Mindworks Newsletter: August 2008

Poetry Therapy: Connection to Self through Literature

My new credential as a Certified Applied Poetry Facilitator is a vague and ambiguous title that smacks of 'jargonese'. Few of my friends understand what poetry therapy is. One friend asked me: "Do you, like, FIX poetry?"
No - I don't fix poetry. I don't "teach" poetry either, at least not in the most commonly understood context of teaching...and I don't provide therapy. What I do is bring people to a new level of awareness using poetic language and literature and then facilitate their experience in applying this deepened awareness for crisis management, problem solving, personal growth issues and all forms of creative pursuits.

Poetry is rich in imagery, emotion, and metaphor and provides an exciting opportunity to use someone else's perspective to understand the profound as well as the mundane events that constitute a life.  Poetry offers language that an ordinary person might not be able to imagine, yet once heard and examined, this language offers a starting place for unraveling the truth of individual experience.  When people find themselves in a place that 'words cannot describe', poetry provides a way for them to safely understand and express strong feelings and emotions while they validate their experience. 
I witnessed the power of poetry during a summer writing workshop with my mentor, Kathleen Adams. Every day participants were introduced to a different poem that prompted a new way of thinking about the way life had unfolded for each of us. I was amazed at the speed with which I caught on to new ideas and the numerous entry points for writing exercises embedded in the poems.

With this experience fresh in my mind I returned to my regular job as Life Coach. At the time I was working with a group of college freshman on the verge of suspension from school for poor scholastic performance. My task was to teach them time and life management skills. After six weeks I had not been able to reach them. We were at an impasse and most of the class was at risk of failing another semester. These nineteen to twenty-year olds took a stubborn stand against timeliness and direction in life. In response to my goal-setting lectures, they replied in unison: "We're young! We don't need to make goals!" Hard as I tried I couldn't find the language to convince them that everyone needs goals.

In desperation I tossed the students Adrienne Rich's poem Prospective Emigrants, Please Take Note. Their first response was: 'This isn't English class, why do we have to read a poem." I implored them to bear with me and try a little experiment.

On the surface, Rich's poem deals with the opportunities and risks that accompany relocation; she uses the metaphor of going through a door.

Either you will
go through this door
or you will not go through.

The students readily identified with going through doors. Finally I had the entry point I had been seeking all semester; a discussion opened. From this simple beginning the students could talk about taking chances, about things they wanted to try in their lives. One student wanted to climb all the Fourteeners in Colorado (Fourteeners are peaks over 14,000 ft above sea level). I asked him what it would take to get there. He talked about physical conditioning, timing, money, companions. I asked him how he would feel if he didn't make it. He was explicit in his description (although some of his expletives had to be deleted). Suddenly all the students were talking about goals and futures and feelings’Äîand how being successful in college might actually help them succeed in achieving their dreams. I could hardly believe my ears!

That experiment convinced me that poetry has a relevance and purpose far beyond just sounding pretty. Poetry has the power to effect change in human experience. So I invite you to try it for yourself. Visit the Mindworks Coaching Wisdom and Thoughts to Ponder to view the full text of Adrienne Rich's poem with some writing prompts for reflection. Approach the poem with curiosity. Do not try to guess at what Rich means by each line, but go inside and determine what the lines mean to you.

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