

Abstract: In this article the author argues that ones past impinges on ones present.
This is illustrated through two creations, Macbeth and Lolo Ferrari. Macbeth is a
literary creation and the tragic hero in Shakespeares Macbeth, while Ferrari is a
biographical creation and the subject in Jon Henleys Larger than Life. The position
taken in this article indicates that one need not become a prisoner of the past; the choice
one makes in relation to the past determines what one becomes. Yet, whatever the
choice, the past has an influence on the individual. In the end, the author suggests ways
that counseling can assist the individual make healthy choices in handling the past.
Title: Reflections on Dusting: Poetrys Educational and Therapeutic Capacity to

Convey and Evoke Multiple Meanings (pp. 195205)
Author: Jan L. Hitchcock
Abstract: Poetrys capacity to convey and evoke multiple meanings is integral to its
therapeutic potential and has significance as well in other person-poem encounters.
The author describes the very different responses of three readers to Julia Alvarezs
poem Dusting in the context of an interdisciplinary university course. Each
student experienced a significant personal connection with the poem, a connection
associated with a striking variety of new insights and meanings. While objectives,
structures and roles differ in important ways between higher education and poetry
therapy, appreciation of multiple meanings and integrative learning experiences is of
direct relevance to both endeavors. The author concludes with consideration of how
concepts from poetry therapy can further inform these experiences with Dusting,
and the perspectives from which multiple responses to Dusting in this academic
assignment may have relevance to the developing theoretical and research base of
poetry therapy.
Title: Ghost Ranch-A Fierce Spiritual Landscape and a Fierce Spiritual Encounter
(pp. 207220)
Abstract: The author, a co-founder of the Art and Drama Therapy Institute, Inc. in
Washington, DC, USA, provides a narrative perspective on a spiritual experience
resulting from an injury while partaking in a pastel painting course at Ghost Ranch in
New Mexico. The author, working in the area of disabilities and mental retardation,
conveys the healing power of music, literature and art, as she offers lessons on
invisibility, inclusion and access.
Title: The Use of Collaborative Poetry as a Method of Deepening Interpersonal

Communication Among Adolescent Girls (pp. 221231)
Abstract: The use of collaborative writing techniques with a group of adolescent
girls who are residents in a treatment program specializing in co-occurring disorders
is the focus of this article. Collaborative writing techniques were found to be effective
in deepening interpersonal communication among this population when group
members are bonded in relationships based on mutual concern, and when group
members demonstrate a minimal proficiency in basic group skills.
Title: Sister Stroke: The Story, the Poem, the Dance (pp. 233235)
Author: Shani Sterling
Abstract: The author, a dancer, reflects on her personal experience and a poem that
she wrote relating to individuals (a person she saw on a bus, and her own mother)
who suffered from a stroke. The interrelationship of poetry, dance, and personal
story is examined in this piece.
Title: Sexual Violence Counselors Reflections on Supervision: Using Stories to

Mitigate Vicarious Traumatization (pp. 316)
Authors: Carol A. Sommer and Jane A. Cox
Abstract: The use of stories as a therapeutic tool is well established in the mental
health field. Several theoretical approaches to counseling, for example, psycho-
analytic or narrative, use stories in creative ways to help individuals explore personal
experience and make meaning. The authors investigate how trauma counselors can
use stories in supervision to help diminish the effects of vicarious traumatization.
This study is a basic interpretive analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted
with nine sexual violence counselors. The investigation focused on elements of
stories identified by the participants as well as interpretive applications arrived at by
the researcher. The authors conclude with suggestions for using stories in super-
vision including a discussion of a fairy tale that highlights the participants
experiences.
Title: Listening to the Voices of Medical Students in Poetry: Self, Patients, Role-
models and Beyond (pp. 1730)
Author: Johanna Shapiro
Abstract: The authors argue that medical educators need to learn about the
emotional reactions and concerns of medical students in response to their
educational experience. She then makes the case that one useful way of doing so is
through studying students reflective writing in general and poetry in particular.
Major thematic findings from a content analysis of 220 medical student poems are
discussed. These include the perceived threat to self that occurs as a result of the
medical school socialization process; the struggle to position oneself in a humane,
compassionate relationship toward patients, through adopting the patients point-of-
view, and establishing solidarity with the patient; the expectation for wise guides and
mentors, and the encounter with anti-role-models; and, finally, the desire for
transcendent wisdom, often expressed in religious or spiritual language. The author
concludes that, although more research is required to establish the benefits of writing
for students, there is much that educators can gain by paying attention to this rich
source of qualitative information and insight.
Title: Story, Archetype and Healing (pp. 3139)

