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Poetry for Healing: Poemeopathy Class
I find that poetry that can heal is very interesting.
I also find that poetry has healed me in ways.
I am no expert, but I would like to ask all of you
to look at the in formation I have found, and lets see
what we can do to heal some folks.
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The name, 'Poemeopathy' (poh-mee-OPP-uh-thee), is a play on the word, 'hoemeopathy', which involves remedies for the physical body. Poemeopathy is poetry/remedies for the spirit meant to comfort, heal and support.
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Swollen Hemingways? See a Doctorow
I woke up this morning feeling
incredibly Gorky. So I made an appointment
to see my Doctorow. He said my Hemingways
looked a little swollen and sent me to
get an M.R. James and a complete Shakespeare.
By that time, I began to feel a slight Trilling
in my Dickinsons and some minor Kipling
in my left Auden. The entire experience
was extremely Dickey.
I was referred to an H.D., who asked
about my cummings. She detected traces
of Plath in my Sextons and suggested
I might also have some Updike
trapped in my Yeatsian system.
She recommended that to keep Orwell
and prevent inflammation to my Balzac,
I elevate my Flaubert once a day.
The poem is by the Irish American poet Terence Winch
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Can Poetry Heal? by John Lundberg
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-lundberg/can-poetry-heal_b_145560.html
I know a few poets who I think could use some therapy (including myself), but until recently I'd never considered the art as a serious therapeutic tool. Some therapists, it turns out, find poetry to be highly effective in helping patients to cope with and overcome mental illness. In an article for the Psychiatric Centers Information Network, registered poetry therapist Perie J. Longo instructs us that "the word therapy, after all, comes from the Greek word therapeia meaning to nurse or cure through dance, song, poem and drama." I had no idea.
There are a few basic, accepted methods of poetry therapy. In one group method, the therapist selects a poem that highlights a problem that the patient group is dealing with, and that might help open a dialogue on the subject. Reading Emily Dickinson, for example, might help patients realize that loneliness isn't unique. Reading Roethke's "The Waking" might serve to focus a discussion on taking life one step at a time. Of course, this has to be carefully managed: poems mean different things to different people, and a poem that uplifts one patient might depress another.
A second method of therapy calls on patients to write their own poems. Longo holds poetry workshops for patients which are structured a lot like workshops in academia. When a patient's poem comes up for discussion, a couple of people read it to let the rhythms and the music sink in, then the group silently considers it until someone offers up a question or opinion. Of course, in poetry therapy, poems aren't looked at for their value as art, but as a window into the psychology of the poet and, by extension, as a means of healing. According to Longo, there are two major facets to such healing: defining the self, and helping to make connections between the self and others.
If you've ever written a poem, you know that the act of writing a poem can certainly achieve that first facet. Every poem I've written has given me at least some sense of defining myself. For a patient with mental illness, this act can take on particular importance. Longo once asked a patient how it felt to hold a published copy of a poem he'd written. The man simply replied, "I feel like I am somebody, finally."
As for the connection to others, Longo quotes the poet Stephen Dobyns, from his book Best Words, Best Order: Essays on Poetry, in which Dobyns wrote, "I believe that a poem is a window that hangs between two or more human beings who otherwise live in darkened rooms. " Longo described one workshop in which such a connection was hauntingly made:
Often I will take a phrase from a poem and repeat it for each group member to orally fill in their thoughts, before they write their own poem. One day I began with such a phrase, "I have the right." As we went around the circle seated in the living room, most touching lines were being spoken: I have the right to get a cup of milk in the middle of the night; I have the right to breathe; I have the right to play my guitar; I have the right to comb my hair, etc. Suddenly one young man who was suicidal said, "I have the right to get a gun to shoot myself." A woman, who had sat quite silently lost in herself each time she came to group, which was not often, spoke up. Turning to him she said softly but firmly, "And I have the right to take it from you." In that moment the silence was stunning.
Longo also speaks to a third potential benefit of writing poetry: that writing a poem can help to clear up one's emotions on a complex issue. Form plays a key role here since it necessitates that you manipulate your thoughts into a structure--I occasionally feel that in writing a poem I've forced chaotic ideas into a sort of stillness. Longo mentions one radical formal technique: drawing "a box in the middle of the page and limit[ing] words to that space. Emotion will not run amok in this way, but be protected in the frame natural to the order of poetry."
