‘’We do not live to write, we write in order to continue living’’ I was once told by a teacher I really admire. Writing as a therapeutic medium has been broadly used in psychology and psychotherapy throughout the world since the late 80s. Clients of various mental issues are called to express themselves in this creative form and in turn they learn how to let themselves free and how to reflect on life in general. Creativity however needs a little chaos, so embrace yourselves for the rest of this article. Afterwards, grab a pen!
The article will cover the following:
- Take a poem, not a pill
- The practice of poetry in social relationships
- The RES Model by Mazza
- Application & Guidelines
- Ethical and other remarks for when applying poetry therapy
- Additional resources... and more :)
‘’Take a poem, not a pill’’
Jack J. Leedy, one of the pioneers of poetry therapy, used to say: ‘’Put your feelings down’’ when introducing a poetry therapy session. He also used to say: ‘’Take a poem, not a pill’’ [4]. Interesting, isn’t it? The idea behind is that when you write down your feelings, you can then read them and reflect on them. The next step then is to share them in inter- imaginary conversations with others. These others can be ‘’imagined readers; or actually present in a socially interactive way. By writing expressively you can both know how you know (metacognition) and feel how you feel (meta-emotion). These are also both very successful methods in cognitive therapy since one travels through conscious word presentations and unconscious thing presentations, can evaluate, improvise, inhibit and let loose in the universe of cognition and affection.
Moreover, there are different levels of writing: the literary (product orientation), the writerly (process orientation) and the therapeutic [4]. These levels are seen as non hierarchical and also supplementary to one another, as they can create innovative and explorative fields of writing when combined.
Psychological creativity research has pointed out factors that connect to creativity [4]. It is widely known that creativity is characterized by complexity and chaotic processes. Creative acts seek a very specific kind of balance, that between chaos and order with the aim to reach self- reflection and self- organization. They also promote openness to experience, detachment from resistance to change. Creative people additionally learn how to improve the usage of their intuition in everyday life, how to trust their skills and avoid finding easy solutions to complex problems. In biblio-poetry therapy practice, participants are called to learn how to transform into various writer identities and how to use spontaneous staples and create contents at that moment, without trying to criticize what they create based on a classical literary aesthetic value.
To close this intense passage and to not torture you more with artsy thoughts, it is important to mention that in creative therapeutic processes, not all texts will be understood by everyone, nor do they need to! A very strange, and very ambiguous text may truly be important to the writer and help them reach passages they were afraid to, places that they may have avoided or help them reconnect with parts of themselves that were deeply buried somewhere in unknown places. That is why we always need to be supportive but also express our positive emotions towards the person that shared their piece of writing… So if you feel like you can share now, share your Think On Ink with us anonymously!!
The practice of poetry in social relationships
Psychological well- being includes, as recently noted within the framework of Martin Selingman, the [1] PERMA (positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment) factors. Of course there are many more definitions of well- being in psychology literature, but to examine poetry we will use this one. Social relationships are meaningful for psychology because they are one of the first factors that become impaired when clinical symptoms appear in people. Relationships attach meaning to life and strong social bonds improve one’s mood. Furthermore, “Lack of attachments is linked to a variety of ill effects on health, adjustment, and well-being” [1]. Engaging with poetry in life can contribute to positive relationships. Poetry brings out words that describe the inner you, words that have power to shape your thoughts better and understand your surroundings. This is the reason why it can boost social relationships by revealing the traumatic experiences of peoples’ lives and by facilitating the empathy of others. To explain that better, poetry contributes to the formation of positive and healthy relationships that in turn help someone achieve a better psychological well-being.
The RES model by Mazza
Poetry and various poetic methods (e.g. journal writing, letters’ writing) have been used throughout the years and since 1969 as meditative by many professionals in the mental health circle [2]. However, others argue that poetry therapy was not established until the 1980s [3]. Mazza in 1999 developed a three- component, multidimensional poetry therapy practice model.
- First component: receptive/ prescriptive (R/P) → introduction of already existing poetry or other literature forms in a therapeutic context
- Second component: expressive/ creative (E/C) → encourages client expression through writing methods such as poetry, letters, journals and stories
- Third component: symbolic/ ceremonial (S/C) → uses metaphors, rituals, symbols, storytelling and performance as a means to deal with life transitions e.g. a ritual to deal with loss
Thiis model was called the RES model and was found to have clinical implications in its practice. In fact, many therapists were asked if they used any of the model’s components and it was indeed found that in clinical practice, poetry, journal writing and storytelling are legitimate methods of treatment. More specifically, poetry therapy includes the introduction of existing poetry to the client, supporting clients to write their own poetry and finally, performance and recitation.
