Poetry Therapy

Theory and Practice

Nicholas Mazza

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000518580
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Psychotherapy
• Index: Psychology

In this third edition of Poetry Therapy, Dr. Mazza expands on poetry therapy applications and techniques, carefully illustrating the use of poems, expressive writing, and symbolic activities for healing, education, and community service.

Building on the definition and foundation of poetry therapy, chapters discuss using Mazza's poetry therapy model with individuals, families, groups, and communities. Featuring over a hundred new references and practice experiences, the updated edition covers new research findings and methods, especially with respect to expressive writing and brain activity. Additional updates include working with special populations such as minorities, persons with disabilities, veterans, and the LGBTQ+ community. New chapters on spirituality, the COVID-19 pandemic, and personal development through poetry and running are also featured. Each chapter ends with questions for reflection.

This is a truly invaluable resource for any practitioner, educator, or researcher interested in poetry therapy, bibliotherapy, writing, and healing, or the broader area of creative arts and expressive therapies.

Part I The Foundation of Poetry Therapy

1 The History and Development of Poetry Therapy

DOI 10.4324/9781003022640-1

The pluralistic base of poetry therapy has evolved through the exploration and evaluation of the differential effects of the use of the poetic in a wide range of practice settings. Poetry therapy is defined as “the use of language, symbol, and story in therapeutic, educational, and community-building capacities” (Mazza, 2012a, p. 1434). Once considered a form of bibliotherapy, poetry therapy has emerged as an independent field that is inclusive of bibliotherapy, narrative therapy, and journal therapy (all of which maintain their own independent field of study and practice). Literary scholars have provided perspectives on the human condition which have been all too often neglected in the clinical literature. In Striking at the Joints: Contemporary Psychology and Literary Criticism, Knapp (1996) provided a text that can be used to advance the interface between the social sciences and the humanities. Going beyond the traditional literary criticism relating to Freudian theory, Knapp provides an analysis of contemporary psychology (e.g., cognitive theory) and literary works and criticism. Texts that have addressed both literary and clinical traditions include Psychoanalysis, Psychology, and Literature: A Bibliography (Kiell, 1990); Life Guidance Through Literature (Lerner & Mahlendorf, 1991); and Youth Suicide Prevention: Lessons from Literature and The Aching Hearth: Family Violence in Life and Literature (Deats & Lenker, 1989, 1991).

Building on the convergence of literary and clinical perspectives (Mazza, 2000), the underlying assumption for this book is that, in poetry, form does not supersede content or function. Heightened emotions and compressed meaning are central to poetry (Brogan, 1993). Consistent with the romantic tradition, a verse form is not required to produce poetry. Nemoianu (1993, p. 1096), addressing romanticism, noted that “it was poetic language (whether in verse, in prose, or on the stage) that proved the most adequate medium for responding to modernity. It had the kind of variety and indeterminacy, richness, and flexibility that could make it privileged ground for experimenting with human potentialities and responses, redeeming the past, assimilating the present, and projecting the future.” With respect to intimacy and depth of meaning in literature, for romantic poets such as Wordsworth and Shelley, there really was no boundary between poetry and prose (Brogan, 1993).

Cartwright (1996) discussed the power of the written word, noting that in his Defense of Poetry (1840) Shelley wrote that “every author is necessarily a poet, because language itself is poetry” (Shelley, cited in Cartwright, 1996, p. 390). Winchester (1916, p. 229) wrote that Shelley found the distinguishing element of poetry in its “power to reveal and illuminate.” In his discussion of poetry and romanticism, Lacour (1993) noted that Wordsworth’s definition of poetry in his Preface to the Lyrical Ballads (1800) was often only partially cited as “the spontaneous overflow of feelings.” Lacour noted that Wordsworth also stated that poetry of value required the poet to think “long and deeply” (Wordsworth, cited in Lacour, 1993, p. 1086). Lacour argued that Wordsworth did not substitute feelings for knowledge, but rather bound them together. So it is with extreme positions taken on psychological theories and methods. Affective-based therapies are not void of cognition and behavior, cognitive theories are not void of affect, and so on. Rigor and discipline are essential to the merging of the arts and psychology.

Schneider (1998) argued that romantic perceptions have a long and unique place in the history of psychology, including the writings of William James. When Schneider examined the literary and artistic movement beginning in the late 18th century, he identified its individual and collective depth of the experience of humankind. He discussed the romantic influences on existential-humanistic, narrative, relational, and ecological psychologies. Central to a romantic approach to clinical practice is a concern for the human “lifeworld” featuring: (1) affect, imagination, and intuition; (2) holistic content; and (3) practitioner (investigator) as a participant. Gergen (1994, p. 256) noted that “from a romanticist standpoint, to understand another is to experience in some manner, the other’s subjectivity.”