Authors: Linda G. English and Charles A. Weiner
Abstract: In this article, three of Dr. Englishs stories are presented with
commentary. Parallels are drawn between story and archetype and then between
archetype and therapy. The common element in story and therapy is the archetype. It
is through the transformative archetypal energy that change and healing takes place.
Archetype contains the numen of transformation for healing whether it be contained
in story, or in the lives of our clients, or within our own lives. It matters not whether
archetype is enlivened via story or the story of own our lives, the impetus and
strength to heal and change is enlivened. It is the archetype that brings the healing.
Title: Prose and Cons: Use of Poetry in Existential-humanistic Therapy for

Prisoners (pp. 4146)
Author: Eric A. Kreuter
Abstract: The existential-humanistic perspective can be applied in therapeutic work
done within the prison population. The author uses poetry as an effective tool to
inspire deeper inner awareness of the prisoners opportunity to find greater meaning
through their experience of incarceration. This exploration and the sharing of their
thoughts in the group setting provide a powerful tool to combat the circle of
recidivism.
Title: Using Stories In Supervision to Facilitate Counselor Development (pp. 6167)

Authors: Janice E. Ward and Carol A. Sommer
Abstract: Developmental models of supervision are well-established, yet are often
abstract and difficult to apply. The use of stories as a heuristic device in counseling
and counselor education is also well substantiated. This article explores how these
areas may be combined to help supervisees make meaning of experience on a
personal level. Suggestions for implementation are included.
Title: Poetry in Therapy: a Way to Heal for Trauma Survivors and Clients in
Recovery From Addiction (pp. 6981)
Author: Wanda Springer
Abstract: This paper will explore the use of poetry in therapy, particularly with
trauma survivors, and clients in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs.
Practice examples from sessions with individuals and groups illustrate some of the
methods and benefits of writing poetry. Mazzas (2003) model is introduced,
together with a discussion of the theoretical base and research supporting poetry
writing as a therapeutic collaboration. In addition, the author demonstrates how
therapists can use poetry writing themselves as a way to make sense of their work,
and relieve the stress of absorbing the hurt and pain of their clients. Samples of
poetry from her work and that of other therapists are included.
Title: Edith Buxbaum, Latency and Me*between The Oedipus Complex and
Adolescence: The quiet Time Letter to Edith (pp. 8390)
Author: Esther Altshul Helfgott
Abstract: Through poetry, journal writing and epistle, the author employs her
biographical study of Dr Edith Buxbaum (19021982), Viennese-born, Seattle
psychoanalyst and disciple of Freud, to explore her own childhood grief, failures, and
guilt. She juxtaposes her experiences, as a Jewish girl growing up in Baltimore,
Maryland, with the Freudian basis of one of Buxbaums clinical case studies on the
latency period. While the author appreciates psychoanalytic theory, she questions
Buxbaums contention that Latency period (approximately aged 610) is anything
but quiet.
Title: Poems in the Waiting Room: Aspects of Poetry Therapy (pp. 9198)
Author: Michael Lee
Abstract: The history, development, and evaluation of Poems in the Waiting Room
(PitWR) are provided in this report. This programme (a registered charity in the
UK) supplies free poetry cards for patients to read while waiting to see their doctor.
Preliminary research findings indicate that PitWR enhanced the value of the patients
visit to the waiting room and served as an adjuvant in health care.
Title: Therapeutic Implications of Poetic Conversation (pp. 115125)