To clear things up a bit [3], poetry therapy until now is not that much distinguished as to its components and this makes things difficult for researchers who try to summarize such a vast literature to come to a conclusion as to what poetry therapy is and how it operates in practice exactly. This happens because it consists of journal therapy, therapeutic reading (bibliotherapy) and narrative therapy and as you can imagine the borders between these practices can turn really blurry. However we still keep the RES model as the predominant one when it comes to poetry therapy.
Application & Guidelines
Narrative and expressing writing, including poetry has been used in various therapeutic contexts and with a variety of populations [5]. For example an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse in a text was able to rewrite the meaning of a previously negative life event. Here is a passage from this text:
‘’While living at the apartments I was fondled by one of the other tenants who was a schoolteacher. I remember apartment living as being a time of shame and guilt [...] Our lives were never the same. This morning as I sit on my porch, a young woman, I feel that my life holds as much promise as the beginning of this beautiful day. I am thankful that I had the courage in my adult life to confront my abuse in therapy and put it in the proper place in my life’’ [5].
One important thing is to create a safe space for when writing. A safe environment enhances the voluntary nature of participation and it also appraises the client’s choices as to when and how to share their piece of work, only with the therapist or together with the rest of the participants.
A second thing is to treat clients with respect and accept their fears and resistances. People in such groups usually complain that they do not have time to write, that they can’t spell or that they can’t write in public. For these reasons it is important to start wil small writing exercises before moving to more complex.
Thirdly, the writing essence, the emotional processing of this writing and the post- writing process play a major role in the therapeutic process. In a research by Pennebaker, clients should write 3-5 consecutive days with variations of course in the writing topic, perspective and other characteristics of the writing. The essence is for people to stop whatever they are doing and shortly write to reflect on their life in the present. Emotional processing encounters the freedom people need to let their feeling free when writing about an emotional potic. Emotions can be negative or positive, but no matter what they are, they need to be explored. Finally, in successful experiments, people continue writing after the sessions are over for days even afterwards.
Ethical and other remarks for when applying poetry therapy
To close this article, I have chosen to reflect on the ethical restrictions this therapeutic approach might have. Professionals of mental health are known to incorporate some kind of guidelines in their work, and so should they do in poetry and writing therapy [6]. They should always keep in mind the person they are working with, their cultural context, the language and many other factors. That is why once poetry or biblio-therapy is in use, the literary context to be chosen is important in the way to not surpass the client’s current state, emotional for example.
Therapists have their own pace with the sessions, yet they should make sure that the client is following and is not bombard with information in a way that exceeds their emotional capacity. Furthermore, provocative or emotional content should be chosen carefully, as some clients are more easily emotionally moved than others. The values of the therapist is also something at stake, since they might differ from that of the client and thus the therapist should avoid implying their own values. All in all, therapists should keep in mind that clients are people different from them in many aspects and for that reason they should be respectful and above all careful and evaluative with the content they choose in poetry and other writing therapies.
Additional Resources:
Some years ago I came across an interesting book by Sam Sax named Bestiary. I quickly understood that it included poems and other literary texts like werewolf (picture underneath). I wanted to know more about the writer and soon I found out that there was a whole community under the name of Button Poetry (find the link at the end of this passage). The Button Poetry project includes many voices, and publishes books but also hosts spoken word events and more. I will add their YouTube channel above as well. What I wanted to say is that the diverse voices they host may be clinical cases of people that found poetry to be a way out of their negative vibes or feelings or at least one way out of the many one can get. Of course not all people that participate are patients as well but this initiative for me stood really powerful and meaningful and wanted to share it with you, here.
Button Poetry website: https://buttonpoetry.com/
Button Poetry Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5DH3eN81b0RGJ7Xj3fsjVg
Poetry Therapy Association: https://poetrytherapy.org/ in case you want as a clinical psychologist to get certified in poetry therapy or as a linguistics expert or in any case you are interested in learning more about poetry therapy.
References
[1] Croom, A. M. (2014). The practice of poetry and the psychology of well-being. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 28(1), 21–41. doi:10.1080/08893675.2015.980133
[2] Mazza, N. F., & Hayton, C. J. (2013). Poetry therapy: An investigation of a multidimensional clinical model. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 40(1), 53–60. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2012.10.002
[3] Alfrey, A., Field, V., Xenophontes, I., & Holttum, S. (2021). Identifying the mechanisms of poetry therapy and associated effects on participants: A synthesised review of empirical literature. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 75, 101832. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2021.101832
[4] Ihanus, J. (2005). Touching stories in biblio-poetry therapy and personal development. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 18(2), 71–84. doi:10.1080/08893670500140598
[5] Connolly Baker, K., & Mazza, N. (2004). The healing power of writing: applying the expressive/creative component of poetry therapy. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 17(3), 141–154. doi:10.1080/08893670412331311352
[6] Bowman, T. (2004). Potential misuses of poetry therapy: A process for reflecting on practice. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 17(4), 223–230. doi:10.1080/0889367042000325102