Poetry therapy reflects the classic issues in literary analysis and psychological practice: the romantic aspects of empathy and subjectivity vs. reason and observation. Gergen (1994) noted the parallel process between literary analysis and the empiricist tradition. In literary analysis, the focus is on the text or content rather than the human communication or form of presentation. In science, the focus is on “pure content” and “literal language”; yet scientists collect and analyze data with “rhetorical forestructures through which the observational world is construed” (p. 41). Gergen gave an example of a mechanistic metaphor whereby a person’s actions are defined in terms of stimuli and inputs, units, etc. In essence, the use of metaphor shapes how observations will be recorded and how the worldview is constructed. As Gergen noted, concepts such as narrative and metaphor used in the literary analysis can contribute to the development of psychological theory and practice. From a clinical perspective, Lerner (1987) stated that in poetry therapy, the focus is on the person, not on the poem. Clients are not asked to identify the “true” meaning of a poem, but rather the personal meaning.

The foundation for the use of writing in clinical practice has been well documented. Allport (1942) wrote The Use of Personal Documents in Psychological Science, legitimizing and advancing the use of diaries and journals in clinical practice. Landsman (1951) found that clients were better able to express their anxieties through writing rather than talking. Farber (1953) recognized the time-consuming limitations of using writing in therapy, however, and noted the advantage of slowing down the tempo of a session and providing a means to explore often ignored thoughts and feelings. Ellis (1955) described a variety of written forms as useful adjunctive techniques. Widroe and Davidson (1961) noted that directed writing in psychotherapy provides an enduring symbol and means for clients to examine and re-examine feelings associated with particular expressions. They also noted that writing is especially helpful with schizophrenic clients by providing a vehicle to express order and concreteness in their daily activities.

With the publication of The Use of Written Communication in Psychotherapy (Pearson, 1965), a number of applications of writing to clinical practice were explored. The book was a product of a symposium (The Uses of Written Communication in Counseling and Psychotherapy) sponsored by Psychologists Interested in the Advancement of Psychotherapy and held at the annual American Psychological Association convention. The most consistently cited advantage of using writing in psychotherapy was the provision of a vehicle to express and analyze emotion. The most consistent disadvantage cited was the provision of a vehicle to promote resistance through intellectualization and avoidance.

McKinney (1976, p. 183) noted that college students may write as a form of self-therapy “or at least an attempt at working out problems through displacement and sublimation in a socially acceptable form of fantasy.” McKinney suggested that writing could have a cathartic effect by providing a release of strong feelings while under pressure. It could also serve to reduce internal conflict, anxiety, and confusion. Brand (1980) examined therapy in writing as a psychoeducational enterprise. She conducted a study on personal growth and creative writing with eighth-grade students. The variables examined were “student self-concept, student perception of problems, and depth of self-information” (p. 64). The results from objective measures comparing treatment and control groups indicated that the writing intervention was responsible for an increase in the provision of self-information; however, there were no significant differences with respect to self-examination. The impact on self-concept yielded mixed results. Brand also provided a descriptive analysis of the program and students, noting many of the peculiar aspects of growth not amenable to statistical evaluation (e.g., working through periods of confusion and changing styles of communication).

1.1 Historical Foundations

1.1.1 Ancient Roots

Apollo, the dual god of medicine and poetry, has often been referred to as a starting point for the historical foundation for poetry therapy (Brand, 1980; Leedy, 1969a; Morrison, 1969; Putzel, 1975). 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 and healing (Putzel, 1975).

In Poetics, Aristotle discussed the role of catharsis in effecting an emotional cure. The value of poetry in producing insights and providing universal truths was also noted (Weller & Golden, 1993). Today, catharsis is considered an important aspect of psychotherapy (Nichols & Zax, 1977), one of the therapeutic factors in group psychotherapy (Yalom, 1995), and a central component of psychodrama (Moreno, 1946, 1948, 1969). Emotional identification, the principal factor in catharsis, is also an important consideration with the use of poetry in therapeutic settings (Lessner, 1974).

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. In his discussion of 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.” This view is held universally by primitive healers (Blinderman, 1973; Frank, 1973). In Persuasion and Healing, Jerome Frank (1973) offered a more comprehensive discussion of the power of words, feelings, and beliefs in regard to curative functions.

1.1.2 Recent History

More recent history indicated that poetry was used for mental health purposes in the early 19th century. Jones (1969) noted that p...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Preface to Second Edition
• Preface to First Edition
• About the Author
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• PART I: The Foundation of Poetry Therapy
• PART II: Modalities of Poetry Therapy
• PART III: Developmental Stages
• PART IV: Research, Education, and Professional Development
• PART V: Special Topics
• Afterword
• Afterword to Second edition
• References
• Appendix A: Poetry Therapy Training Exercise for Practitioners
• Appendix B: Sample Poems for Use in Poetry Therapy
• Appendix C: Poetic Stems
• Appendix D: Poetry Therapy Narrative Report for Group Work: Guidelines
• Appendix E: Poetry Therapy Narrative Report for Group Work: Observer Form
• Appendix F: Poetry Therapy Narrative Report for Group Work: Leader Form
• Appendix G: Writing Exercise
• Appendix H: Poetry Therapy Guide
• Appendix I: Resources
• Appendix J: NAPT Code of Ethics
• Index