Authors: Phyllis Klein and Perie Longo
Abstract: The authors experienced a serendipitous exchange of poems leading to
shared examination about poetry as dialogue. This led to designing and coleading a
workshop at the National Association for Poetry Therapy, 2005, on poetic
conversation. We suggest details about the structure and content of the workshop,
and examples of poems to illustrate many different conversations. This article
suggests several ways to look at poetry as dialogue: conversation the poet engages in
with him or herself, conversations begun by the poet for the reader, poems written
directly to or about someone else, between two or more parts of the self, or as a
response to another poem. We use the writing of Gregory Orr, Jane Hirshfield, Jack
Leedy, and Nick Mazza to illustrate how poetry in conversation leads to compassion,
sympathetic identification, and connection. Ultimately, we believe it is these states
that underpin the therapeutic value of poetry.
Title: All My Pretty Ones: Unconscious motivations and undifferentiating

processes*poetry can enhance nursing knowledge (pp. 127132)
Author: Alun C. Jones
Abstract: The focus of this article is on an exploration of unconscious motivation as
a source of work creativity. It is suggested that the unconscious mind manifests itself
in all relationships*therapeutic, personal and professional. The discussion begins
and ends with the poetry and lifetime of Anne Sexton. Understanding the nature of
unconscious drive from studying psychoanalytic concepts, together with philosophy
and creative writing, could bring benefits to health practitioners through knowledge
of the complexities of some human behaviour.
Title: Poetry as Research: Advancing Scholarship and the Development of Poetry

Therapy As A Profession (pp. 133145)
Author: Rich Furman
Abstract: To be effective and to achieve legitimization, each profession must
develop its own body of knowledge. Within a social context characterized by the
increasing influence of for-profit managed care corporations and the expanded
influenced of the medical model, many helping professions have turned to logical
positivism as a model for knowledge acquisition. Yet, the methods associated with
this epistemological position may not be consonant with the values and knowledge
needs of poetry therapy as a profession. Fortunately, advances in expressive arts
research has lead to the development of methods congruent with the aims and needs
of the burgeoning profession. The research poem is examined as one potential
vehicle through which to improve the research agenda of poetry therapy.
Title: Voices in Flight: Integrating Movement/Dance with Poetry Therapy (pp. 147
150)
Abstract: This brief report includes an introduction to several movement
techniques that can be integrated with Mazzas (2003) multidimensional model of
poetry therapy.
Title: Poetry Therapy with Special Needs Children: A Pilot Project (pp. 167183)
Authors: Leah Olson-Mcbride and Timothy Page
Abstract: The ARC Poetry Club is a pilot project in which a poetry therapy group
intervention was utilized with special needs children. In this article, information will
be provided regarding the children who participated in the club, the activities that
took place during each session of the club and the facilitators observations regarding
group participants reactions to the group activities. In addition, recommendations

for future poetry therapy group interventions will be made based on the authors
experience as facilitator of the ARC Poetry Club.
Title: Bibliotherapy Practices with Children: Cautions for School Counselors

(pp. 185193)
Authors: Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson and Robert S. Pehrsson
Abstract: Although a counselor and a teacher share many responsibilities, their roles
differ in important ways and when a teacher makes the transition to a school
counselor, roles often become blurred. The clarification of roles becomes a particular
concern when the school counselor employs books as part of the counseling
program. Bibliotherapy and reading instruction both utilize literature and a
counselor may believe some practices for teaching reading are applicable in the
counseling setting. However, the goal of improving reading may interfere with goals
for counseling. The authors outline cautions for school counselors especially as they
relate to role confusion and teaching practices that may be questionable or even
harmful for some children. Suggestions for therapeutic goals and role clarification for
counselors in the use of bibliotherapy within school contexts are also provided.
Title: Wisdom Poetry Trialogue (pp. 195227)

Authors: Robert Carroll, Kykosa Kajangu, and Jack Coulehan
Abstract: The underlying assumption in this article is that the work of both wisdom
and art is to convey, not so much what has happened, but what always happens. The
authors take the term wisdom poetry to mean the conveyance of cultural wisdom
through poetry*the ways in which a single personal voice can invoke a more
universal truth. Kykosa Kajanju (an African Wisdom Keeper and Visiting Professor),
Jack Coulehan (a poet physician-internal medicine), and Robert Carroll (a poet
physician-psychiatrist) engage in a trialogue on wisdom poetry from each of their
unique wisdom and healing traditions. The authors concluded that wisdom can be
found in proverbs, the art of medicine, and the acts of everyday life.
Title: Writing of Sadness and Pain: Diary Work with Depressed Women in Finland
(pp. 320)
Authors: Irmeli Laitinen and Elizabeth Ettorre
Abstract: Through diaries, depressed women are able to chart their passage through
depression side-by-side with their involvement in the therapeutic process. Writing in
diaries provides meaning for their own experience of depression and enhances the
therapeutic process. As diarists, by retelling and reclaiming the events in ones life,
they are able to become aware of their own true selves and become experts in
depression. It is possible that, through depression narratives, voices that are used to
expressing sadness become more visible to oneself through the healing pen. The
primary objective of this paper is to describe how intensive diary writing can be used
as a psychotherapeutic tool for depressed women involved in time limited
professionally guided self-help groups in Finland. There were two main ways in
which members used their diaries: as a tool for self-reflection and as a support in
dealing with psychological and physical pain. The conclusions drawn were that diary
work was all about the self in dialogue and this implied a movement away from, if not
out of, depression.
Title: Loving to Death: An Object Relations Interpretation of Desire and

