POETRY THERAPY

EDUCATING

THE PUBLIC

PRESENTERS

JAMES BRANDENBURG, M.A., M.A., M.ED, LPC, LMFT, CPT (Certified Poetry Therapist), Jungian Analyst in Training / Zurich, Switzerland, Adjunct Counselor San Antonio College

DAVID RODRIGUEZ, Ed.D., LPC / Assistant Professor / Coordinator Counseling and Advising Services, San Antonio College

PRESENTER TIDBITS

DAVID RODRIGUEZ Musician and Songwriter / Music Residency at Olmos

Pharmacy Diner San Antonio

JAMES BRANDENBURG Fluent in German and Spanish Studies Depth Psychology & Dreams in Switzerland Co-founder & Co-owner Literary & Arts Magazine Voicesdelaluna.com Pecan Grove Press published Brandenburg’s Eyes in the

Dark, a Memoir of Dreams and Poetry in 2013.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

WHAT IS POETRY THERAPY?BRIEF HISTORY OF PTCERTIFICATION PROCESSVARIOUS GROUPSWRITING ASSIGNMENTCLOSURE

WHY POETRY COMES IN SEARCH OF US

PABLO NERUDA’S POEM “POETRY”POETIC LANGUAGE CAN REVEAL & DEEPEN

WHAT WE FEEL, VIA PARADOX, METAPHOR, IMAGERY

PERMISSION TO PLAYSURPRISES US BY SAYING THE

UNSPEAKABLERAISES QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS BUT

GIVES US NEW WAYS TO THINKALLOWS US TO KNOW WHAT WE DIDN’T

KNOW BEFORE WE BEGAN TO WRITE

WHAT IS POETRY THERAPY?

INTENTIONAL USE OF LITERATURE TO EVOKE FEELINGS

CHOSEN ON THE BASIS OF WHERE THE THERAPIST THINKS THE STUDENT OR CLIENT IS

OR CHOSEN TO HELP THE PERSON TOWARD NEW REALIZATIONS

A BASIS FOR TALKING IN A CLASS OR IN A SESSION

CASE STUDIES INVITE ANALYSIS; POEMS EVOKE FEELINGS

POETRY AS A TECHNIQUE

THE GOAL IS TO MAKE AN IMPACT ON A LIFE (GOAL OF ALL TECHNIQUES)

A POEM IS ANOTHER PERSON IN THE GROUP THAT PERSON IS NON-THREATENING

BECAUSE HE OR SHE IS DISTANT PHYSICALLY BUT IS PRESENT EMOTIONALLY

ON THE OTHER HAND, THE EMOTIONAL PRESENCE CAN HAVE FAR GREATER INFLUENCE THAN THE PHYSICAL

POETRY INVITES A QUICKER RESPONSE

ABSTRACT POETRY DOES NOT WORKTO BE EFFECTIVE MUST BE SPECIFICPEOPLE WILL SURPRISE THEMSELVES

BY LETTING THE LANGUAGE CONNECT THEM TO OTHERS

AND CONNECT TO THEMSELVES

THE WRITTEN WORD

IN DEFENSE OF POETRY (1840) SHELLEY WROTE THAT “EVERY AUTHOR IS NECESSARILY A POET, BECAUSE LANGUAGE ITSELF IS POETRY.”

SHELLEY FOUND THE DISTINGUISHING ELEMENT OF POETRY IN ITS “POWER TO REVEAL AND ILLUMINATE.”

WORDSWORTH

THE SPONTANEOUS OVERFLOW OF FEELINGS

POETRY OF VALUE REQUIRES THE POET TO THINK “LONG AND DEEPLY”.

ROMANTIC MOVEMENT

CONCERN FOR THE HUMAN “LIFEWORLD” FEATURING 1)AFFECT, IMAGINATION, AND INTUITION; 2)HOLISTIC CONTENT; 3)PRACTITIONER (INVESTIGATOR) AS

PARTICIPANTGERGEN (1994) NOTED THAT “FROM A

ROMANTICIST STANDPOINT, TO UNDERSTAND ANOTHER IS TO EXPERIENCE IN THE SAME MANNER, THE OTHER’S SUBJECTIVITY.”

POETRY THERAPY

POETRY THERAPY REFLECTS THE CLASSIC ISSUES IN LITERARY ANALYSIS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PRACTICE: THE ROMANTIC ASPECTS OF EMPATHY AND SUBJECTIVITY VS. REASON AND OBSERVATION.

FOCUS ON CLIENT

LERNER (1987) STATED THAT IN POETRY THERAPY THE FOCUS IS ON THE PERSON NOT THE POEM. CLIENTS ARE NOT ASKED TO INDENTIFY THE “TRUE” MEANING OF A POEM, BUT RATHER THE PERSONAL MEANING.

HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS

APPOLO, DUAL GOD OF MEDICINE AND POETRY, HAS OFTEN BEEN REFERRED TO AS A STARTING POINT FOR THE HISTORICAL FOUNDATION FOR POETRY THERAPY.

