POETRY THERAPY

1. POETRY THERAPY EDUCATING THE PUBLIC

2. PRESENTER JAMES BRANDENBURG EDUCATION--M.A., M.A., M.ED, LPC, LMFT, CPT RECEIVED CERTIFICATION FOR POETRY THERAPY IN PORTLAND 07 COUNSELOR AT TOM C. CLARK HIGH SCHOOL (SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS) ADJUNCT PROFESSOR AT SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE

3. PRESENTER TIDBITS • LONGEST RUNNING POETRY VENUE IN SAN ANTONIO AT BARNES & NOBLE (I 10 & DEZAVALA) • VENUE AT GALLISTA ON SOUTH FLORES (2ND SATURDAY) • SPEAKS GERMAN & SPANISH • DREAM GROUP WITH AL DRYMALA • ANALYSIS WITH CHARLES DOMINEY • SUMMERS IN SPAIN & GERMANY

4. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES • WHAT IS POETRY THERAPY? • BRIEF HISTORY OF PT • CERTIFICATION PROCESS • VARIOUS GROUPS • TESTIMONIALS • WRITING ASSIGNMENT • CLOSURE

5. 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 PLAY • SURPRISES US BY SAYING THE UNSPEAKABLE • RAISES QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS BUT GIVES US NEW WAYS TO THINK • ALLOWS US TO KNOW WHAT WE DIDN’T KNOW BEFORE WE BEGAN TO WRITE

6. 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

7. 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

8. POETRY INVITES A QUICKER RESPONSE • ABSTRACT POETRY DOES NOT WORK • BE SPECIFIC TO BE EFFECTIVE • PEOPLE WILL SURPRISE THEMSELVES BY LETTING THE LANGUAGE CONNECT THEM TO OTHERS • AND CONNECT TO THEMSELVES

9. 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.”

10. WORDSWORTH • THE SPONTANEOUS OVERFLOW OF FEELINGS • POETRY OF VALUE REQUIRES THE POET TO THINK “LONG AND DEEPLY”.

11. ROMANTIC MOVEMENT • CONCERN FOR THE HUMAN “LIFEWORLD” FEATURING • 1)AFFECT, IMAGINATION, AND INTUITION; • 2)HOLISTIC CONTENT; • 3)PRACTITIONER (INVESTIGATOR) AS PARTICIPANT GERGEN (1994) NOTED THAT “FROM A ROMANTICIST STANDPOINT, TO UNDERSTAND ANOTHER IS TO EXPERIENCE IN THE SAME MANNER, THE OTHER’S SUBJECTIVITY.”

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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

16. 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.

17. 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.”

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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

22. 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.

23. 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

24. 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

25. TESTIMONIALS • TESTIMONIALS WILL APPEAR AT A LATER DATE ON WEBSITE JAMESBRANDENBURG.COM

26. WRITING EXERCISE • RECLAIMING FEELINGS ON PAGE 43 OF POETIC MEDICINE BY JOHN FOX • SEE WEBSITE JAMESBRANDENBURG.COM FOR SAMPLES OF POEMS THAT HEAL.

27. CONCLUSION • QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS • CONCLUSION