Destruction in William WordsworthS Lucy Poems (pp. 2140)
Author: Robert J. Walz
Abstract: W. R. D. Fairbairns assertion that the schizoid dilemma is one in which
the individual finds his love to be bad and seemingly destructive to his those he
loves, helps explain the great depth of feeling embodied in William Wordsworths
Lucy poems. Furthermore, the unconscious emotions that can be uncovered in the
Lucy poems corroborate Fairbairns (1941) assertion that internalization of objects

is essentially a measure of coercion (p. 111). The distant perspective from which the
elusive Lucy is portrayed reveals the strength of the personas unconscious fears that
his coercive love will drain and destroy Lucy if he comes into sustained contact with
her. In the poems, the personas hungry love does just that, tragically annihilating
Lucy and emptying the universe of her goodness, making permanent the loneliness
foreshadowed in her distant elusiveness.
Title: Language Fantasy Approach: A Therapeutic Intervention by Creating Myths

with Children (pp. 4149)
Authors: Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson and R. S. Pehrsson
Abstract: The Language Fantasy Approach (LFA), originally developed as an
approach for reading instruction, is presented here as an effective therapeutic
intervention for children who demonstrate fears and who need to improve social
skills. The LFA is demonstrated and explained as a three-stage process that involves
children creating a myth in which their story characters meet and overcome
challenges. A group of three or four children learn to cooperate and gain courage
as their story characters work together to deal with monsters and other villains.
Children learn to take appropriate risks and to realize the consequences initially in
their stories and then in their own lives.
Title: Forbidden Tears: From Ancient Finnish lamenting to Contemporary

Transpersonal Grief Work (pp. 6194)
Abstract: The post-Freudian stoic, tearless responses to death and grieving seem to
dominate some Western responses to loss. The ancient Finno-Karelian lamenting
traditions not only recognize weeping, but, more importantly, melodic weeping with
words, as a necessary part of the rites of passage, such as funerals, weddings,
conscripts or other occasions. The lament tradition offers a transpersonal alternative
to express grieving, recognizing not only the spiritual needs of the mourner, but also
the deceased. The ancient tradition is modified for contemporary transpersonal grief
work to be aided by the Grief Work Prism of Consciousness checklist.
Title: Composing a Peaceful Classroom Through Poetry Writing (pp. 103109)

Author: Sherron Killingsworth Roberts
Abstract: Poetry writing as an authentic means of composing a peaceful classroom
is the focus of this article. Formula poems are described, illustrated, and discussed.
Promoting peace through poetry writing in the classroom is one of the ways teachers
can have a positive lifelong impact on students.
Title: The Use of Agnons Stories in an Israeli Day Care Center for the Elderly: A
Brief Report (pp. 111115)
Authors: Lilia Binah and Keren Or-Chen
Abstract: The focus of this brief report is on the use of Agnons stories as a
therapeutic activity with the elderly. The aim of this activity is to bring relief and self-
understanding to elderly people. The elderly will learn to talk about their feelings,
and to show that there are positive ways of coping with difficulties and old age. The
assumption is that the elderly, who are afraid of looking inside into their soul, would
find interest and help in the activity involving Agnons stories. The activity therapy
conducted at the Day Care for the Elderly in Israel proved very effective.
Title: Is it Time for Poetry Now? Therapeutic Potentials*Individual and Collective