THE ANCIENT GREEKS ARE CREDITED WITH BEING ONE OF THE EARLIEST PEOPLE TO INTUITIVELY CONCEIVE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF WORDS AND FEELINGS TO BOTH POETRY & HEALING.

HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS

IN POETICS ARISTOTLE DISCUSSED THE ROLE OF CATHARSIS IN AFFECTING AN EMOTIONAL CURE

THE VALUE OF POETRY IN PRODUCING INSIGHTS AND PROVIDING UNIVERSAL TRUTHS WAS ALSO NOTED

TODAY, CATHARSIS IS CONSIDERED AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF PSYCHOTHERAPY, ONE OF THE THERAPEUTIC FACTORS IN GROUP PSYCHOLOGY, AND A CENTRAL COMPONENT OF PSYCHODRAMA

HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS

BLINDERMAN (1973) TRACED THE USE OF POETRY TO DEAL WITH EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS EVEN FURTHER IN HISTORY TO PRELITERATE TIMES WHEN INCANTATIONS AND INVOCATIONS WERE USED.

OFTEN THE PURPOSE OF THE CHANTED WORD WAS TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE IN SELF, OTHERS, OR THE ENVIRONMENT.

HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS AMERICAN INDIANS

ON THE AMERICAN INDIAN, ASTROV (1962, P.207) NOTED THE POWER OF THE WORD: “IT IS NOT THE HERB ADMINISTERED TO THE SICK WHICH IS CONSIDERED THE ESSENTIAL PART OF THE CURE, RATHER THE WORDS RECITED OVER THE HERB BEFORE ITS USE.”

RECENT HISTORY

JONES (1969) NOTED THAT PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS WERE WRITING POEMS FOR THE PENNSYLVANIA HOSPITAL NEWSPAPER, THE ILLUMINATOR, IN 1843.

BENJAMIN RUSH WAS THE FIRST AMERICAN TO RECOMMEND READING FOR THE SICK AND THE MENTALLY ILL IN THE EARLY 1800S (RUBIN, 1978A)

IN 1925, ROBERT HAVEN SCHAUFFLER WROTE THE POETRY CURE: A POCKET MEDICINE CHEST OF VERSE.

CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENTS

THE HEALING POWER OF POETRY, BY SMILEY BLANTON (1960), WAS ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT CLASSIFICATION OF POEMS FOR SPECIFIC PROBLEMS AND MOODS.

IN 1963, GRIEFER WROTE PRINCIPLES OF POETRY THERAPY.

IN 1969, LEEDY EDITED AN INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLECTION OF CHAPTERS IN POETRY THERAPY: THE USE OF POETRY IN THE TREATMENT OF EMOTIONAL DISORDERS.

CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENTS

IN 1973, LEEDY FOLLOWED WITH A SECOND EDITED VOLUME, POETRY THE HEALER.

FORMAL RECOGNITION OF POETRY THERAPY WAS EVOLVING WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR POETRY THERAPY (APT) IN 1969.

BEGINNING IN 1971, ANNUAL CONFERENCES WERE HELD IN NEW YORK.

CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENTS

IN 1981, THE APT BECAME FORMALLY INCORPORATED AS THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR POETRY THERAPY (NAPT). SINCE THAT TIME, ANNUAL CONFERENCES HAVE BEEN HELD AT SITES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.

SEE THE WEB NationalAssociationforPoetryTherapy.com

CERTIFICATION

THE NATONAL ASSOCIATION FOR POETRY THERAPY HAS SET STANDARDS FOR CERTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION, MAINTAINS STRICT ADHERENCE TO ITS CODE OF ETHICS, AND OFFERS AND REVIEWS EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING PROGRAMS.

CERTIFIED POETRY THERAPIST OR CERTIFIED APPLIED POETRY FACILITATOR

B.A. REQUIRED, PLUS 440 HOURS OF TRAINING 1) 200 HOURS OF DIDACTIC STUDY OF

POETRY THERAPY 2) 60 HOURS OF PEER EXPERIENCE 3) 120 HOURS OF POETRY THERAPY

EXPERIENCE (FACILITATION) 4) 60 HOURS OF SUPERVISION

REGISTERED POETRY THERAPISTS (RPTS)

MASTER’S DEGREE IN A CLINICAL FIELD (SUCH AS PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL WORK, COUNSELING) AND A TOTAL OF 975 HOURS 1) 250 HOURS OF DIDACTIC STUDY OF POETRY

THERAPY 2) 60 HOURS OF PEER EXPERIENCE 3) 300 HOURS OF POETRY THERAPY

EXPERIENCE (FACILITATION) 4) 100 hours of supervision 5) 165 hours of institution experience 6) 100 hours of other meritorious learning

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

Facilitator will read a poem and ask participants to respond

Facilitator will give participants handout of a different poem and ask them to read poem aloud and then respond to lines that affect them emotionally.

Participants will receive a writing prompt and will have seven minutes to respond in writing

Participants will have opportunity to share their responses. Participation is voluntary.

CONCLUSION

QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTSCONCLUSION