Needed words: poetry therapy and the circle of hope

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article, drawn from the author’s keynote address presented at the National Association for Poetry Therapy annual conference on 29 April 2022, provides a professional and personal perspective on the benefits of poetry therapy in promoting unity and facilitating healthy transitions. The power of poetry therapy lies in its effectiveness in both helping clients through painful or difficult emotions, and in helping them find wonder and beauty and renewed vitality. The search for unity is considered in the context of unity with others, within the self, and with Nature. Important transitions are considered both as expectable developmental changes, such as aging, and as responses to unexpected or external events. The paper emphasizes the importance of hope and the role of imagination in poetry therapy and also suggests a wide range of appropriate literature, including both published poetry, and a number of the author’s own poems.