Reading and writing poetically for well-being: Language as a field of energy in practice

Soter, A.O. (2016) Reading and writing poetically for well-being: Language as a field of energy in practice. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 29 (3). pp. 161-174.

Abstract

While recently revisiting three years of post-workshop feedback from participants in a Writing and Poetry for Well-being program that I offered through a major medical center for cancer survivors as post-treatment rehabilitation, I realized that a concept I had developed for language pedagogy in 2005, namely that “language is a field of energy,” might serve to explain why the workshop participants (several of them returning across time) regarded the workshops as significantly transformative. The concept, “language as a field of energy,” appears to offer explanatory power for the therapeutic benefits of incorporating poetry reading and writing. In the process of engaging with language imaginatively and playfully, participants in a series of workshops I provided for a cancer survivorship arts-based program, found avenues for understanding the role of language in shaping and reinforcing what and how we think and feel.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	School of Education
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Copyright:	© 2016 National Association for Poetry Therapy
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/32215

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