It makes sense that poetry could have significant healing effects, and I wonder if those effects might actaully draw some poets to the art. I know poets who insist, with seriousness, that if they didn't write regularly, they'd go mad. And there are famous examples--like Plath--of those who wrestled with their demons on the page. In some cases, one could argue, poetry may have made matters worse.
Experts are careful to stress that poetry is a tool, which, wrongfully employed, can hurt rather than heal a patient. But many feel that it has significant potential. In a Time Magazine article on poetry therapy, Yale Psychiatrist Albert Rothenberg offered that "poetry by itself does not cure," but noted the benefit of its unique focus on verbalization, which, he offered, is "the lifeblood of psychotherapy."
Can Poetry Heal? by John Lundberg
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-lundberg/can-poetry-heal_b_145560.html
an article posting on huffingtonpost.com
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The Military has a website for soldiers dealing with issues,
and they have some poets, and poetry there.
Here is the link.
http://www.dcoe.health.mil/blog/article.aspx?id=1&postid=102
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Writers and Depression
© 1995 by Nancy Etchemendy
On an afternoon in September of 1994, I sat by myself with a razor blade in my hand. Outside, the weather was hot and still. But in my head a storm raged. Dozens of disordered voices howled in the wind of that storm. Most of them were of the opinion that my work had no value; that I would never succeed as a writer, and thus would never realize my most cherished dream; that the pain of my existence had made me a liability to myself and to my family; and that I would be better off dead. Luckily, the voice I heard most clearly as I held the razor poised above the veins of my wrist was that of my young son, asking me to think about what his life would be like without a mother. I put the blade down and cried, unable to do what I had intended, but finally convinced that I was seriously ill and needed help.
The name for the condition is clinical depression. During the year of my recovery, I was surprised yet somehow comforted to discover that depression is one of the most common human ailments. Almost everyone becomes clinically depressed at least once. Over half the general population will experience two or more episodes of serious depression during a lifetime. Statistics gathered in a recent article in Scientific American* indicate that the incidence of clinical depression among writers and artists may be as much as ten times greater than that among the general population. The incidence of suicide is as much as eighteen times greater. Why should this be the case? What exactly is depression? And what can we, as individuals who are apparently more vulnerable than most, do to protect ourselves from the specter of this often fatal illness?
The most common symptoms of depression are:
•Isolation. Loss of interest in activities and friends. A sense of being trapped inside yourself. You may develop an aversion to answering the phone or the doorbell, or to greeting acquaintances if you pass them on the street.
•A major change in sleeping patterns. Are you sleeping more than usual, or do you find that you go to sleep easily but awaken during the night and can't get back to sleep? Anecdotal evidence suggests that many writers suffer from frequent insomnia. But if your insomnia gets much worse than usual, this, too, can be a sign of depression.
•A generalized inability to take pleasure in life. This can include loss of interest in food, or obsessive consumption of it. A secondary symptom is unintentional weight loss or gain of more than ten pounds in a short period of time. It can also include loss of interest in sex.
•Inability to concentrate. This can manifest as a pattern of dropping things, frequent accidents while walking or driving, and so forth. It can also show up as a feeling of confusion, or inability to make decisions.
•Loss of hope. If your prospects for the future seem unremittingly bleak, be suspicious.
•Self-medication. You may be unable to shake the conviction that you need alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, or other nonprescription drugs in order to cope with life.
Scientists are still debating the question of why writers seem particularly prone to depression. Some feel that the underlying cause may be genetic. But it's also possible that the cause is more mundane. Some of the everyday aspects of writing may contribute to depression.
It takes a lot of courage to be a professional writer, though this fact is rarely acknowledged. Producing a book, a story, or a poem is emotionally similar to becoming a parent. We put so much of ourselves into our work that it's hard to separate ourselves from it, even after we've finished it and sent it out into the world to be judged by others. So it's easy to get confused about whether an editor is rejecting your story or you personally. The steady drum of rejection slips is a part of life for every writer, even the most successful. The courage it takes to deal with rejections and keep going may fail us at times. Without courage, we become fair game for depression.