(pp. 129140)
Authors: Jan L. Hitchcock and Sally Bowden-Schaible
Abstract: Interweaving considerations of effects, both individual and collective, we
explore factors contributing to the timing and timeliness of poetrys therapeutic
potentials, including timing of the use of poetry within the course of a therapy, timing
of the use of poetry within a therapists practice, and timing of contemporary popular
interest in poetry as a reflection of and rejoinder to wider societal trends.
Title: Mexican Men and their Fathers: Analyzing and Representing Data through
the Research Poem (pp. 141151)
Authors: Rich Furman; Jeffery Shears; Meredith Badinelli
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to present data in the form of research poems
regarding the perceptions of Mexican dads about their own fathers. Research poems
are created in the forms of Haikus, Tankas and Pantoums. The study demonstrates
the capacity of arts-inspired research methods to explore complex human relation-
ships.
Title: Hold me; Heal me: Providing a Holding Environment through the use of
Poetry Therapy (pp. 153158)
Authors: Darline Hunter and Shannon Sanderson
Abstract: The use of poetry therapy is examined through the lens of the holding
environment of attachment theory. The process of reading and writing poetry, as well
as the finished product of poetry, is seen as providing a holding environment within
which healing can occur.
Title: Creating an Empathic and Healing Poetic Mantra for the Soon-to-be-
Released Prisoner (pp. 159162)
Author: Eric Anton Kreuter
Abstract: The process of transformation within the mindset of the prisoner can be
enhanced through the use of a poetic mantra. A framework for the creation of a
dynamic poem that has been introduced to a population of incarcerated adult
females is presented in this article. Through coaching and counseling, the poetic
mantra was found to be largely accepted for use as a daily tool towards the objective
of becoming positive and affirming of better life choices. Notions of anxiety, guilt and
self-judgment are converted to statements of new direction and healing.
Title: The Mundane, the Existential, and the Poetic (pp. 163180)
Author: Rich Furman
Abstract: The author explores and advocates for a poetry of the mundane. This
article includes an analysis of the developmental process by which a writer of
extraordinary poetry becomes a poet concerned with enlivening the ordinary.
Existential notions of nothingness, authenticity, and the I-thou relationship are
explored as they pertain to a poetics of the mundane. Poetry is presented relating to
mundane objects, mundane events, and mundane relationships. The author explores
how paying attention to what is mundane can help lead the poet towards confronting
existential truths.
Title: Expanding the Use of the Symbolic/Ceremonial Mode of Poetry Therapy

Practice: A Cross-Cultural Metaphor (pp. 195201)
Author: Richard U. Rosenfield
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to encourage the expanded use of the
symbolic/ceremonial mode of poetry therapy practice. Through examination of the
influence of the poem Youth by Samuel Ullman, and its role in the revitalization of
post-war Japan, specific elements are identified that mark the transformation of this
poem from written words to symbol to ceremony that promoted recovery for a nation
and a basis for cross-cultural exchange and understanding. These elements suggest a
pathway for how poetry therapy might broaden its focus beyond its customary
applications with individuals for personal healing and growth to circumstances
involving intergroup conflict. Several examples are provided that illustrate how
poetry therapy might be used to discover similarities and differences in feelings and
perceptions between conflicting or diverse groups with a goal of creating increased
intergroup acknowledgment, dialogue and resolution of conflict.
Title: Words from the HEArt: Poetry Therapy and Group Work with the Homeless
(pp. 203209)
Abstract: The focus of this article is on the use of poetry therapy in group work with
the homeless and their service providers. Particular attention is directed to task and
treatment groups. Practice observations and a review of poetic material indicate the
expressive/creative component of poetry therapy can help advance the self-develop-
ment and empowerment of the homeless, as well as serve to promote community
awareness.
Title: Let Mother Earth Wrap her Arms Around you: The use of Poetry and Nature
for Emotional Healing (pp. 211218)
Authors: Darline Hunter and Shannon Sanderson
Abstract: Blending the healing qualities of both nature and poetry opens up a wealth
of therapeutic pathways for the therapist and client. The use of both poetry and
nature provides opportunities for connection, insight, structure and healing.
Title: Poetry Anthologies of Grief And Bereavement: A Critical and Applied Review
(pp. 219223)
Author: Ted Bowman
Abstract: The focus of this article is on the use of poems to address grief and
bereavement. An annotated bibliography is followed by suggestions for application.
Title: Where prayer has been Valid: T. S. Eliots Four Quartets and the Lyrical
Dimension of the Analytic Space (pp. 225232)
Author: Dana Amir
Abstract: This paper is an attempt to demonstrate the power and meaning of
human lyricism by the only means that can really do so*lyricism itself. Using a fresh
reading of T. S. Eliots Four Quartets (Eliot, 1944), the author demonstrates the
lyrical attitude Eliot himself offers us as a way to observe the world. This lyrical
attitude, which the author believes is a vital component of the analytic presence, will
be presented here as a unique kind of integration between the predictable and
explicable*and that which is inexplicable and sometimes even unknowable.

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This article was downloaded by: [Florida State University Libraries]

On: 12 June 2009

Journal of Poetry Therapy

Twenty Years of Scholarship in the Journal of Poetry Therapy: The Collected

Online Publication Date: 01 June 2008

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Twenty Years of Scholarship in the

The Patricia V. Vance Professor of Social Work

Keywords: Arts, bibliotherapy, community, education, journal therapy, language

In an effort to provide a comprehensive picture of the scholarship (practice, theory,

Volume 1, Number 1 (Fall 1987)

Title: Artisan or Genuis: Two Views of Poetic Process (pp. 513)

Title: Poetry Generated by Stillbirth and Livebirth: Transgenerational Sharing of

Title: Darth Vader: Masks, Power, and Meaning (pp. 2330)

Volume 1, Number 2 (Winter 1987)

Title: Poetry Therapy in a Womens Growth Group on the MotherDaughter

Title: Poetry as a Key to the Unlocking of the Self (pp. 7787)

well to the complementary structural deficits of borderline patients. The emotive

Volume 1, Number 3 (Spring 1988)

Title: The Value of Fiction as Therapeutic Recreation and Developmental

Title: An Evaluation of Interactive Bibliotherapy in a Clinical Setting (pp. 157168)

Title: Metaphoric Communication and the Psychotherapeutic Process (pp. 169

Volume 1, Number 4 (Summer 1988)

Title: Poetry as a Healing Force in Later Adulthood: The Case of Nezahualcoyotl

Volume 2, Number 1 (Fall 1988)

Title: Working Through Grief By Poetry Writing (pp. 1119)

Title: Poetry, Healing, and Making Whole

Volume 2, Number 2 (Winter 1988)

Volume 2, Number 3 (Spring 1989)

Title: Agony, A Womb of Poetry. Why? (pp. 145154)

Abstract: Creating poetry can be a therapeutic method of allowing deep-rooted

Volume 2, Number 4 (Summer 1989)

Title: Poetry and Feminist Social Work (pp. 221230)

Title: Poetry and Therapeutic Factors in Group Therapy (pp. 231241)

Volume 3, Number 1 (Fall 1989)

Title: Bibliotherapy: An Effective Principal and Supplementary Method of Healing,

Title: Reading Guidance: Death and Grief (pp. 2328)

Title: Center for Applied Humanities (pp. 2931)

Volume 3, Number 2 (Winter 1989)

Title: Reading as a Group Process Phenomenon: A Theoretical Framework for

Title: About Collaborative Poetry Writing (pp. 97105)

Title: Poems on AIDS Express a Patchwork of Emotions (pp. 107109)

Volume 3, Number 3 (Spring 1990)

Title: Intimacy in Human Relationships: Linking Education and Practice Through

Abstract: This paper is an exploration of some of the similarities and differences

Title: Poetry as Therapy: Self and World Analysis (pp. 167171)

Volume 3, Number 4 (Summer 1990)

Title: Poetry and Childhood Trauma (pp. 229233)

Title: Two Poems from a Narcissistic Transference (pp. 235240)

Volume 4, Number 1 (Fall, 1990)

Title: Poetry and Metaphor as Instruments in Promoting Human Rights in

Volume 4, Number 2 (Winter, 1990)

Title: Poetry: An Avenue into the Spirit (pp. 7181)

Title: Poetic Interventions with Forensic Patients (pp 8392)

decision-making, and the recognition of personal responsibility for incarceration.

Volume 4, Number 3 (Spring, 1991)

Title: Scripture as Narrative and Therapy (pp. 149163)

Volume 4, Number 4 (Summer, 1991)

Title: Narrative, Symbol, and Psychotherapy: Emotion as Experienced Action and

construct these relationships. An understanding of these processes as experienced

Volume 5, Number 1 (Fall, 1991)

Williams-McPearl Belief Scale, a 31 item scale designed to measure beliefs of trauma

Volume 5, Number 2 (Winter, 1991)