Another occupational hazard for writers is the solitary nature of the profession. We spend a lot of time sitting alone with only our thoughts for company; it's difficult to get work done under any other circumstances. The average writer doesn't swim in the luxurious stream of external feedback that most human beings enjoy. Most of the decisions we make about our work and its quality we make on our own. There may be periods of time during which the only feedback we have is a string of editorial rejections. Even after we achieve regular publication, we must sometimes grapple with harsh reviews, critical inattention, or indifferent treatment from publishers. It's not socially acceptable to complain too much about these unpleasant aspects of the business, so the tendency is to internalize them--to take them to heart, and believe that they mean the worst. Without frequent reality checks--perspectives from a number of other people--it's possible to get stuck in the endless! loop of our own doubts and get further and further from the truth without realizing it.
There are several things a writer can do to keep depression at bay, or to dig out from under it once it descends. First, realize that the body and the mind are an interdependent system. Staying emotionally healthy is always easier if you feel good physically. My own dance with depression was complicated by the the chronic pain of a degenerative disease. I know from firsthand experience that once I felt better physically, the climb back to a normal outlook on life became considerably easier.
If you habitually overuse common drugs such as alcohol, nicotine, or even caffeine, make an effort to cut down. (Be careful to withdraw from nicotine and caffeine gradually, though, as sudden withdrawal can actually add to depression!) These substances can cause various physical discomforts ranging from nausea to respiratory difficulties. They can also contribute to perceptual distortions and mood swings. Pay attention to your diet. Eating regular, well-balanced meals will make you feel better in every way. Try to keep regular hours. They don't have to be normal. But they do have to stay about the same from day to day, and they should include adequate rest. Last but not least, try to get some aerobic exercise each day. It doesn't have to be much and it doesn't have to be particularly strenuous. Even as little as twenty minutes of cycling or brisk walking daily will benefit your overall health in a big way.
To alleviate isolation, cultivate the friendship of other writers. Having other writers to talk to can help you keep a healthier perspective. One note of caution here, though. Be careful about participating in a workshop or critique group while you're depressed. Inept or unnecessesarily harsh criticisms can exacerbate the problem.
There will probably still be times when the dark curtain of depression comes down in spite of your best efforts to stay healthy. According to Gene Grossman, a family therapist who has practiced for over twenty years in the San Francisco Bay Area, it takes resilience to overcome depression, and resilience can be learned to some degree. He recommends several valuable texts for writers who are learning to cope with depression: Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness, by the renowned novelist William Styron; Learned Optimism, by Martin Seligman; and How to Want What You Have, by Timothy Miller, Ph.D. In addition to these, I have found Nathaniel Branden's book The Six Pillars of Self Esteem, and Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way very helpful.
Finally, if you're too ill to help yourself and the task of fighting the darkness seems insurmountable, don't hesitate to get professional help. I ended up looking at that razor blade because I thought it would be a humiliating admission of weakness if I went to see a therapist. I had a lot of "good" excuses. It would cause my family pain and embarrassment. It would cost too much money. The only thing a therapist could do would be to prescribe anti-depressants, which would probably rob me of the will to write. I should have asked myself what would hurt and embarrass my family more, my seeing a psychiatrist or my committing suicide. I should have realized that drug therapy is just one of many possible paths out of depression's jungle. And the expense of therapy is not as great as I feared. Most insurance policies cover at least some of the expenses associated with treatment of acute conditions such as clinical depression. If you have no insurance, there are many th! erapists who work on a sliding rate scale, based on the patient's ability to pay.
There are hundreds of good moments in every single day. Noticing them and celebrating them on paper is part of what makes us writers. If you stop being able to see them, take action. It may save your life.
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Here is my attempt to heal with poetry.
Poetic GunPowder
http://www.originalpoetry.com/poetic-gunpowder
Maybe some of you know more about this, and other articles,
poets, poems, and web sites.
Please add to this thread, and disccusion
Last edited by WordSlinger 10-13-2010 at 10:34:00 AM
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